Gloriously Beloved,

Thank you so much for all your prayers and healing thoughts as my mother was hospitalized this past weekend. She now has a clean bill of health! 

And…because of you being the faithful and wonderful church you are, along with the excellent work of mother Carol Schwenke, preacher Ron Balthazor, Jonathan and Joe, and our guest soloist Deborah Stephens, church was phenomenal while I was away unexpectedly.

This coming Sunday I am away “expectedly”. My brother and I are very happy to take my mother on a family cruise for her 80th birthday. Thank you again to mother Carol, and all the good folks at Saint Gregory the great, in all the ministries that make worship happen.

I do know that while this is a time of rest and travel and vacation for some, that it is also a time of anxiety, grief, and sadness as we take note of what is happening in the world around us. We pray for our brothers and sisters who suffered a mass shooting at Saint Stephens Episcopal Church in Alabama, sadly only one of many mass shootings that has happened almost daily for the past six weeks or so. Surges of COVID continue to occur, wars are being fought, civil rights for the marginalized are in danger, and hope may be in short supply.

But God is still good and God is still on the throne. Meaning there is always love, hope, and beauty. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11
God has made everything beautiful in its time. God has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

May this prayer and blessing by author Cole Arthur Riley put words to those truths for us as we speak to the God who loves us:

God of tension and beauty,
It seems there is so much at stake in the world and in ourselves, that to look away would be callous. We will not become numb to suffering. But sustain us, God. Remind us of the beautiful as we try to survive the tragedies of this world. Awaken us to the artists and creatives in our midst— Those whose songs, and paintings, and words, and films can hold the seams of our souls together when under the harshest duress. Awaken us to the stars, the rain falling, the flowers resurrecting; that even when we find ourselves too exhausted to create, we might be held by the beauty of your own creation. Remind us that violence and oppression cannot conquer beauty itself. That our love, our lament, our rage, are each in their own way messengers of beauty in an aching world.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Word by which all beauty is created, with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever more, Amen.

Breath prayer
Inhale:
I resist the tyranny of despair.

Exhale:
God awaken my soul to beauty.

A blessing for those in grief:
Finding the beautiful is not the same as naïve optimism. Beauty cannot be destroyed by sorrow, but sorrow is not to be destroyed by beauty. You don’t have to become numb to one to hold the other. They each grant the other the courage to remain.

Cole Arthur Riley@BlackLiturgires, 
Instagram 

Much love, 
Mo. Nikki+
For the month of July and the first Sunday of August, we will take a break from Children’s Sunday School. We will still have Children’s Chapel during the 10:30 worship service, and will be covering the weekly Sunday School lessons during the Children’s Chapel time. In the meantime - all children and their families are encouraged to invite friends to join us for Vacation Bible School/Compassion Camp July 18-21.
ACOLYTES NEEDED

We are in need of a few more acolytes to give a bit of relief to those in our current rotation. Never served before? That's fine- we will teach you! Acolyting is a great, low commitment, way to get involved in the life of the parish! Reach out to Wade McGlamery, 770-624-4837, if you would like to volunteer.
VBS Volunteer Meeting
Everyone who is interested in assisting with Bible School (whether you have communicated with Doug or not) is asked to join us for a discussion/planning meeting Tuesday, June 28, 6:45 PM in the Christian Education building. Please communicate with Doug if you have a conflict and are unable to attend. 
Confirmation Classes for the rest of the summer
June 26: we will not meet
July 3: we will meet
July 10: we will meet
July 17: we will not meet
July 24: we will not meet
July 31: we will meet
August 7: we will meet (and should finish!)
The Cost of Following Jesus
Adult Spiritual Formation meets this Sunday to continue our exploration of the Gospel of Luke. All are welcome in the Parish Hall from 9:15 to 10:15 with no need to have attended earlier sessions. Bibles will be available but feel free to bring your own favorite.
 
Dates and Times: July 18-21, 5:30 - 7:45

We are about 3 weeks (July 18-21) from
"Compassion Camp: Changing the World with Lovingkindness." 
We have extended the nightly sessions by 15 minutes, beginning with supper at 5:30 and concluding at 7:45. As is the case every year, in order to pull off a week of Bible School, we need several volunteers. Please notice the needs listed below, and contact Doug Adkins to let him know in which area you would like to serve.

Supper:  We need a team of 5-6 people to organize the suppers each night. Nothing is set in stone as of yet, but we had discussed: Pizza Night; Spaghetti Night; Jason's Deli Sandwich Box Night; and a Food Truck Night (tacos and burritos?) Also - each night we will have a "make your own salad" option.

Gathering & Music:  We need someone to lead us in singing a couple theme songs each night for our gathering time. If you cannot be there each night, you can lead one or two nights. Doug has the music and scripts.

Below are the three rotations for each night. Volunteers will be doing the same lesson for three different groups of kids as they rotate through Compassion Camp.

Games & Movement:   Alice Mohor will be leading this rotation, and will be recruiting her team. See Alice if you would like to assist.

Bible Story/Scripts:  We need 5-7 people to assist with presenting the Bible story for each night. 

Create/Crafts:  We need 3-4 people to assist with this rotation.

Doug Adkins has the curriculum for each group. Please let him know as soon as you can regarding the area you can serve. How exciting it is to finally be back in person for a week of Bible School!
Family Promise
We've had a great response for dinner prep for our week! We do still need van drivers for the morning and evening and day and evening hosts. 

If you're able to help, please follow this link to sign up!

We have this chance to put our faith into action, to walk by faith into a role we maybe haven't experienced yet, but which God is calling us to, like Mother Nikki told us in last week's sermon. To feed the hungry and house the homeless, to give hope to those who need it. Contact Annette Bates via email or 706-255-5839 to learn more. 
BLINDSPOT GAME NIGHT | JULY 9

Calling all those in their 20s/30s- join us at the Rook and Pawn in Downtown Athens on Saturday, July 9th at 7pm for a night of games, drinks, and fellowship!

We need 8 more! If you would like to volunteer, and/or coordinate, please contact Anna Hiers, vestry liaison to the Worship Committee, via email or @ 706-340-9799. Training will be provided.
On July 8th at 7pm all 6th-12th graders are invited to see Thor: Love and Thunder at B&B Theaters. If your child would like to attend please let Wade McGlamery, 770-624-4837, know ASAP so that we can order the appropriate number of tickets.
If you have a child that will be in the 6th-12th grades as of August 2022, please come by our Parent Info meeting in the Parish Hall on July 10 at 1pm, immediately following Mother Nikki's confirmation class.

Contact Wade McGlamery, 770-624-4837, if you have any questions.
retreat

summer solstice
a siren song
to laze inside
on hot days long

or get away
to water sport
on vacations
that feel too short

renewal with
some time to rest
can bring us back
to do our best

to better love
all those we know
because we stop
before we go


alice mohor
Blindspot Group Chat
If you're in your 20s or 30s and would like to stay up to date on events for your age group please reach out to Wade McGlamery, 770-624-4837, to join our group chat. 
Coffee Hour!
Due to the lack of volunteers, there may or may not be coffee hour on any given Sunday. If you are able to host or bring a baked item for a future coffee hour, contact Melissa or Catrina to sign up. A sign up sheet will also be posted at the event.
Melissa Hamlin - 8AM service 
Catrina King - 10:30AM service 
Instructions for Live Streaming

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

  • 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. To ‘refresh’ go up to the top of your screen and on the left or right of the web address you will see this image (little curvy arrow to the right -->). Click on it to ‘refresh.’ 

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

Welcome to worship!
Meeting Opportunities
Parish community offerings via Zoom or in person:

Hebrew Reading meets on Zoom every other Wednesday from 11am-1pm. Contact Joel Hunt!

Stacie Court hosts "Let's Chat!" for women of the parish. The days and time vary, and not everyone can join every time, but everyone is welcome to join whenever they can! Email Stacie!

Book Club first Friday of the month @ 7PM ongoing for the foreseeable future.  Email Lois Alworth if you are interested in participating.

Lectionary Discussion Group via Zoom, every Thursday at 6:00pm. Email Ken Taylor if you are interested in participating.

*Threads of Prayer will meet only the 1st Tuesdays of the month @1PM for June and July, and likely August! We'll meet outside if the weather is good and inside the Christian Ed building if the weather is bad. Email Annette Bates if you are interested in participating. All knitters and crocheters welcome!

*Men's Group: 9AM on Saturdays.  Email Peter Rice!

* group(s) now meeting in person
Other groups have been meeting via Zoom as well, so if you've got a group already meeting in Zoom rooms, and want to widen your circle, let Kendall know so we can get the word out there!
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St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church | office@stgregoryathens.org
706.546.7553 | www.stregoryathens.org