Hello Blessed Beloveds!

There are so many of us walking through personal or communal grief at this time...the heavy loss of friends, spouses, parents, or children, and/or the loss of a world that once upon a time, for many of us, didn't seem to have so many tragedies, divisions, and dangers. And there is a time to just sit in that space and allow the tears, allow the sadness and fatigue, allow the hamster wheel of life to go on spinning without our usual level of participation. Then...we begin, slowly to do what Jesus did after the loss of his cousin John. That is, continue to allow that tender grief to express itself as necessary, but also, even if only in a small way, allow that loss to fuel where God leads us in 'doing love' for the sake of Beloved Community.

"When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee." Matt 4:12 (emphasis mine)

I love what +Bishop Wright had to say about it, so click here to see it. In the meantime, I'm praying for all of us that we may so feel Christ's presence and power in our very beings and in our lives, that we can't help but offer to this hurting world the gifts God has given each one of us as individually and together as a church family. 

So much love,

Mo. Nikki+

2023 EPIPHANY DRIVE FOR FAMILY PROMISE

As most of you know, St. Gregory’s belongs to Family Promise (previously Interfaith Hospitality Network), an organization of churches in Athens that provides homeless families a temporary place to stay while they work their way back to stability. The breadwinners of the families get rides to work if needed. Those who don’t have jobs are provided some of the support they need to find one. Meals are provided. Family Promise also works to prevent homelessness by helping families with a rent or utility payment or with the purchase of a used vehicle. These are truly opportunities to put our faith into action.

While we have the chance to serve as onsite volunteers during three weeks of the year, there are many parishioners who are unable to show up in person but would be interested in helping with Family Promise. We hope our 2023 Epiphany Drive will provide the opportunity to do just that.

Family Pride has an Amazon wishlist which, of course, is readily accessible to anyone shopping on Amazon. This link takes you directly to the Family Promise wishlist. There, you may add items directly to your Cart, pay for them as you do any Amazon order, and Amazon delivers the items straight to the registered Family Promise address. This provides an easy way to help meet the needs of the homeless population served by this program, and we hope that many of you will agree and participate. We will announce this effort several times during our January 6-February 6 Epiphany Drive. 

In recognition of the fact that not everyone shops with Amazon, we will also provide paper copies of the Family Promise wishlist as inserts in our church bulletins during January. You may purchase as many items as you choose, bring them to the Fellowship Hall at church any time from January 6 – February 6, and we will deliver them to Family Promise.

However you decide to participate, you may rest assured that your contributions will significantly impact Family Promise and its clients.

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!