Happy Easter, Beloveds!!! Whoo hoo!

We've entered the glorious 50 days of the celebration of Resurrection, and what an outstanding entrance it was here at St. Gregory the Great! Everyone did so much in their particular ministries to make this one of the most joyous Easter weekends yet! Thank you to all of you...Altar Guild for the hard work of altar changes throughout the Triduum; Flower Guild for breathtaking displays all throughout Holy Week and the phenomenal flowers for Easter; (newly resurrected 😃) Parish Life and coffee host for a sumptuous and festive Easter reception; Nursery for caring for our littlest disciples; our Children's Ministry for delighting children with the cross flowering and egg hunt on Easter Sunday; our Music Ministry for stupendous and gorgeous music throughout the Tridduum, which included soloists and guest musicians, not to mention the exceptional Joe, Jonathan (Happy Birthday!), and all our members of the choir; LEMs, Acolytes, Lay Readers, and Ushers were outstanding, as is our de facto Verger, David; Deacons Christina and Doug, thank you for your excellence; our Welcome Ministry, all who participated in our prayer vigil from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday, all the joyful Great Noise-makers at Easter Vigil (here and online); our hard-working and ever-faithful Live-stream ministry who overcame technical difficulties on Easter Sunday to Live-stream with excellence as always, and last, but not least, our wonderful Parish Administrator Kendall, for the hours and hours of compiling and copying and changing that always needs doing for our bulletins for 4 services in a matter of days. 

Thank you, thank you to all...you are a blessing and a gift from God. May we all enjoy a fantastic Fifty Days of Episcopal partying in celebration of the fact that the Christ is Risen! 

love and joy,

Mo. Nikki+

Nikki's Sabbatical

REMINDER: This is Mother's Nikki's last week in the office until August 1, 2023.

Get ready for summer fun, April 30th - July 31st with amazing guest priests, the Rev. Bob Dentler, (y’all remember him?) and our very own phenomenal Rev. Ellen Richardson and Rev. Carol Schwenke. They will be covering for me while I am on my first EVER sabbatical. Yippee!! Priests are supposed to have those every 7 years, yet I’m on year 15 of ordination, with this being my first. I will be working but away on the last week of April, attending Credo, a week of intense study and devotion in which priests are encouraged to participate. I’m not going out of the country, but there will be travel and independent study. I’ll return fresh and ready to roll Tuesday, August 1st! And I know you, my Beloved church family will do what you always do, no matter who is the face and voice of God in our services of worship, because you’re awesome! You’ll continue to have church and be church, because that’s just who you are. That’s I’m so blessed to walk this journey of faith in your company. So much love to you!! I thank God for you!

Committal Service for Eric Groff Agner

Eric Groff Agner, 56, of Washington, DC, died January 30, 2023 after complications from cancer. Formerly of Athens, Georgia, he graduated from the University of Georgia School of Journalism and worked at The Observer and Graphic Composition. He received his Master’s Degree in Publication Design from the University of Baltimore in 1995. Most recently, he worked in graphic design with the Justice Department supporting community-oriented policing.

A life-long musician, he was in bands starting in high school in Athens—including Banned 37 and The Woggles. In Baltimore and DC, he played with The Dilettantes, Dames Rocket, Lawn Chair, The Racket, The Paper Tapes, The Sugar Biscuits and The Judith Hour. Eric was an avid participant in February Album Writing Month—an online challenge that had him composing, arranging, singing, playing the bass and other string instruments, in the recording studio in his basement every February. 

He is survived by his wife Patti Fetz, sister Suzanne Coffman, mother Margaret, daughter Robin, 2 grandchildren, 5 aunts, an uncle, and many grieving friends, relatives and musicians. 

Committal of the ashes will be Saturday, April 15 at 4PM at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church Memorial Garden. A memorial gathering will follow from 5-8PM at Lyndon House Art Center, 211 Hoyt St, downtown Athens. Bands are welcome to play. Refreshments, anecdotes and photos will be shared.

Join us for Gospel Music Sunday with the Trey Clegg Singers!

On April 16, 2023, join us for a gospel music celebration with guest choir, the Trey Clegg Singers. There will be ONE service this day at 10AM only. You may remember Trey Clegg and some of his choristers from Bishop Wright's Consecration in the Diocese of Atlanta in 2012, and some of the glorious music heard there. Some others of you may have heard of the excellent music from St. Paul's Episcopal Church and its choirs, when Mr. Clegg served as Minister of Music there. And whether you have or haven't heard this choir before, know that here at St. Gregory the Great, as we give our own excellent choir and musical staff a well-deserved break after the phenomenal music performances given to us for Lent and Easter, you are in for a treat. They will be with us at the 10AM service, and joining us for coffee hour afterward. Please come and worship with us.

For music sample and news click here and here.

St. Gregory's next Family Promise week is coming up April 30-May 6. Family Promise (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network) is an organization of churches which helps with meals and host responsibilities for local, temporarily homeless families with children. The families stay at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church (MABC). Volunteers sign up to provide a meal or be a host for an evening, night or weekend shift at MABC. Sign up by clicking on this link. Scroll down until you find the week of April 30-May 6. For questions, email Annette at or call 706-255-5839. This is a way for us to be Christ's feet on the earth here in Athens.

thomas' story

a twin sister

to my brother

i have felt an

ignored other

in his shadow

where i was hid

anxious to do

the things he did

for our boomer

growing up life

lack of notice

my constant strife

in present time

as in the past

good women still 

are lesser cast

alice mohor

In case you missed it, click here to hear Bishop Wright's Easter message.

Instructions for Live Streaming

• Just go to the St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church YouTube Homepage

• Near the time for service, underneath our channel logo, you will see our video for that day, with the word ‘live’ on it. The page will look like this:

• If you don’t immediately see the video that says ‘live’, (for instance, if you opened YouTube before the service begins) keep refreshing it.  

• When you see the video square that says ‘live’, click on it. 

Welcome to worship!