Seeking, Serving, Loving Together

Parish News For the week of Sunday, October 23, 2022

Welcome to Grace Episcopal Church! Please click the link below if you are new to our church and would like to have more information about our Parish life!

Welcome Card

Proper 25 Readings

BIBLE STUDY

Anne Hansen and Michelle Mackie would like to offer a new Bible Study group. For those who might be interested they will offer two brief organizational meeting opportunities on Sunday, October 30 immediately following each service in the Parish Hall to introduce themselves, share some ideas for the first study topic, and discover preferences for meeting times and dates. You may also contact one of them directly to indicate your interest and ask questions. The Bible Study will start in November.

All youth grades 6-12

are invited to the first meeting of the Community Youth Group,

5:30pm to 7pm Sunday, November 13 at Trinity United Methodist Church.  

These meetings are open to all youth regardless of faith background or affiliation. Invite your friends.

Registration is now open for our annual Diocese of Southwest Virginia Fall Youth Event November 12-13! All middle and high school youth are invited to join us for an overnight at Camp Bethel that will include time for outdoor fun, fellowship, and worship. 

The theme for FYE22 is "Expect the Unexpected," and your Youth Mission Team has an exciting event planned with some surprises in store! You don't want to miss out on this one!

On Sunday, Oct. 23, Rite I Evensong will be offered at 5pm. Plainsong, hymnody, silence, prayer, and Word. 

Angel Tree is coming!

Since 2007 the parish Outreach Committee has partnered with Prison Fellowship Angel Tree Christmas ministry. Angel Tree seeks to restore those affected by crime and incarceration by introducing prisoners, victims, and their families to a new hope available through Jesus Christ.

This year our church will receive the names of 50 children to serve in this important ministry. Children being served virtually reside in areas where there is not sufficient local support and we need your help.

Beginning in mid-November you will be provided with a unique code for Grace Church, enabling you to access the virtual Angel Tree site. Each tag corresponds to one child and the sponsorship amount for each is $25.

Thank you for joining with Angel Tree to be the hands and feet of Jesus as they seek to restore relationships between children and their incarcerated parents.  

Podcasts are a great way to add prayer and reflection to your daily spiritual practice. Listen on your morning walk, evening commute, or anywhere in between! Find these podcasts anywhere you listen to podcasts, or click the links below to view their show page.

Daily Podcasts:

• Forward Day by Day: Includes each day's scripture passage, reflection, and closing prayer. An excellent 5 minute start to your day!

• A Morning at the Office: Daily Morning Prayer podcast which includes all three readings as well as bonus prayers.

• Daily Prayer: Similar to A Morning at the Office, this version includes just two readings, and follows the same text as our app and website.

• An Evening at Prayer: Daily Evening Prayer according to The Book of Common Prayer

• Scripture Day by Day: The daily readings as listed in Forward Day by Day, with lectionary readings for Sundays and Major Feasts following the Revised Common Lectionary.

Episodic and Seasonal Podcasts:

• AdventWord: Worldwide prayer community and online Advent calendar with daily reflections through the season, inspried by a single daily prompt word

• ChurchNext: discussions on a variety of topics in the Episcopal and Christian scope.

• The Good Book Club Podcast: regular church-wide readings of selected books of the Bible.

• Women and Angels of the Bible: This special series includes conversations between authors Lindsay Hardin Freeman and Kate Moorehead.

Affiliate Podcasts:

• The BCP and Me: Episcopalians exploring The Book of Common Prayer and how it teaches us to live our lives abundantly.

• The Accessible Altar: A monthly podcast exploring the intersections of faith and disability.

Campus Ministry Updates

Heard at Paws to Connect: 

Admissions guide to

prospective students: 

“This church sponsors days when they share pets with students! What a great connection of the community

with the campus!” 

A daughter with a broken leg

and out of town mother:

“I really wanted to show her the

Paws experience!”

A student headed out of town

with her mom:

“We HAD to come to Paws before lunch!”

Paws to Connect: one of the hottest new experiences in Lexington!

The Community Table (TCT) is a “restaurant without a cashier” where “folks can enjoy nutritious meals in a comfortable and dignified atmosphere.” It is open to all, and patrons can make a donation of choice at the end of the meal. This restaurant is now reopening “dining in” every Monday at the RARA building, 350 Spotswood Drive in Lexington. TCT is operated and staffed entirely by volunteers from the Lexington/Buena Vista/Rockbridge community. It’s a fun place to meet our neighbors, help out and/or enjoy a meal.

Many thanks to all of you who have already joined Grace’s new TCT team!

Help on Mondays is needed as follows:

1-2:30 PM  - - - - -  dining room set up

5:15-7:15 PM  - - -  dishwashing  

7:15-8:30 PM  - - -  dishwashing

5:30-7:30 PM  - - -  wait/bussing staff

7:30-8:30 PM  - - -  clean up

If you can help with any of these jobs, either every Monday or only one Monday a month, please contact MJ Mayerchak by email: mjpmmchak@gail.com; text or call: 540-460-3138.

Thank you for considering this volunteer opportunity!  

Tuesday Men's Breakfast Group

7 am Tuesdays, members of Grace and neighbors from throughout the local community. Fantastic breakfast, great discussion of Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest."

Kiss The Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on a “new, old approach” to farming called “regenerative agriculture” that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. The movie is being shown at Grace Episcopal Church in the Parish Hall on Friday, November 4^th at 7 PM. The movie is open to the public at no charge.

Bringing Life to Death Series

Join us on Monday, Nov. 7 and 14 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. for a two-week, online workshop about the preparations and practicalities that can help us (and our loved ones) prepare for the inevitable end of our earthly lives. We are a people who celebrate the Resurrection of the body each Sunday, and yet, we rarely consider our own mortality or how to orient our lives to prepare for what is a natural transition between this life and the next. The presenters are The Rev. Marisa Sifontes, Associate Rector at St. John's, Roanoke who is a trained End of Life doula and Shelby Kirillin, founder and president of A Peaceful Passing, LLC. Shelby is a former ICU nurse for over 20 years, and is now a end of life coach/doula.

Vestry Minutes

Vestry Minutes are available on our website under the vestry tab.

Happy Birthday

10/2 Donnie McBrayer, 10/4 Mary Katherine Lawrence, Anne Hansen, 10/8 Rob Minor, 10/9 Jerry Nay, Susan Denson, 10/11 Libby Cumming, Heather McBrayer, 10/12 Al Gordon, 10/15 Charlie Smith, 10/16 Sharon Swain, 10/20 Eloise Adams, Drusie Milford, 10/23 Claudia Ellis, 10/25 Lily Youngman, 10/26 Melissa Cox, 10/27 Connie Loughhead, 10/29 Jimbo Smith, 10/30 Steve Shultis, 10/31 Peggy Hays.