Step into Grace
Where strangers become friends
We are an Open and Affirming church. Every one of every age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental ability, or economic status is invited to join us as together we live out the Gospel message of love, forgiveness, service, and justice. No matter where you are in your spiritual journey- you are welcome here.
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Twenty Second Sunday
after Pentecost
and Celebration of a New Ministry
Holy Eucharist
October 24, 10:00 AM
Sunday services
will be at Crissey Farm, both
in-person and live-streamed.
Please visit our website:
for up-to-date information and a link to the digital service booklet.
Officiant/Preacher
The Rev. Tina Rathbone
Welcome Team......S. Brooke/S. Sieber
Lector.................. ..Members of Christ ...............Trinity and St. Paul's Church
Intercessor.............Doreen Hutchinson
Altar Guild.............Kirchoff/Layton
Coffee Hour...........Luncheon provided by
..............................Chrissy Farm
Counters................Booton/Layton
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ZOOM INVITATIONS
FOR GRACE CHURCH
Twenty Second Sunday
after Pentecost
Holy Eucharist
October 24, at 10:00 AM
Now in person and on Zoom.
For Zoom
or call 646 558 8656
US (New York)
(Meeting ID): 177 160 858
(Password): 917937
Tuesday with the Word
October 24,
7:00 to 8:30 PM
To join the Zoom meeting
For more information please see the article below.
Centering Prayer
Thursdays, at 5:00 PM
Now in person and on ZOOM
To join the Zoom meeting,
(Meeting ID): 203 314 800
(Password): 578877
646 558 8656 US (New York)
Grace Church Men's Group
Future dates to be announced here.
Movie Nite
Thursday
November 4, at 6:30 PM
More information in the
article below.
To join this Zoom meeting,
(Meeting ID): 370 191 823
(Password): 385337
or call 646 558 8656 US
(New York)
Books and Bread,
Wednesday, November 10
Now in person at 6:30 PM
and on Zoom at 7:15 PM
To join this Zoom meeting,
(Meeting ID): 370 191 823
(Password): 385337
or call 646 558 8656
US (New York)
Third Sunday Supper
(Every Third Sunday)
November 21
Location to be announced.
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Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost |
Mark 10:46-52
Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
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God is Love,
Let Heaven Adore Him
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For the most up to date information:
please visit the
Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative website,
They will post notice of appointment openings 6-12 hours in advance. You can find answers to your vaccination questions including information about the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine on their FAQ page.
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Covid-19 vaccination
booster shots
are now available for those with certain big-risk medical conditions at Walgreens and Fairview Hospital on a walk-in basis. If you think you might have a qualifying condition, we urge you to go to one of these locations for a booster shot.
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THIS SUNDAY!
Sunday, October 24th
We will be joined by St. Paul’s and Christ Trinity
and there will be a luncheon afterwards.
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Left: Annalise Clausen Gil Twing and Rev. Tina by the pond next to Gideon’s Garden
This upcoming Friday, Gil Twing and his son Blaise will start the process of restoring and rejuvenating the pond which sits on the edge of Gideon’s Garden. The gorgeous little pond was originally dug by Paul Tawcynski’s grandmother (Danny’s Mother), and for this reason we have decided to call it Babcia Pond, as ‘Babcia’ means grandmother in Polish and it is what Paul always called his beloved Grandma. By restoring the pond and rejuvenating the water that fills it, we seek to honor the Tawcynski family who have done so much for and with us, as well as all who cared for this land before us – not least the Mohican people who tended it so well for so long.
The project will also benefit Gideon’s Garden, of course, along with the harvest we reap there year by year. The clean-up is not simple, and will take a long while, but when it is done, water from Babci pond will irrigate the Garden, and allow us to grow healthy produce to give away for free without using water from other sources. This feels like one of those blessing spirals that comes straight from God: the land benefits, the Garden benefits, the people who eat the food from the garden benefit, and those with whom we work, and who worked here before us, are honored and thanked in the process. Thanks be to God for the generosity of the people of Grace who are making this restoration work possible, and for all those who will help bring it about!
If you are around on Friday and would like to watch as Gil and Blaise begin to haul out an enormous dead tree that collapsed into the water long ago, come join us!
(Here’s the Franciscan prayer I’ll be praying all day:
Lord, help us to maintain a reverent attitude towards your creation until we restore it completely to the condition of brother/sister, and to its role of usefulness to all your creatures for the glory of God the Creator. Amen.)
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We supply this list so you may contact members of our congregation who are at home or in a nursing facility. Please hold in your prayers and reach out as you can.
ANDREWS, Anne
659 South Egremont Road
P.O. Box 714
Great Barrington, MA 01230
BLAKELY, Rosemarie
21 Crossway, #108
Lee MA 01238
BOWENS, Marina
c/o Maryella Satinover
11908 Windward Ave.
Mar Vista, CA 90066
BREASTED, John
Fairview Commons
151 Christian Hill Road
Great Barrington MA 01230
BROOKS, Jane
165 George Street
Lee MA 01230
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FRYE, Vonnie
PineHill Assisted Living
at Kimball Farms
235 Walker St. Apt #32
Lenox, Ma. 01240
GORE, Barbara
50 Stockbridge Road
Lee MA 01238
HAIDER, Meredith
5 Fox Hollow Road
#409
Lenox, MA 01240
KEENE, Sara
The Egremont Village Inn
17 Main Street
P. O. Box 275
South Egremont, MA 01258
McCURDY, Deborah
Skilled Nursing Center
Loomis Lakeside at Reed's Landing
807 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01109
TURNER, Barbara
Fairview Commons
151 Christian Hill Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
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Help needed for a fun and exciting ministry
Another great year of Church School is starting this fall and we are looking for a fourth person to assist with this wonderful ministry! No experience needed except for an enjoyment of children. It would involve participating in Church School during the first part of the service (rejoining the service at the peace) for two Sundays a month. If you want to try it once we would love to have you join us. Please let Dindy, Andrea, or Margaret know if you might be interested. Their contact information is in the Grace directory. Thank you.
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Sign up for
FLOWER DEDICATIONS !
There will be a sign up form
at Sunday service.
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Healing Prayers
If you would like to receive healing prayers from
The Rev. Ted Cobden, Pennie Curry, or Sue Gore,
please refer to your directory for their contact
information, or contact the Grace office.
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PRAYERS REQUESTED
Praying for each other and for the needs of the world is a vital mission of Grace Church. To add a prayer request to this list, please contact the Church Office
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GRACE
CHURCH
Please include
in your daily prayers this week:
Members of the Parish Family:
Sue Gore, Doreen Hutchinson, Anne Andrews, Pennie Curry, Mark Anderson, Stacey, Claire and Mark Thomas, Meredith Haider, Linda White, Rosemarie Blakely, Marina Bowens, John Breasted, Jane Brooks, Vonnie Frye, Barbara Gore, Sara Keene, Barbara Turner.
Others we love: Larry Cheek, John's brother; Karen La Rocque friend of Sue Gore; Rosalind Haywood, Sue Gore's mother; Deborah McCurdy.
Those who have died:
Robert Martin, family friend of Monique; Bernadette McCarroll, beloved family member of
Jainee, John & Ellis;
Thomas J. Fisher, father of The
Rt. Rev. Douglas Fisher; Alan Sparks, brother of Debbie Holmes; Ruth Crawford; Emily Trespas, friend of Jainee McCarroll and John Ericson; John Grammer, husband of Mary Anne; Neil Brandt, brother of Linda White; John Turner, husband of Barbara Turner; Leslie Albert, friend of Margaret Layton and Sarah Sieber.
Our world: For the people of Afghanistan, and of Haiti, who have struggled for so long under burdens seemingly too great to bear.
For all victims of violence, and for those who inflict violence on others. For people who suffer from the COVID-19 virus, those who have died and those who mourn; caregivers and those who have been affected through loss of work, income, and housing.
For all who are alone or afraid or despairing. For prisoners, unhoused people, newly arrived immigrants and all our neighbors, near and far.
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The many ministries of our local community and the Diocese of Western Massachusetts:
especially for our partners at St. Paul's, Stockbridge and the Rev. Sam Smith and the Rev. Jane Tillman; Christ Trinity, Sheffield and the Rev. Erik Karas; our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher; and the Mampong Babies' Home in Ghana;
St. Stephen's, Westborough; Believe OUT Loud congregations; St. Stephen's Table, Pittsfield; Episcopal Episcopalian Appalachian Ministries.
The Church's wider mission:
The Extra-Provincial Churches.
And we offer thanks: for all those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries this week:
Ellis Ericson, 10/19; Mark and Dindy Anderson, 10/19; Carmen Perkins, 10/25.
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Join us for
Centering Prayer
now in person and on ZOOM
every Thursday
5:00 - 6:00
Encouraging a practice of silence and stillness we focus on practices of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina using scripture, art and music. All are welcome.
To join the Zoom meeting
Meeting ID: 203 314 800
Password: 578877
Dial by your location
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
To find your local number:
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WHAT ARE YOU
GRATEFUL FOR?
In this time of fear and anxiety, it can be easy to miss the daily blessings that are right in front of us. Being grateful is not just for good times. Being grateful is even more important when fear sets a place at your table and heartbreak seems to be in your every breath. Because by being grateful we become aware of all the ways God is working in us. Being grateful is a part of our healing and our deliverance. Being grateful is where our best selves reside.
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The harvest continues to come in over the past week. Dutch Pinkston and Jim Wade have been necessary to the continued clean up and harvest at the garden.
This week we will continue to pick sweet peppers, kale, swiss chard, green beans and various hot peppers. As the nights get cool, and I mean below 40°F, we will see our greens get sweeter and our peppers get increasingly unhappy. It feels like even though we have had gloriously beautiful days in the 70's still, we will likely soon see a light frost.
Last week as we were working in the glorious sunshine, I spotted a praying mantis. There is a picture below of this creature, but it is an excellent reminder of how beautiful God's creation is around us. The scientific name of this bug is Mantis religiosa. They usually live for about one year in the wild and are formidable predators. I am always so happy to see them, as they are pretty rare in busy ares like the garden, and they are such gorgeous creatures!
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Fall at Gideon's
We are still making about five deliveries every week. On Monday we harvest for the People's Pantry and delivery for their afternoon distribution. I send Amy Loveless a list of produce we have this week for her Wednesday prep day. She will let me know for a Wednesday pick up what she's planning for her menu. On Thursday we start harvesting for Lee and by Friday we usually have a good delivery ready. On Friday and Saturday I harvest for Sheffield's Monday morning distribution, which I have been delivering on Sunday's after church service.
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Mission Matters
News from the
Episcopal Diocese
of Western Massachusetts
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Help New Orleans through the Episcopal
Relief and Development's Hurricane Fund
Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday, August 29 — on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph.
Episcopal Relief & Development’s US Disaster Program team was in touch with partners over the weekend and began holding daily coordination calls with impacted dioceses on Monday morning.
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Support the Resettlement of Refugees
Episcopal Migration Ministries, the refugee resettlement and migration ministry of The Episcopal Church, is currently working in partnership with the U.S. government to assist Afghan SIVs and other arrivals with resettlement and direct services through a network of 12 affiliates across the U.S.
DFMS-Protestant Episcopal Church US
P.O. Box 958983
St. Louis, MO 63195-8983
(Include Episcopal Migration Ministries and Afghan SIV’s in the memo line.)
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SHINE YOUR LIGHT
Thank you for giving generously to support the ministry of Grace. You may continue to mail your contributions to Grace Church, P.O. Box 114, Great Barrington, MA 01230. As we begin to gather in person, you may bring your contribution to our services on Sunday, once again.
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It costs about $1500 a year to support a baby. The Diocese's goal is for one congregation
to support one child for a year.
To donate to support babies at the Mampong Babies Home in Ghana please send a check to Grace Church, PO Box 114, Great Barrington, MA 01230.
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TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
October 19, at 7:00 PM on Zoom
in collaboration with Christ Trinity, Sheffield & St Paul’s
One of the good things to come out of this past year was our three congregations coming together for a time of study and support each week. Something well worth continuing, pandemic or not! So after a summer off, it is good to be back!
Join us beginning at 7 p.m. via Zoom as we look at Gregory Boyle’s best selling book, Tattoos on the Heart.
For twenty years, Gregory Boyle has run Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention program located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, he distills his experience working in the ghetto into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith.
For each of the two following weeks we’ll discuss two chapters per week. This zoom link will be good for all remaining weeks of this series.
October 19, at 7:00 PM
For Zoom,
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Kids of all ages: Please join us for Sunday school on September 12, 2021. We will meet during the first part of the service and then re-join the service at the Peace. |
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Becoming Beloved Community
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Learn about the Doctrine of Discovery. In 2009, the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church repudiates and renounces the Doctrine of Discovery as “fundamentally opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and our understanding of the inherent rights that individuals and peoples have received from God.” The resolution calls for the church to examine and eliminate its policies, programs and structures that contribute to the continuing colonization of Indigenous peoples and directs the Office of Government Relations to advocate for the U.S. to sign the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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In the new documentary “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen paint a picture of an unsung trailblazer who remains relatively unknown despite her lasting influence on American society. Episcopalians know her as the first African American woman to be ordained a priest and as a pioneer in the struggles for racial and gender equality.
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Grace Church worships and gardens on the traditional land of the Mohican people. |
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Hello all:
EfM held its first hybrid meeting; half of us were in Christ Trinity’s Parish Hall and the other half were on Zoom. Despite one or two technology mishaps, everyone agreed that this mode of meeting gave us flexibility and we will go forward in this way for the next weeks as the weather turns colder. The Year 1 group read Psalms and the Song of Solomon, and the Year 2 group read Hebrews. Our reflection began with the image shown, a man in the west bank taking an olive tree across the border. The participant who brought this picture expressed a strong desire for personal peace, community peace and world peace. We echoed that sentiment in the prayer we wrote.
OLIVE BRANCH
God who gave Noah the first olive branch
We pray that we recognize the olive branches here for us
So that we too may be vessels of peace.
AMEN.
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Attend our Men's Group
Next meeting date to be announced here.
For more information
contact George Raymond
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MOVIE NITE
Join us for a discussion of
ABOUT SCHMIDT
A 66-year-old (Jack Nicholson) retires, deals with his wife's sudden death and tries to stop his daughter (Hope Davis) from marrying a salesman (Dermot Mulroney).
on November 4, at 6:30 PM
Watch at your leisure then join us on Zoom
(Meeting ID): 370 191 823 (Password): 385337
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BOOKS AND BREAD
Join us on
Wednesday, November 10
at 6:30 PM
for appetizers in person at 6:30 PM
and on Zoom at 7:15 PM
for fellowship,and a lively book discussion.
All are welcome!
Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates
Monique Kirchoff will lead our discussion
To join this Zoom meeting at 7:15 PM
(Meeting ID): 370 191 823
(Password): 385337
or call 646 558 8656 US (New York)
- Participants should contact the Hosts (Mark and Dindy Anderson's) if they plan to attend but have not signed up at Grace Church (Crissey Farm Welcome Desk)
- If you are a "regular" and are not planning to attend, please let the Host know.
- Discussion begins at 7:00 pm regardless of whether it's a Dinner gathering or an A&D gathering.
- Dinner-Appetizers, wine, soft drinks, main dish, side dishes, dessert, decaf and tea. One main dish serves 8 people.
- The Host is responsible for planning the meal. Participants are encouraged to make offerings in consultation with the Host.
- Please sign up to bring appetizers or dessert items.
Meeting is over promptly at 8:30 PM. For more information email Peter.
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THIRD SUNDAY SUPPER
Join us for lively conversation
and fellowship on
Sunday, October 17
when we will meet at 6 PM
Location to be announced here.
Separate checks/All are welcome
For more information contact
George Raymond. His contact information is in the Grace directory.
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GRACE CHURCH
An Episcopal Community in the Southern Berkshires
67 State Road/P.O. Box 114, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Parish Administrator: Ms. Jean Chapin
and by phone 413-644-0022.
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The Rev. Tina Rathbone
Rector
413-644-0022
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Ms. Annalise Clausen, Director of Farming for Gideon's Garden
413-644-0022
gideonsgarden at graceberkshires.org
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Mr. Ryan LaBoy,
Grace Church Music Director
413-644-0022
RLaboy at graceberkshires.org
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Tuesday's Child Editor Monique Kirchoff
Associate Editor Kathy Clausen
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