Tuesday's Child for February 21, 2023

A Message from The Rev. Tina Rathbone

We are on the cusp of the season of Lent – a season set apart for interiority, self-questioning, and (that dreaded word) repentance. I hesitate to even use the word here because it holds such negative, frightening overtones. (‘Repent!’ we hear…..and we flee.)

The truth is, though, that to repent means simply to turn again, or to turn back. It isn’t an invitation to any kind of stricken or shut down shame, then, but to a more active and life-filled remembering, a return, again (and again, and again) to the truth of Love.

I don’t know about you, but I need this kind of re-membering pretty much every day. It’s why I am so grateful for these next forty days, and for the service that starts them all on Ash Wednesday with the reminder that time is short. Come join us at the Grace Church Chapel for our Ash Wednesday service at Noon. And join us too in our prayers for each other as we work to remember who – and whose – we really are, always.

Ash Wednesday

This Wednesday, February 22nd

Local Services with Holy Eucharist:

Grace Church Chapel, GB, 12 Noon

Christ Trinity, Sheffield, 12 Noon

St. Paul's, Stockbridge, 6:00 PM

Lectionary Bible Study

Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. on Zoom

Led by Rev. Tina Rathbone

For Zoom link:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

GIDEON'S GARDEN

Stay warm!

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

The People's Pantry

If anyone wants to volunteer at the People’s Pantry, there are shifts on Mondays from 3:30PM to 5:30PM, Thursdays from 8:30AM to 10:30AM and Thursdays 10:30AM to 12:30PM. Here’s the link:

https://www.thepeoplespantrygb.org/volunteer

Announcement from the Communications Office

Donate to Episcopal Relief & Development

MAKE AN URGENT GIFT-DONATE NOW Your immediate support will help Episcopal Relief & Development and other Anglican partners provide humanitarian assistance to people fleeing the violence in Ukraine. By contributing today you will join our online...

support.episcopalrelief.org

Welcome Mats Made by Refugees | Thistle Farms Globa l

Handwoven and handmade by refugees in Greece, these welcome mats serve as a symbol of welcome and acceptance for refugees. Perfect to use in your home as a wall hanging or floor mat. Feel good about the products you buy at Thistle Farms and support refugees. Order yours today!

Love Welcomes.

thistlefarms.org

Babies are placed in the Home when their mother has died and they cannot be cared for at home.

It costs about $1,500 to support a baby over the time needed for the child to grow old enough to return to their home. Many years ago we at Grace decided to support babies at the Mampong Babies Home in Ghana at the rate of $1,500 per year. Your donations help us reach that goal each year. You can bring money or checks to church on Sundays and place in the jar near the Welcome Table or send a check to:

Grace Church,

P.O. Box 114,

Great Barrington, MA 01230.

LEARNING AND DISCOVERY

Becoming Beloved Community

“I was born by a golden river and in the shadow of two great hills, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation…”

—W. E. B. Du Bois, born February 23, 1868, Great Barrington MA

On February 23, the birthday and Great Barrington Town Day of W.E.B. Du Bois, Grace Church will donate $1500 to the Du Bois Freedom Center. For the second year in a row, this sum is donated in honor of our indebtedness for royalties never paid to enslaved Africans for the songs they sang to survive their experience. In 2022 we sang/played 44 Negro Spirituals in our worship services, all of which strengthened us in our faith in God whose love for us and our worth always exceeds our own.

Daylong DISMANTLING RACISM Trainings by Zoom 2023

offered by the Diocese of Atlanta

Click here for more information

Aseity

The third chapter of David Ford's book "A Short Introduction to Theology" is called "Thinking of God." it makes reference to 'aseity' the property by which a being exists of and from itself and refers to the Christian belief that God does not depend on any cause other than Godself for existence, realization, or end, and has within Godself, God's own reason of existence.

God, the infinite and intimate mystery

We wait for insight and inspiration,

Like a baby bird awaits the impulse to crack the egg.

Light and air then infuse creation,

In the name of the Trinity.

Amen

Announcement from the Communications Office

Bishop Doug Fisher established a Compline community in 2020 that continues in faithfulness five nights a week. In addition to the Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith and the Very Rev. Jim Munroe, Licensed Lay Worship Leaders will be added for Thursday and Friday evenings. Zoom info is available HERE.

Daily Lenten Meditations

returns for Lent 2023

Lent invites us to reflect on our relationships with God, each other, and the Earth upon which all life depends. The Creation Care Leadership Circle invites you to sign up to receive an inspirational daily meditation during the Forty Days of Lent.

Our inaugural series in 2022 was so warmly received that we’ve prepared a fresh collection of quotes and images for 2023. The quotes come from many sources as we honor the wisdom of many voices and traditions.

Please join us as we contemplate the gift of the natural world and our calling to reconcile humanity with the rest of God’s creation.

Lent 2023: Resources, Opportunities

Online Retreat with the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

Healing judgment:

A Lenten online retreat

Led by the Rev. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas

Saturday, March 18

9:30 a.m. – 12 Noon • Online (free)

Lent invites us to look deeply into our lives and into the society in which we participate. How is God stretching us to live at our best? How is God calling us to wake up from our dull habits of thought and behavior and to see clearly where love urges us to change? Many people dread (and avoid) the traditional Lenten practices of self-examination and repentance because we fear that these practices will drag us into harsh self-criticism and self-attack. This retreat will encourage us to question our kneejerk self-judgment and instead to open ourselves to the healing judgment of a loving God who sees our preciousness and seeks our wholeness.

Through silence, guided meditation, personal reflection, and small group sharing we aim to create a space in which we can grow in self-awareness, self-acceptance, and compassion for ourselves, each other, and our wounded, magnificent world.

Please bring a candle, Bible, paper/pen for journaling, art supplies (if you have some), and comfortable clothes for an optional walk outside. To register, visit here.

This retreat is sponsored by both Episcopal dioceses in Massachusetts and by Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ.

I WANT SOME FRIENDS

THIRD SUNDAY SUPPER

Join us for lively conversation

and fellowship on

March 19, 6:00 PM

TBD

ALL are welcome!

Separate checks

For more information contact

George Raymond.

BOOKS AND BREAD

Will meet on Wednesday, March 8,

at 6:00 PM to discuss

Notes FROM A

SMALL ISLAND

by Bill Bryson

Join us. All are welcome!

Questions? Please contact Peter Kirchoff.

For Zoom:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Password: 917937

or call 646 558 8656 US (New York)

MOVIE NITE

Watch at home at home then,

Join us for a discussion of

The Castle

on March 2, at 7:00 PM on Zoom.

"The quirky Kerrigan family lives together in a makeshift home they built themselves -- with great pride and a bizarre attention to detail -- a few yards from the edge of a busy Australian Airport. When a building inspector condemns the building and reveals that the government plans to use their land for an airport expansion, Darryl Kerrigan and his brood recruit hack attorney Dennis Denuto and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives."

To join this Zoom meeting

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Password: 917937

PRAYERS AND CARES

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.

First Sunday

in Lent

February 26, 2023

at 10:00 AM

In person & live-streamed

on ZOOM

Please visit our website:

https://graceberkshires.org/visitor/

for up-to-date information and a link to the digital service booklet.

Celebrant and Officiant:

The Rev. Tina Rathbone

Click here for WEB site ROTA

ZOOM INVITATIONS

FOR GRACE CHURCH

First Sunday

in Lent

February 26, 2023

at 10:00 AM

For Zoom

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Contemplative Eucharist

Wednesday at 10:00 AM

In person at Grace Chapel

and on Zoom:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Lectionary Bible Study

Tuesdays at 7:00 PM

For Zoom:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Centering Prayer

Thursday at 5:00 PM

In person and on Zoom

To join Zoom meetings:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Movie Nite

Thursday, March 2,

at 7:00 PM on Zoom

To join Zoom meetings:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Books and Bread,

Wednesday,

March 8, 2023

at 6:00 PM

In person and on Zoom

To join Zoom meetings:

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

Third Sunday Supper

(Every Third Sunday)

March 19, at 6:00 PM

In person

More information in the

article found above.

First Sunday in Lent

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Forty days and forty nights

Forty days and forty nights • Performed by The Gesualdo Six, directed by Owain Park Tune: Aus der tiefe • Melody possibly by M. Herbst • Words by G.H. Smyttan and Francis Pott

For the most up to date information

please visit the

Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative website,

https://www.getvaccinatedberkshires.org/.

The best way to avoid serious illness from Covid and the flu is to be fully vaccinated. Here is a link to find a vaccination location in the area:

https://vaxfinder.mass.gov/

Dear Parishioners,

We are pleased to announce that

Andrea White has been appointed

Grace Church Interim Parish Administrator.

From Grace Church to Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church

of Mérida, Yucatán

Recently we were able to offer a gift to the church community which our former member (and creator of Tuesday’s Child), Elizabeth Holland, joined in her new home in Mexico. Lee spoke about this at church on Feb. 5. Below are a couple of additional photos. This note was sent by Padre José Arruda.

Just a short note all the way from Saint Luke’s Episcopal of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, to thank you for the earthenware chalices and pattens and some altar linens that Grace Community so kindly offered us, through you and were brought by our dear friends Lee and John Cheek. They will indeed be of good use here at Saint Luke’s Episcopal and Misión Buen Pastor.

We offer you our friendship and prayers and, once again, we are very grateful for your generous gift.

Bendiciones con un abrazo,

+ José

Above, the earthenware chalices and pattens from Grace Church.

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

office@graceberkshires.org or by phone 413-644-0022.

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.

BLAKELY, Rosemarie

BOWENS, Marina

BREASTED, John

BROOKS, Jane

FRYE, Vonnie

GORE, Barbara

HAIDER, Meredith

McCURDY, Deborah

TURNER, Barbara

Our Prayer Basket

We welcome you to use our prayer basket.

On Sundays you will find a basket near the Welcome Table with slips of paper available for you to write down prayer requests. Please ask for any prayers that are important to you and those you love. You may identify yourself and those for whom prayers are needed, but names are not necessary or required. These prayers will be offered by our healing ministers both during the service and during the week for a period of one month. Keep an eye out for the basket!!

To listen to Sarah Sieber explaining the operation of the Prayer Basket CLICK HERE

(K. Clausen)

GRACE

CHURCH

Please include

in your daily prayers this week:

Members of the Parish Family:

Cathy Haywood, Margaret O’Clair, Mark Anderson, Dindy Anderson, Doreen Hutchinson, Anne Andrews, , Meredith Haider, Rosemarie Blakely, Marina Bowens, Charles Folger, Barbara Gore, and Barbara Turner.

Others we love: Claire White, Steve's mother; Michael Holmes, Debbie's grandson; Julie Mooney, Rick Gore’s sister; Kelly & Elijah ; Denise Chandler; James Driscoll; Livia Driscoll; All those grieving the death of Jack Stedman; Linda White; Stacey Thomas and her children, Claire, Mark and Johnny; All those grieving the death of Ed Hunt; all those grieving the death of Nelda Curry; Karen LaRocque friend of Sue Gore; Rosalind Haywood, Sue Gore's mother; Deborah McCurdy; Joy Milani, dear friend of Dindy Anderson; the Hardenberg family, friends of Lynn Walker; Conrad Harper, friend of John Ericson; Michael Pine, Pennie’s beloved Godson; Sophia, who is grieving the sudden death of her son; Linda Tornicelli.

Those who have died: Joe Merola; Jim Driscoll, father of Gideon's Garden intern, James Driscoll; Michael Rywkin, Monique Kirchoff's father; Wendy Reeve, Cathy Haywood’s sister; Jack Stedman; Queen Elizabeth II; Rino Aldrighetti, beloved friend of Steve White; Ed Hunt, brother-in-law of Anne Andrews; Faustino Gonzalez Nasario; Ruth Thornton, a dear friend Steve and Andrea White; Richard Edelstein, husband of Pat and beloved friend of our congregation; Hugh Pecon; Nelda Curry; Sam Raymond; Sara Keene; Vanessa Neves, daughter of Patti Poulos, friend of many in the congregation; Alan Sparks, brother of Debbie Holmes; Ruth Crawford; Neil Brandt, brother of Linda White; Jim Santolin, a dear friend of Rick & Sue; Larry Cheek, John’s brother; Patricia O’Hara.

Our world: For all places of violence and war around the world, that Peace may prevail, and human fear and suffering diminish. For all victims of gun violence in this country, and for those who inflict gun violence on others. For people who are suffering from COVID, Those who have died and those who mourn. For all who are alone, or afraid, or despairing. For prisoners, unhoused people, newly arrived immigrants and all our neighbors, near and far.

The many ministries of our local community and the Diocese of Western Massachusetts: For our partners at St. Paul's and the Revs. Libby Wade, Jane Tillman; the Rev. Sam Smith as he begins his ministry at All Saints, Worcester; Christ Trinity and the Rev. Erik Karas; our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Doug Fisher; and the Mampong Babies' Home in Ghana; Christ Church, Fitchburg; Reconciliation House, Inc., Webster; Education for Ministry;

Episcopal Camps & Conference

Centers, Inc.; Episcopal News Service.

The Church's wider mission:

The Scottish Episcopal Church

And we offer thanks: for all those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries this week:

Virginia Vogel-Polizzi, 2/23.

Join us for

Centering Prayer

now in person and on ZOOM

Every Thursday

5:00 - 6:00 PM

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.

Click Here

Meeting ID: 177 160 858

Passcode: 917937

Or call:646 558 8656,

(New York)

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.

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.