Grace Notes Weekly is a newsletter of Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, TN,
and is used to communicate the upcoming activities of this community.
The Season after Pentecost
Creation Season
SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

St. Francis' Day & the Blessing the Animals (9-25)
In spite of political intrigue, high prices, traffic jams and fall allergies, life is rife with blessings, among them the rumbling purrs and cold noses on the backs of unsuspecting knees. If your life has been blessed and enriched by one or more of God's creatures, you are invited to bring these companions to the courtyard for the 10:45 a.m. service this Sunday, where blessings will be bestowed and a great, furry and joyful chaos will celebrate creation and its wonders. All critters should be on leashes, in crates, or otherwise restrained for their own and others' safety; sometimes, the proximity of other people's blessings causes too much excitement to keep behavior in check!

(continued below)
IN THIS ISSUE
Blessing of the Animals
GreenJustice Meeting 9-25
Light the Way Campaign
Pride Activities (October 2 and 8)
Spirits in the Garden -- Help Needed!
Correct E-mail Addresses Needed!
Sunday School Schedule (beginning this Sunday)
Barbara Dooley's Funeral (9-30)
Partnering with Barger School
Dates to Note (with accompanying schedule tweaks & additions)
Sunday Worship with COVID Update
Food Pantry
Daily Worship
Brainerd Market
Useful Information
Parish Prayer List
Serving on Sunday
Lectionary
Francis/Animals (continued)
In honor of our Pet Blessing in specific and Creation season in general, GreenGrace is sponsoring a pet food drive. Proceeds will go to the Chattanooga Humane Society. Drop a bag of any size (1) in the hall outside the Food Pantry.3rd floor kitchen or (2), the pew outside the choir room this Sunday or at any time between now and October 9. 

If you are allergic to pet dander or simply prefer your liturgies unadorned by fur and strange vocalizations, you are invited to take part in the 8 a.m. service, which will celebrate the themes in the Nave and offer no live-action sequences from the canine, feline, avian, etc., kingdoms.
GreenJustice Meeting, Sunday, September 25
The next meeting is changed to Sunday, September 25th, after 10:45 service. This team is led by Emily Dungey and Susan Butler.  
  • We are beginning to revive a long term relationship with magnet school Barger Elementary with Barger's volunteer coordinator. See elsewhere in this newsletter for specific program offerings: adopt-a -classroom, tutoring, donations to the school's Reindeer Store, and other ways to participate large and small.  
  • This team is also participating with CALEB, seeking changes on bail bonding and neighborhood representation in large construction projects.
  • This Sunday! 3pm in the Merritt Room at Grace, Climate Chattanooga, TIPL, and other organizations will be discussing the Sustainability Plan meeting held with the mayor of Chattanooga this week, the proposed Resolution to City Council to support this plan, and a growing their coalition and other climate action ideas. All supportive community members are encouraged to attend.
  
Lisa Lemza & Kristina Shaneyfelt
Light the Way Campaign
Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.  –Psalm 119:105
 
We are in the process of replacing the lighting fixtures in the Nave that illuminate the chancel, altar and choir, including the pulpit and lectern areas. Many of the current fixtures in the nave are 700 watt incandescent lights. They use a lot of electricity, generate a lot of heat, and cannot be angled correctly, as the mechanical parts of the fixtures are failing. That makes it difficult to see, and also means that our choir, acolytes and clergy are often uncomfortably warm under all those robes.
Right now, many of the lights in this region of the Nave are incandescent, and run very hot, even as it still feels rather dim up in the choir and around the altar.  
The new lights would be LED, using less energy while emitting high quality,
natural-looking light. In addition to being more efficient, the new lights will run cooler, lowering air-conditioning costs and providing a more comfortable environment for the choir and others leading worship. Increased light output would also improve visibility and safety as worshipers approach the altar.
 
We are hoping that a number of members of our community will help us raise the funds to light the way to Christ’s table at Grace for years to come. The total cost for this project is $10,000, which includes the fixtures and installation. We already have four fixtures committed, and we are looking to raise an additional $6,000 from donors. If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact Jeff Workman, Junior Warden at j_workman79@yahoo.com
Pride Activities (Sunday, 10-2) and Pride Mass (Saturday, 10-8)
Chattanooga will host its Pride Parade and
Festival on Sunday, October 2, and Grace plans to participate! In order to allow time to make the 11:30 a.m. parade-time, Grace will offer ONE service that morning at 10:00 a.m. Our liturgical schedule will return to normal on Sunday, October 9.

Grace will reinforce Pride through its annual PrideMass on Saturday, October 8 at 6:00 p.m. This celebration honors all LGBTQ+ people as children of God and includes holy communion, scripture, music, and prayers that speak of God's love for LGBTQ+ people. Come and celebrate the membership of every one of God's children in the body of Christ!

If you'd like to help with worship or hospitality for PrideMass on October 8th, please contact Rev. April at aberends@saygrace.net.
Spirits in the Garden -- Help Needed
Whether you're interested in encountering ghosts or merely a glass of good red, your help is needed for the garden and grounds folk's favorite fundraiser, Spirits in the Garden, which the pandemic kept from happening for the past couple of years.

Spirits has been set for Saturday, October 29, from 6-9 p.m. on the Grace Grounds. Prices will be $30 a person or $50 a family. All proceeds go towards the care of our Grounds and Arboretum. This night of fright and fun will include chili cook-off, hotdogs, snacks, s'mores, spooky stories, costume contest, adult beverages, games, and more!

Here's what we need, personnel-wise:

  • greeters/ money collectors (1-2)
  • a team to judge costumes (2-3) 
  • set-up crew (all the help we can get!)
  • break-down crew (all the help we can get!)
  • bartender crew (2)
  • volunteers for games/ crafts with kids (3-4) 
  • spooky-tale reader (1-2) 
  • chili taste team (5) 
  • s'mores station (2)
  • hot dog station (2)

Here's what we need, food-wise:

  • hot dogs/ buns/ condiments
  • s'mores ingredients 
  • various side dishes 
  • red and white wine 

This is a fun family event that supports our beautiful grounds and arboretum; however, it is a team effort to make it happen. Please contact Brittany Williamson (865) 202-0481 or brittwilli90@gmail.com if you can volunteer in any capacity!
Does Grace Have Your Correct E-Mail Address?
With quarterly statements in the offing in October, we have become acutely aware that we are not in possession of everyone's current e-mail addresses. Since these documents are now sent out entirely electronically, please take steps to make sure the Parish Administrator’s office has the information that will allow you to receive it! Please contact Paula Garner at pgarner@saygrace.net if you’ve changed your e-mail at any point in recent history or if there’s any chance the church has an antique one on file. Your accountant will thank you!
Sunday School Schedule (Beginning this Sunday!)
Sunday School for all ages is now in session! See below for information about classes for all ages:
 
Nursery for ages birth – 4 -- 9:30 a.m. - end of Eucharist. Parents may come get children to receive communion together, in which case children would remain with their families through the end of the service, or children may stay in the nursery until the end of service.
 
Age 4 - grade 5 -- 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 -- Godly Play
 
Grades 2 - 5 -- 10:30 a.m. – Eucharist -- attend with family with “Worship Works” (extension and support activities)
 
Ages 4 - grade 1 -- 10:30 a.m. - until Communion -- Children’s Chapel: songs, crafts, stories, snack, playtime. Join family for Communion - end of service. 
Barbara Dooley's Funeral
Barbara Dooley, mother of Gail Dooley and generous pandemic-musician for some of our summer courtyard services, died last Sunday after a well-lived and admirable life. She will be celebrated with a graveside service at National Cemetery on Friday, September 30, at 1:30 p.m., and her family welcomes all who would like to attend.
Partnering with Barger -- Volunteer Opportunities
If you're interested in more details about the above-mentioned partnering wit Barger School, see the list below of volunteer opportunities collected by Jim Milburn through a recent meeting with the volunteer coordinator at Barger Academy. If you see something you'd be good at and would like to help,
contact Jim for more information (his information is at the end of the article).
 
Adopt a Classroom is a program that pairs a volunteer with a specific teacher/classroom. The volunteer comes once a week and helps out the teacher in the classroom. It could be reading or helping some students with classwork. This program benefits from the consistency of having the volunteer learn the needs of the students and build a relationship. Since the volunteer is never alone with the student, no background check is required. This would be at some time between 9am and 4pm.After School Tutors are needed from 4 to 6 to help with homework.
 
Career Days They would love to have people come talk about their jobs and the education required to get those jobs.
 
Reindeer Store Each fall they collect donations of small items to be placed in the Reindeer Store. These items are things like trinkets, candles, Christmas mugs, etc. They then collect Pennies for Peace as donations from the kids. When a child makes a donation, they get to choose a gift from the Reindeer Store. The gifts are wrapped and the kids can give them to family members or other people as holiday gifts.  The donations go to help others in need. They have been doing this since 2005. That year, they sent funds to a school in Kenya. Recent donations were given to help the victims of the Woodmore bus crash, a Barger family who lost their home in a fire last year, a student who was a victim of a car accident, a terminally ill student's family and to breast cancer awareness, Louisiana flood victims; the most recent was a donation to a former Barger student who died of an accidental shooting.  

They can use help staffing the Reindeer Store and wrapping the gifts. They can use donations of items and wrapping paper. They collect the items all fall and then the store is opened the last week before Winter Break. 
 
Classroom Incentives Teachers use things like Popsicles, Skittles, fruit snacks, etc. as positive reinforcement incentives for the students. They can always use these items on a regular basis.
 
Read Across America Week is in March. They need volunteers to read with students.
 
If you have questions, contact Jim Milburn jnmilburn@epbfi.com 423-593-6809
Sunday Worship (with COVID Update)
Creation Season begins this Sunday, and you can celebrate and enjoy it at two liturgies this week, one at 8 a.m. and the other at 10:45 a.m. Those who are not able to join us in the flesh are invited to take part in either the live-stream feed or the recording of the service, both available through our Facebook page. You can find the bulletin for the service HERE.

In miraculous news, the COVID transmission rate in Hamilton County has dropped to LOW on the CDC's county-by-county map -- a lovely green to help celebrate Creation Season! At this level, the CDC advises keeping up-to-date on vaccinations and testing if you have symptoms.
Food Pantry
Another busy session last Wednesday -- our cheerful and unflappable volunteers, Jim Dorris and Jim Harris, greeted received 39 visitors and sent them on their ways with food for 127 -- 76 adults and 51 children. There's LOTS of shelf showing between little huddles of goods!

Most needed this week:

* Peanut butter (16 oz. jars preferred) -- 8 jars left
* canned tuna -- 6 cans left
* beanee weenies -- 0 left (Sam's had NONE this week;
they may generally be in short supply at the moment)
* canned fruit (15 oz. cans) and/or fruit cups -- 2 cans left
* canned pinto beans -- none left
* spaghetti noodles and sauce -- some but not enough for next week
* hearty soups (beef, especially) -- none left
* Spam or similar
* Vienna sausages
* dog food (small bags of dry food preferred) -- none left
* cat food (1 bag and a smattering of cans left)

We can also use your used-but-clean plastic grocery bags; we seem to be going through them at an impressive rate.

Odes and paeans of gratitude to all you Grace folks -- donors and volunteers alike -- and Belvoir neighbors whose empathy and open-handedness go so far to relieve the suffering of so many who are struggling. We are grateful to have such generous folks supporting this essential ministry!
Daily Worship
Grace offers Compline services at 8pm each evening; you can join

& the password is: compline 

Morning Prayer continues every day (except Sundays) via Zoom, beginning at 9:00 a.m.; click the link below or paste the URL into your browser.

For Morning Prayer, click here:


or paste this URL into your browser:


Meeting ID: 746 8859 6599

Passcode: amprayer
Brainerd Market
The Brainerd Market, which runs on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Brainerd Parking lot, offers fresh local produce, meats, eggs, breads, local honey,  jams & jellies, live plants, arts and crafts, wonderful foods and memorable personalities as well!

 All of the farm fresh products at the market are naturally grown, free of pesticides, GMO's and antibiotics.

Market Vendors accept CASH, DEBIT/CREDIT & EBT/SNAP for eligible items. Double SNAP Dollar available every Saturday on EBT/SNAP purchase up to $20.
Useful Information
P.O. Box Use and Address
Please use Grace's P.O. Box for dispatches containing money or other valuables: hard times persist for some of our neighbors, and checks have disappeared from our mailbox more than once. The address is Grace Episcopal Church,
P.O. Box 80954, Chattanooga, TN 37414.

Accessing the Online Church Directory
The directory can be accessed via the church's webpage (www.saygrace.net). Find the menu item “BREEZE” at the right end of the menu options that sprawl across the screen near the top, click and log in; user name is ‘saygrace’ and the password is ‘Chattanooga.’
Parish Prayer List
Please remember: Joseph, our President; the Senate, the House of Representatives, and our Courts of Justice; together with all elected officials, and the other leaders of our country and the nations of the world.
 
We pray for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury; Michael, our Presiding Bishop; Brian, our Bishop; for April, our priest; for Caroline and Christopher, our seminarians; for Sarah Hess, our M.Div. assistant; for our missionaries, and all other bishops and ministers.
 
We pray for the unemployed and underemployed, especially those in our congregation and community. We pray for the homeless and the hungry, and for those in special need of prayer, especially
 
Jean Larkin, James Kelley, father of Audrey Worth, Christopher, Roland Thomas, Anne Curtis, Diana Spaulding, Valorie Lephart, Joyce Ivey, Dakota Hullander,
 Dexter Williams and Helen Williams, Barbara Reed, Darlene, Daniel Stanislawski, Tom Lifsey, Hannah Brewer, Rhonda Boocock, Wilma Laney, Bill Clark,
Mary McDonald, Patricia Kelley Williams, Russell, Scott, Julia, Martha Smith,
Sue Sears, Amy, William Simpson, Neil Robinson, Ash Gunlock, Bill Strang, Deborah, Jim Hinkle, Andrea, the Brown family, Reba, Terrie, Alex, Angela,  
Dwight McMillan, Doris, J.R. Hicks, Libby Workman, Jean Williams,  Jim May,
and Ann Swint; 

We pray for Wil Mabry, Jake Dorris, Kevin Kelley, Mike Mabry, Alexander Ross, Russel Webb, Logan Roberts, Jim Makepeace, Sean Benson, Evan Watkins
and all of our Armed Forces, here and abroad;

We pray for Megan Stone, who is with child.
 
We pray for this community: For our local leaders; for our schools and marketplaces; for our neighborhoods and workplaces, for protesters and for police. Help us to honor your image in one another. Give us courage to strive for justice and peace among all people, beginning here at home. 

We pray for all whose homes are in peril or uprooted because of climate change, for all displaced because of hurricanes, fires or other disasters.

We pray for the people of Ukraine and of Russia who find themselves beset by war.
 
We pray for those who have died, especially Barbara Dooley, mother of Gail Dooley, that they may share with all your saints in the full revelation of your eternal glory.

We pray for all victims of violence, that they may dwell in the light of God's love forever. Let our prayers propel us to action. Take our hearts of stone and make them hearts of flesh. 

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Pray for St. John's Cathedral and The Episcopal School of Knoxville, Knoxville, TN, and for Calvary Cathedral, Sioux Falls, SD.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church of Burundi. The Anglican Communion has adopted a cycle of prayer called "From Aba to Zululand," praying its way alphabetically through its members on a daily basis between January 1, 2021 and September 2023. The newsletter and, in the future, the printed bulletin, will include the prayers for Sunday; if you would like to see the daily prayer requests, you can find them at ACoP.

Those in need of continued prayer: 
Mary Lou Walden, Jeanette Cureton, Wanda Kirkpatrick,
Emma Andrews, Jim Strickland, Michael Conner,  Peggy Fugate, William Simpson, Timothy Penny, Donald Jones, Cooper Jones, Charles Smith, John Woodham,
Elaine Harrison, Marcia Magers, Major McCollough, John Cox, 
Gayanne Silver, Heather Nelson, Robert Clark, Cheryl McCurry, 
Ethel Rutledge, Lanie Lundgrin, Terri Harvey, Anne Getz, Michael Roberts, 
Jeannie and Andy Williams, Jaime Cooper, Teresa Noel, Tina Knowles, 
Joyce and Greg Snyder, Martha Killeffer, Robert Durham, Jessica Ricketts
Serving on Sunday
At the 8:00 a.m. service: Lectors, Terry Burnett, Cate Schreeder; Intercessor, Susan Brown

At the 10:45 a.m. service: Lector, Jim Milburn; Intercessor, Celeste Humphrey; Crucifer, Jeff Bertrand; Lead Usher, Dick McGee; Communion Ministers, Caroline Day, Sarah Hess, Christopher McAbee

Lectionary Readings
Genesis 1:1, 20-25; Canticle: a Song of Creation; Romans 8:18-23*; Matthew 6:25-33
*8 a.m. only
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