TODAY'S VIDEO MESSAGE

FROM FR. ANDREW

Join Father Andrew for

Two Important Events This Weekend!

Join Fr. Andrew on Saturday, January 27 at 9:00 am for an important and interactive "Let's Grow" think tank discussion in Harris Hall and again on Sunday in Harris Hall following the 10:00 AM service for St. Gregory's Annual Meeting.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The People of St. Gregory's

We usually highlight an individual or ministry team that makes a difference. This week I wanted to highlight how together, as the people of God and as followers of Jesus Christ, we make a difference. As we move into this next, post-construction phase, of our life in Christ. I am inviting all our members to engage in the work of discerning our call to reach out to our community with the transforming love of Jesus with renewed energy in fresh, creative and faithful ways. At our "Let's Grow " gathering on Saturday and at our Annual Meeting on Sunday, we will set aside intentional time to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit. Our aim will be to listen deeply and respond faithfully. It will be a time to connect with the Spirit's abiding presence in your life and to give voice to that presence. I am eager to see what holy themes, what holy callings will emerge from this holy conversation with God and each other. But this I know and trust: whatever emerges will make a difference because it will be from God. 

In Christ,

Andrew+

VOTING FOR VESTRY IS NOW OPEN!

Members of St. Gregory’s are eligible to vote for four Vestry candidates and have the choice of voting in person or online.

This year’s Vestry candidates are:

Carole Boucard

Rachel Bruno

Philip Hall

Mary Herin

Zim Reid

Arun Thomas

CLICK HERE to learn more about St. Gregory’s 2024 Vestry Candidates. Please vote for four candidates to ensure your vote counts.

IN-PERSON VOTING

To vote in person, kindly drop off your ballot in Harris Hall on Sunday after the 8 AM and 10 AM services, but before the start of the Annual Meeting.

ONLINE VOTING

Online voting is now open and closes at Noon on Sunday, January 28th.

Please vote for four candidates by selecting their names from the dropdowns, completing your contact information, and pressing the "submit" button. Click the button below to learn more or to vote online now.

PRESIDING BISHOP MICHAEL CURRY HOME FOLLOWING MEDICAL PROCEDURE

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry underwent a procedure on January 18th to address his reoccurring subdural hematomas. That procedure was successful, and he is now home from the hospital where he will continue his recovery. Please continue to hold Bishop Curry, his family, and his medical team in your prayers.

Click to read more.

NEW PODCAST:

REFLECTIONS WITH BISHOP PETER EATON

The Episcopal Church in Southeast Florida is excited to announce that we have launched a brand-new podcast called Reflections with Bishop Peter Eaton. The podcast is available to listen on your favorite podcast apps:  Apple, Spotify, and RSS. Click here to read the full article.

AN UPDATE FROM

FR. ANDREW AND THE VESTRY

On the 2023/24 Stewardship Campaign

Thank you to those members who have made their financial commitment to St. Gregory's. If you have not yet made your financial commitment, please visit our online pledge page at stgregorysepiscopal.org/pledge or contact the church office at office@st-gregorys.com to make your commitment. We invite your prayers for our stewardship campaign.

With Gratitude,

Father Andrew, Bill Lintz, Stewardship Chair, and the Vestry Team.

Here are some statistics about our Stewardship Campaign

We have approximately 400 families who are members.

As of January 18, 2024, St. Gregory's has received 178 pledges totaling $1,030,887 toward our goal of $1,100,000.

THE REALITY OF BEING

“I become empty of all pretense of knowing, my feeling becomes more stable and purified, able to weigh opposites, that is able to know. When the action of being is felt as a necessity and as something I truly wish, I become capable of communicating this feeling to all my centers so that they are integrated into a single whole. This creates a kind of atmosphere like a thin, sensitive layer, a filter, which is capable of capturing what otherwise would be incommunicable and of letting the most subtle elements show through. […] It is like a filtering screen conscious of its mission. Everything depends on the fineness of the filter.”

- Jeanne de Salzmann

This Week, our group work continued within The Reality of Being. We began by consciously stepping into our atmospheres with the aid of the Lord, Have Mercy canon. On the inhale breathing in: Lord. On the exhale breathing out: Have Mercy. This opening prayer and meditation was done silently from a collected state, at our own pace, together. Give it and receive it as an opening hymn for our time with each other.

We then continued where we left off last week: pp. 262 - 268, (sections 126 - 128). When working with the emergence of real “I,” we also work with the death of the ordinary “I.” Standing in-between. This work is liberating. Freedom rushes in. But it can also be painful to let the ordinary “I” go, if you’ve been clinging to it your whole life. Seeing the ordinary “I” takes deep inner work. For some, however, it’s the only experience they’ve known.

Without self-remembering inhabiting the seat of the movement, consciousness cannot grow.

Thus, St. Benedict’s words, “Always, we begin again,” will be a crucial guide in gathering and not scattering ourselves.

“To remember oneself means to die to oneself, to the lie of one’s imagination. I have the taste of understanding through awareness of the lack of understanding. In remembering oneself, it is the letting go of the ego that allows a new consciousness to penetrate. Then I see that the ordinary ‘I’ is a phantom, a projection of my self. […] Returning to the source, I become conscious of that which arises not to fall back, that which is not born and does not die - the eternal Self.”

- Jeanne de Salzmann

We then continued with how Reality, through Presence, both transmits and receives simultaneously. This epiphany is the radio. The frequency coming from the Source and returning to the Source is the diaphonic song. Lord, have mercy.

A being that “concentrates without boundaries” is witnessing the action when being is felt as a necessary wish to coagulate yourself. In mystical literature, this is basically a definition of unknowing.

Everything depends on you becoming the filtering screen consciously interacting with its mission.

This becoming strikes me as the heart of the cry and the desire: Lord, have mercy.

See you next Wednesday.

This will be an ongoing group meeting on Zoom every Wednesday morning at 10:00 am - 11:30 am ET.

Zoom link here. Your desire is your compass.

Meeting ID: 854 5001 9587 Passcode: 1+1=3

Bless you,

Benjamin

NEW CLASS STARTS SOON!

The Cloud of Unknowing with Fr. Ben+

Begins Soon

Fr. Ben will be starting another fascinating spiritual exploration beginning soon. The book being used for this series is The Cloud of Unknowing: With the Book of Privy Counsel.

About the book:

This anonymous fourteenth-century text is the glory of English mysticism and one of the most practical and useful guides to finding union with God ever written. Carmen Acevedo Butcher’s new translation is the first to bring the text into a modern English idiom—while remaining strictly faithful to the meaning of the original Middle English.

The Cloud of Unknowing consists of a series of letters written by a monk to his student or disciple, instructing him (or her) in the way of Divine union. Its theology is presented in a way that is remarkably easy to understand, as well as practical, providing advice on prayer and contemplation that anyone can use. Previous translations of the Cloud have tended to veil its intimate, even friendly tone under medieval-sounding language. Carmen Butcher has boldly brought the text into language as appealing to modern ears as it was to its original readers more than five hundred years ago.

Also included in the volume is the companion work attributed to the same anonymous author, The Book of Privy Counsel, which contains further advice for approaching God in a way that emphasizes real experience rather than human knowledge. Please email Fr. Ben for more information and to register.

A MESSAGE FROM TIM

I want to thank Emily Carter for conducting the choir this past Sunday, Sam Cucci for playing his flute at the 8 am service, and Susan Dodd for playing the organ at the 10 am service. I called on them at the last minute as I was not only sick with a respiratory illness, but I was also snowed in while visiting my family in KY. We had over 5 inches of snow and temperatures hovering around 0 with Saturday night’s low being -5. 



This Sunday, January 28, the Choir will sing Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas as we reflect on the reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.” The text of the ancient hymn, Ubi Caritas, pairs beautifully with Paul’s writing, Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Let us fear and let us love the Living God. And may we love each other with a sincere heart. Amen.

On Sunday evening, we will have our FIRST CHORAL EVENSONG since returning to the sanctuary! I’m so excited! As you’ve all experienced, the sound is incredible and if you’ve never experienced the magic of Choral Evensong, you MUST plan to attend! Evensong incorporates the elements of Evening Prayer in which the prayers, canticles, and psalms are sung by the choir. There are literally hundreds of musical settings of these texts which have been composed throughout the centuries by the world’s most prolific composers. This Sunday’s Evensong will include a beautiful setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Charles Villiers Stanford and an absolutely ravishing setting of the Preces and Responses. The anthem for the evening will be an arrangement of the hymn  Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee sung  to the tune St. Botolph composed by my a friend and former colleague, Paul Halley. Halley served as Cathedral Organist at The Cathedral of St John the Divine during the 1980’s prior to my tenure there and his music set the tone for the “cathedral sound” for decades to follow.  Halley’s use of various rhythms and contemporary harmonies, which underlay the sweeping melody, soars with a loftiness of beauty that gives one glimpses of a heavenly banquet of sound. His understanding of the giant acoustics of the vast cathedral led him to compose for the space, and now we too can experience this music as it was intended to sound in the proper acoustical environment. 

I hope to see everyone both Sunday morning and Sunday evening! It’ll be wonderful to be back!

Blessings to all,

Tim

SERAPHIC FIRE IN CONCERT AT

ST. GREGORY'S

Sunday, February 25 at 4:00 PM

Enlightenment Festival: A Visit with Haydn

Patrick Dupre Quigley, Conductor

A special visit to the Esterházy palace by war hero Admiral Lord Nelson and his mistress, Lady Emma Hamilton, inspired this concert of works by Haydn. Amateur soprano and scandalous socialite Lady Hamilton struck up a friendship with Haydn and they performed together multiple times during her stay at Esterházy. The palace’s resident composer, Haydn provided entertainment for the diplomatic visit with the premier of the Te Deum for the Empress Marie Therese and two works dedicated to Lord Nelson: Missa in angustiis (later coined the “Nelson” Mass) and the song “The Battle of the Nile,” with Emma singing. Step back in time to relive the political and social intrigue of Haydn’s time in a concert for chorus and chamber orchestra that will make you feel like you’ve stepped into a salon at the Austrian palace.

NEWCOMERS WELCOME BRUNCH

Sunday, February 4 at 11:45 AM

at the Rectory

New to St. Gregory's? Join Father Andrew and Anita at the Rectory for the Newcomers Welcome Brunch on Sunday, February 4th immediately following the 10:00 AM service! It is a warm and wonderful way to make new friends and learn about life in Christ at St. Gregory's!

ECW THRIFT STORE

REOPENING SOON!

Look forward to shopping in the newly renovated St Gregory’s Thrift Shop - Coming Soon!

SAVE THE DATE FOR

THE ECW TEA

Saturday, April 13 at 2:00 PM

Mark your calendars for a delightful afternoon at St. Gregory's ECW Annual Tea, set to take place on Saturday, April 13th, from 2 PM to 4 PM. This cherished event is the perfect opportunity to enjoy a cozy tea experience while enjoying fellowship. Additional details about the event will be shared soon, so stay tuned!

SAVE THE DATE FOR ST. GREGORY'S DEDICATION AND OPEN HOUSE

Sunday, April 21

Save the date for St. Gregory's dedication service and open house! Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 21st. More information to follow.

LOOKING AHEAD

Mark Your Calendar

for these Important Dates

Saturday, January 27: Let’s Grow! Growing our community think tank discussion with Fr. Andrew. 9:00 AM in Harris Hall

Sunday, January 28: St. Gregory’s Annual meeting: 11:45 AM

Evensong: 6 PM

Saturday, February 3: Altar Guild Pot Luck Breakfast (Harris Hall)

Sunday, February 4: 10 AM: Rise and Shine (in Harris Hall)

Newcomers Brunch at the Rectory: 11:45 AM

Sunday, February 11: Big Red Bus, Blood drive: 8 AM to noon

Brothers Breakfast after both services; Newcomers class after breakfast

Tuesday, February 12: Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Burning of the Palms begins at 6 PM

Wednesday, February 14: ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES: 7 AM, NOON, 6:30 PM. ASHES TO GO: 9 AM - 10:30 AM - South Beach Pavillion (Boca), Mizner at Noon, Whole Foods at 2:30 PM.

Saturday, March 2 - Haiti Food Packing

Sunday, March 3 - Rise & Shine Service -10 AM (Harris Hall)

Sunday, March 10 - Visit and Presentation from South Florida Wildlife Center (11:45 AM In the Courtyard)

Sunday, March 17 - Lenten Lunch Youth Group Fundraiser - Following the 10 AM Service in Harris Hall. Youth Volunteers are needed for prep on Saturday and servers/helpers on Sunday. You can earn community service hours for volunteering.

NEED A LITTLE EXTRA SPACE OR ASSISTANCE FOR SERVICES?

To ensure our services are accessible and comfortable for everyone, we have now designated spaces specifically for members of our congregation who use mobility devices such as wheelchairs or walkers. These areas are designed to provide extra room, ensuring full participation in our services for everyone. If you require assistance upon arrival, please don't hesitate to ask an usher for help.

CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES

A Place to Belong

THURSDAY, JAN 25

5:45 pm - Choristers Rehearsal (Choir Room)

SUNDAY, JAN 28

9:10 am: Confirmation Class (Conference Room)

9:30 AM - Nursery Opens for Dropoff

9:45 am: 3yrs - 5th (Designated Rooms)

9:45 am: Youth Upper Room Time (Youth Room)

11:30 am - Church Annual Meeting (Harris Hall)

Youth - Snack/Chat/Chill in the Youth Room

Younger children - special activities upstairs

The nursery will be open for our youngest members.

THURSDAY, FEB 1

5:45 pm - Choristers Rehearsal (Choir Room)

NEXT SUNDAY, FEB 4

9:10am: Confirmation Class (Conference Room)

9:30am: Nursery open

10am: Rise & Shine service; (Harris Hall)

No regular classes or Youth Upper Room Time

GODLY PLAY CLASS

The Mustard Seed

Our Godly Play class, led by Anna Thomas and Silvia Hall, recently explored the parable of the mustard seed together.

In the picture shown here, the children enjoyed trying to name the birds that made their home in the beautiful tree!

The Parable of the Mustard Seed - Matthew 13:31-32

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Click the link below to see the parable presented by a Godly Play storyteller!

ST. GREGORY'S NURSERY

Open for Dropoff on Sundays at 9:30 AM

Did you know that St. Gregory's nursery is open on Sunday mornings? The beautifully renovated nursery provides childcare during for the 10:00 AM service. Drop off for little ones begins at 9:30 AM.

ADULT FORMATION

Classes and Formation at St. Gregory's

Wednesdays

8:00 AM - Men's Spirituality Hour (Zoom) 

Meeting Link

10:00 AM - The Reality of Being with Fr. Ben (Zoom) The Reality of Being is an ongoing group, initially composed of the fruit that has fallen out of a three-year Gospel of Thomas circle, and will meet via Zoom every Wednesday from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST. Zoom link here.

Meeting ID: 854 5001 9587 Passcode: 1+1=3

6:00 PM - Rector's Bible Study with Fr. Andrew - Hybrid - On Zoom and In Person (In the Conference Room). Zoom link here Meeting ID: 841 7545 8345 Passcode: 086160

Thursdays

1:00 PM - Women's Bible Study (Youth Room) - For information, contact Evelyn Anderson at ebunn@stanfordalumni.org  or Susan D’Ambrosio, sldambro@gmail.com

ST. GREGORY'S IS NOW LIVESTREAMING

TO THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE

stgregorysepiscopal.org

If you are unable to join us in person for services on Sunday, please join us online! In addition to livestreaming each Sunday's 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist to our Facebook page, St. Gregory's is now livestreaming the service to our homepage for your convenience. Click here to view the service on our homepage (it is located in the middle of the page) or click here to view it on Facebook.

SPOTLIGHT ON ANDRANOVORY

(An.dra.new.voory)

ANDRANOVORY (An.dra.new.voory) is a parish within Toliara where Bishop Todd McGregor and Rev. Patsy McGregor served for more than ten years. Andranovory is St. Gregory’s Parish Link in Madagascar. What does this mean? Well...we have committed to praying for our brothers and sisters in the parish of Andranovory and in turn they are praying for us! Yes! The Andranovory youth, men’s and women’s groups are all praying for us at St. Gregory’s. And, St. Gregory’s youth, women’s and men’s groups, as well as our corporate prayers, are committed to including our brothers and sisters in Andranovory.

Our intent is to form more personal relationships with our brothers and sisters. Fiadanana lives in the Andranovory parish and can introduce us to the culture and people of this area of Madagascar. Nolavy, who is the very first female Malagasy Anglican priest ordained in Madagascar, has already sent us video clips of the Malagasy children demonstrating the pronunciation of Andranovory. We, in turn, will send clips to them to get better acquainted. We will share the fruits of our communications with you. Stay tuned!

We want each of you to become involved in some way. Please add Andranovory to your personal nightly prayers and meditations. If you would like to be involved in sharing video clips or photos, or just want more information about our mission, you may contact Mary Herin at cmnkd@comcast.net.

PASTORAL CARE

St. Gregory's Is Here For You.

St. Gregory's provides a variety of support ministries that are here to support you. Our clergy, staff, and Stephen Ministers are here to answer your questions, pray with you, and for your pastoral needs. Contact the church office at 561-395-8285 or by email at office@st-gregorys.com. Learn more.

PRAYER

Daily Prayer and Prayer Requests

Join us in prayer. Click here to submit your prayer request. To pray for others, click here to view this week's prayer requests. If you'd prefer to receive a daily written prayer, click here to receive each day's word from Daily Prayer (a resource of Forward Movement).

JANUARY PRAYER CALENDAR

Please Pray for Haiti

Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. Click here to view the January 2024 Prayer calendar.

VOLUNTEER GRANT WRITERS NEEDED

Make a Difference

with Your Talent for Grant Writing

Volunteer grant writers needed to help our various ministries at St. Gregory's. Do you have experience researching and writing grant proposals to secure funding from The Episcopal Church, other foundations, corporations, and government sources? The focus will be on supporting our many missions, requiring coordination of grant applications, and fostering growth in funding strategies.  This volunteer position offers a chance to contribute significantly to our community-focused ministries and make a real difference in the lives of many. Please contact Kristen Chaney at kchaney@st-gregorys.com. 

ST. GREGORY'S LOVES COFFEE HOUR!

Join the Tradition of Fellowship by Volunteering

THE ST. GREGORY FAMILY LOVES COFFEE HOUR!  Join the tradition of fellowship by volunteering for our Sunday Coffee Hour, following the 10 AM service. We are currently seeking volunteers to coordinate and serve our fellow parishioners each week (except for the Brothers Breakfast Sunday). If you are interested in being a part of this ministry, please contact Kay Holt at kholt@st-gregorys.com.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Volunteers are needed for various ministries.

Our Lay Eucharistic Visitor volunteer group is looking for members of our St. Gregory’s family to join them as they:

1. Deliver communion and enrich the religious experience of those unable to attend church due to illness or incapacity

2. Visit and spiritually support those in need of the comfort and companionship of St. Gregory’s

3. Maintain contact with those parishioners with whom they are assigned to assure them that they are still a part of our St. Gregory’s community.



If this type of ministry appeals to you, please contact David Cominole 561-376-9056 or email him at david.cominole@att.net for more information.

GIVING AT ST. GREGORY'S

Your Support Makes An Impact

Your support of St. Gregory's and our ministries makes our mission of Transforming Hearts and Community Through Jesus' Love a reality. Please click here to give online now. For more information, please email the Church Office or click on these links: Altar Flower Dedications, Capital Campaign, Meals with Meaning, Stewardship, and South Florida Haiti Project.

CONNECT WITH US

Engaging With St. Gregory's

We're grateful that you're part of St. Gregory's growing community! Visit our website at www.stgregorysepiscopal.org for more information or click the links and social media buttons below:

Contact Information

Volunteer Information

Download the St. Gregory's App - iOS, Google Play