The Season After Pentecost |
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Grace lost Breezie Finley, one of its beloved and memorable holy women, just after All Saints in 2020, when the public health situation made it impossible to gather to mourn and celebrate a remarkable life. We are at last at a point at which a celebration of Breezie's life is possible, and it has been scheduled for Saturday, November 6, at 1 p.m., with interment in the Memorial Garden afterward. A reception in the Undercroft will follow the interment. Masks are required.
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Celebration of Life for Breezie Finley
Time Change Weekend
Feast of All Saints
Adult Classes on Sunday
Worship on Sunday
Gardens and Grounds
Food Pantry
Daily Worship
GreenGrace (everything from climate vigils to bluebirds!)
Episcopal Service Corps Application
Parish Prayer List
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Hello, (early) darkness, my old friend... Standard time is scheduled to creep in during wee hours on Sunday. On the tiresome side, it means no more putting off yard work until 6 p.m. on the weekends. On the plus side, it means walking the dog in what actually looks like morning -- and, of course, the celebrated extra hour of sleep!
To accommodate this change and avoid arriving at church before no creature is stirring, turn your clocks back one hour before retiring on Saturday evening.
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The Feast of All Saints (11-7) |
After 19 months of loss, we are finally able to be together for worship for the Feast of All Saints on November. During the service, we will remember those who have died in the past year. Many of you have submitted names for the service; you may also remember the departed by putting photographs or other memorial tokens on an altar which will be provided for the service. These mementos should be reclaimed after whichever service you attend. |
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Wherever the River Goes -- This Sunday (October 31) marks the beginning of a new class for adults, one that concerns water and Christians as environmental stewards. The group will meet at 9:30am in the undercroft to watch the film Hidden Rivers of Southern Appalachia, using a new curriculum called "Wherever the River Goes," developed by a Care of Creation grant from the Episcopal Church. All are welcome to join!
Lectionary Class -- This class, which looks at and discusses the lectionary prescribed for each Sunday, has resumed after a pandemic-induced hiatus. Some Sunday's they've met in the courtyard; when the weather isn't cooperative, they'll meet in the Barth Room (bring a mask just in case!). The class is facilitated by David Stanislawski.
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Both the 8 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. services are currently taking place in the Nave. Please stop by the courtyard on your way in to assure it you still love it; it may feel lonely after so many weeks of hosting weekly gatherings!
Though the numbers in Chattanooga are improving, we are still firmly in the era of COVID and thus a need for caution, so we are asking that all who attend either service wear masks. The 10:45 a.m. service will be streamed online for those who are unable to attend. You can access the service at Grace's Facebook page , and you can find the bulletin for that service HERE.
We will continue to hold Sunday morning children's activities outdoors as long as the weather permits -- children's activities be offered in the Pavilion at 9:30 a.m. so that parents can attend adult formation, with Sunday School for preschool and elementary aged children at 10:30am
Even though vaccinations are not 100% effective against virus transmission, they still remain our best option for reducing illness and death. These vaccines are safe, accessible, and comprehensively tested. Regions where high numbers of individuals are vaccinated are seeing far fewer COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths. It is the best way we have to show love for our neighbors right now, and loving our neighbors is our gospel mandate. If you are eligible to receive a COVID vaccination, but have not yet done so, please do so as an act of community care. Raising the vaccination rates in Hamilton County is essential to the health of all in our community, and essential to our common life at Grace.
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There is a positively, absolutely mandatory Community Garden meeting for any holding a bed in our Brainerd By Grace (B2G) Community garden, THIS SUNDAY, at 4:00 pm, in our Pavilion. Please bring a drink or snack to share.
- We have two 4 foot by 6 foot beds available. Bed rental is $20/year. Contact Lisa or Kristiana if interested for this winter or spring.
NOTE TO CONGREGATION: We are planning for a major dump of Winwood Bulk's Black Gold 'soil' to add to the community garden beds. It will likely take up several spaces in the upper parking lot in the near future.
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We will continue to plant a few trees and maintain the grounds as possible, probably for another month. If interested in helping, please contact Lisa (lemzala@aol.com) or Kristina (jkshaneyfelt@epbfi.com).
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PRAISE TO THE WORKERS! Thanks to the Grace congregants and master gardeners who helped us in last Saturday's chilly, drizzly work day. Special thanks to Barbara Harris, not only for the weeding, but also for the hot soup at lunch. This includes Mike Shillinger, tree tag pounder, Jim The-Weed-Eater Harris, Kristina Shaneyfelt, Richard Hyatt, Phaen Stone, Terry Burnett, Brittany Williamson, new member Keenan Dungey, and long time master gardener supporters, Cecilia Keefer and Lynda Reese. We were also joined by two more master gardeners, Diane Slover and Ellen Rickard. We got 14 trees and shrubs planted, wow! This includes two more species for our arboretum count. Also thanks for mop-operations with Mickey and Beth Myers, who will plant more trees in the coming days.
Lisa Lemza & Kristina Shaneyfelt
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The cold wind blew in chilly temperatures and 18 visitors on Wednesday; they left with food for 65 -- 37 adults and 28 children. The shelves, while not empty, look they've been ravaged by a biblical horde of locusts and need some replenishing before next week's session.
Most needed are:
* canned chicken
* Spam or similar
* beanie weenies (both sizes)
* hearty beef soups
* Chef Boyardi pastas -- ravioli, spaghetti, etc.
* baked beans
* 15-oz. cans of fruit
* packets of instant grits and oatmeal
* spaghetti sauce (jars or cans)
Thanks to everyone at Grace and in the Belvoir neighborhood so generously and consistently bring food and/or donate money to keep us supplied and ready to respond to those who need help. We are blessed indeed to have so many hands willing to help!
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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
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GreenGrace: Greening our faith, to love, protect, and defend the Earth.
1. We are attempting to focus several efforts, both ongoing and planned, under the interest group of GreenGrace. We are committed to bringing not just a voice but concrete action into an array of actions, large and small, and to recruit our neighbors and Chattanooga churches, congregations, and temples in the same. We want to bring 'the voice of faith' to contentious and too often purely political disputes. We certainly dont know how to do all this, and will be seeking ideas and input, and WORKERS as we attempt to restart this effort-- which began in early 2020, but was cut off by Covid.
See EXTREMELY DRAFT AND IN NO WAY FINISHED MISSION STATEMENT, BELOW:
2. We are currently working the exact dates with April, and expect to meet during Advent (possibly Sunday, 5 December). Our 2d meeting will be in early Jan. Meantime, here are items of interest:
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Candlelight Vigil Nov 7th:
A Chattanooga witness to the Key COP 26 UN Climate Conference
Join us for our Candlelight Climate Vigil on Sunday, November 7, at 6:30 p.m. on the Holmberg Bridge near Hunter Museum of Art. We will urge strong climate action at the COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held through November 12 in Glasgow. Action at this conference will determine whether the world can stabilize climate change at below 1.5 degrees!
The vigil will include readings and song.
The Holmberg Bridge runs between Walnut Street and the Hunter Art Museum over Riverside Drive. The official address is 100 Walnut Street, Chattanooga 37403 adjacent to the Walnut Street Bridge entrance. The address on the Hunter Art Museum side is 10 Bluff View Avenue, Chattanooga 37403 where one can enter from the plaza in front of the museum. Several parking spaces are available nearby on either side.
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Tri-State Chapter of Tennessee Bluebird Society & trail installation at Grace: Sunday, 14 November, 4:00 pm at the Undercroft. This is our first season's close- out meeting-- join to hear of this citizen science collective's first year, building, monitoring, and documenting nesting habitat for native cavity nesting birds. We'll be installing the first box HERE AT GRACE, for Grace's bluebird trail. Jerry Evans will be the captain, and he will need a team of volunteer weekly monitors. Lisa Lemza, Jim and Rosy Milburn, and Ouisi Hamilton are in this up to their eyeballs -- it is so FUN!
- Advent Quiet Walk: informal walk at the level, paved Brainerd Levee, Sunday afternoon, 2 pm, 19 December. Escape the season's craziness into our first home: nature. Leashed dogs welcome.
- 2d GreenGrace Meeting, 9 January. This date is tentative. Stay tuned.
3. For those further interested, below is GreenGrace's extremely rough draft and completely unfinished mission. We OBVIOUSLY need YOUR help with this.
GREEN GRACE MISSION AND INTENT
I. GreenGrace is an umbrella effort dedicating Christians to love protect and defend the Earth. It is
- based on Creation Spirituality, maintaining that Creation is not fallen, but rather enjoys God's original blessing. Genesis 1: 31 “and God saw that it was good, very good.”
- inclusive, bridging across disparate regional faith communities.
- demonstrating and coordinating a range of solutions, large and small.
- bringing a voice of faith to speak publicly to politicians and policy makers.
II. We are looking for parish members who want to be a part, whether large or small, of an environmental advocacy group at Grace. We have 4 main and overlapping focus areas:
1. Green Grounds: [Kristina, Lisa] Establish this prominent, high traffic location as our 'green witness', demonstrating Biblical principles of caring for the Earth and embodying Creation Spirituality. Love and care for God's Creation. This in addition to providing a welcome and calming sanctuary and respite for not just people, but also birds, pollinators, and all possible urban wildlife.
- Deliberately increase habitat for urban wildlife through structured plantings, retention of leaf litter, and attention to habitat requirements. Provide a permanent water source.
- Increase tree cover and maintain care for existing trees.
- Retain maximum stormwater runoff on site: slow, calm and absorb it. Address erosion.
- Establish certified gardens, with instructional signage. This includes the pivotal certification of our grounds as National Wildlife Federation urban wildlife habitat, providing food, permanent water, cover, and a place to raise young.
- Convert plantings to those native to our region
- Reduce grounds maintenance and water requirements as possible.
- Engage citizen science and teaching events to instruct and demonstrate.
- DELIGHT THE EYE, heal the soul, renew the spirit.
2. Green Buildings: [Brittany Williamson, Jeff Workman]. Lower the church's energy and carbon footprint in an array of actions, large and small. Exemplify how small choices add up. Instruct congregants on how do the same in their own homes and businesses. This includes not just building improvements but practices such as recycling and eliminating the use of plastic water bottles.
- Improve stormwater runoff, retaining more off roof. How?
- Eliminate plastic water bottles, reduce plastic. How?
- Reduce spotlight and parking lot night lighting (and add some when needed!)
3. Green Neighbors. [ ??? ] Act as a resource to neighborhoods, the city, and to other churches on the care of creation by incorporating fellowship, hospitality, events, and celebrations. Already: open, park like grounds. Farmers Market. Community garden. Open pavilion.
- Increase grounds access from Brainerd Road, Belvoir Ave?
- Open Pavilion, swings, etc.
- Empty lot: VISION???? Labyrinth? performance venue/series?
- Brainerd Farmers Market: education tables and swap/giveaway events (?)
- Arboretum and other community projects, seminars, celebrations
- Coordinate joint action/practices with other churches, in and out of our denomination. (how?)
- Coordinate, advertise collections for hard to recycle items: batteries, glasses, medicine, home chemicals, ??
4. Green Justice .[Lisa, Who?] Campaign for citizens to care for the Earth and advocate for environmental justice and access to parks and green spaces. Inform and interpret how government actions at state and local levels effect citizens. This includes zoning laws, land and water protection, and access to nature. Serve as an active witness for Creation Spirituality. Address heavily polluted neighborhoods, and their access to remediation.
- Participate in ecumenical forums and efforts locally.
- Network with other churches to exchange information, alerts (how?).
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Contact political leaders as appropriate so that the faith community has a voice in policy.
- Continue, expand Double Snap funding at the Farmers Market
- Food Pantry. Expand? What's realistic? What can a congregation our size do? Clothing, coat swaps?
- Neighborhood/waterways cleanups, focusing on underserved areas (Citco Creek, Chattanooga Creek, South Chickamauga Creek. Heavily littered roads/corridors).
- Find out what underserved neighborhoods want. How? [Tree plantings? parks? etc.]
--------- END. Thank God. Submitted by Brittiany Williamson, Lisa Lemza, Kristina Shaneyfelt ---------
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Episcopal Service Corps Application
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The Episcopal Church invites young leaders ages 21 to 32 interested in a transformative outreach and discernment experience to consider applying to the Episcopal Service Corps for its 2022-23 service year.
Applications open online Nov. 15. A virtual open house (click to register) to answer questions and explain more about the process will be at 3 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 13, with others to follow. It will include a chance to hear from current and former Corps members. Potential applicants can also take an online discernment quiz.
Every year, 80-100 young leaders serve more than 120,000 hours in local and community-based nonprofits and churches through the Episcopal Service Corps, helping in rural ministries, homelessness support, healthcare, immigration and refugee resettlement, housing justice, education for at-risk youth, and much more. Participants live together in community, creating and living by a household “Rule of Life,” and committing to regular spiritual direction and prayer in addition to service.
“Our core values are service, prayer, justice, vocation, community, and leadership,” said Wendy Johnson, manager of the Episcopal Service Corps network for The Episcopal Church. “These values shape and inform every aspect of a service year, and they are what set us apart from other post-graduate options.”
The service year structure helps guide many participants as they discern their next steps vocationally and spiritually. Many Corps members move into positions of leadership within their churches, the wider Episcopal Church, and community organizations.
Corps members receive housing, health coverage, and small stipends to cover living expenses, transportation, and food. Questions? Please contact Wendy Johnson.
On the web:
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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 David, our Curate; for Sarah and Caroline, our seminarians; 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
Wilma Laney, Bill Clark, Mary McDonald, Patricia Kelley Williams, Tony Hill, Jennifer, Scott, Julia, Tony, Mary Cooper, Russell, Susan Landis, Jamie Stone, Martha Smith, Sue Sears, William Simpson, Neil Robinson, Ash Gunlock, Bill Strang, Sally Cauthen,
Mary Lou Walden, Jennifer Thompson, June McEwen, Amy, Deborah, Jim Hinkle, Andrea, the Hale family (Austin, Amanda, and Autumn); the Brown family, Reba, Niysah, Terrie, Alex, Angela, Dwight McMillan, Doris, J.R. Hicks, Libby Workman, Jean Williams, Barbara Reed, Jim May, and Ann Swint;
We pray for Wil Mabry, Jake Dorris, Kevin Kelley, Tripp Mouron, 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 Emily Brelsford and Katie Poulos Moore, who are 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 Haiti as they recover from the earthquake, and for the people of Afghanistan during political upheaval.
We pray for those who have died, that they may share with all your saints in the full revelation of your eternal glory, and give thanks for the lives of these friends and loved ones as we celebrate the Feast of All Saints:
Breezie Finley, Randy Dover, Edith Makepeace, Suzanne Smith, Toni Drummond, Matilda Dunn, Garvin Colburn, Marty Landis, Eddie Reavis, Jim Curtis,
Mary Ruth Clinton, Carolyn Minnich, David C. Mouron, Sr., Tom Wolfe, Cruz Silva, Nancy Mapel, James Dooley, Joe Smallwood, Haven Temple, Virginia Sinor,
Carl Moore, Wayne Rominger, Julie Dollar, Hilna Long, Gerry Jones, Joyce Smith,
Amanda Cate, The Rev. Paul McDaniel, Patty Maroney, Boyd Whitmire, Pam Stone, Fiorenza Duvoisin, George Duvoisin, Jane Williams, Judy Smith,
and Elizabeth Harrison.
In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.. 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.
In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Pray for St. Elizabeth, Knoxville, TN, and for Trinity, Watertown, SD.
Those in need of continued prayer:
Valorie Lephart, Jeanette Cureton, Wanda Kirkpatrick, Emma Andrews,
Jim Strickland, Michael Conner, Helen Williams, 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, Dexter and Helen Williams,
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
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