Parish News For the week of March 20, 2022 

Lenten Resources

Check out our Lenten Resource page at https://www.graceepiscopallexington.org/lent-resources/

Saturday, March 19, 4:30 pm

The Greater Richmond Children's Choir and Rockbridge Youth Chorale present a joint concert at Grace at 4:30 pm. Casavant Opus 3941 will play a part in the program of music focused on Creation and Care of Creation. GRCC commissioned Grace's Martha Burford to write a piece, and she was granted permission by the Jesse Stuart Foundation to set the poet laureate's "Call It God." Come hear it and all of their rich repertoire. 

Rest in Peace

The Rev. Dr. Louis Weil, Episcopal priest and preeminent liturgical theologian. Dr. Weil died March 9 in Oakland, CA, after several months of failing health and a brief illness. He was 86 years old. Weil is perhaps best known for his influential role in shaping the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

Chris Doyle and Boys Home Friends, Sunday, March 20, 9:15 am

Chris Doyle, the new Executive Director of Boys Home will be our guest this coming Sunday, March 20. Chris will discuss his vision for Boys Home at 9:15. It will be an opportunity to get to know Chris and a few boys from Boys Home.

Getting an Education in Life from Boys Home.

On February 19 two members of the Grace Boys Home Sponsorship. made a personal visit to Boy’s Home. Chad Whitmer, the assistant director, helped plan a lunch with a couple of the boys we sponsor at Grace. With Chad’s permission, they communicated directly with the boys and planned lunch on the campus: Mr. G’s Donuts, pizza from nearby Covington, and drinks. At Boy’s Home, after completing a COVID questionnaire and temperature check, they met two Boys at the Administration building and from there went to the chapel where there were tables and chairs to use since it was too cold to eat outside.

They shared a message we want to share with you.

"We took our dog – every one of the boys we saw on campus wanted to hug our dog – even the high school boys. These boys all like dogs. We ate lunch, had as much discussion as was possible, and the two boys helped us carry things back to the car. 

When school lets out there will be a lot of activities planned for the summer. At this point, the boys are not allowed to leave campus or eat in public restaurants. We saw a group of high school boys in the parking lot, heading up the mountain for a campout. Another one of our "Grace" boys was with them. He spoke about the picnic we had last September at David and Bonnie Gates's home.

We had some feelings of helplessness when one of the Boys shared “When I was 4 years old I was adopted”. He is now in 7^th grade and has been at Boys Home for less than 1 year. We asked if he had brothers and sisters and he said “yes, lots of them – all of them are at home except me”. The other Boy, a 12th grader, said he and his brother have been adopted twice - once in Russia and once in the US. After Justus and his brother were sent to Boys Home, his American adopting parents got several more kids – either foster or adoptions. This twice adopted 12th grader is making zeros in his class grades. His father told him, “well it is up to you – you can keep making zeros if you want to or you can work harder and do better, it is up to you”.  

We encouraged him to work harder in school. Our heads melted when the younger Boy offered to be a study partner since they have classes together. They agreed. Though it seems unlikely the older will hold up his end of the deal. 

Maybe you can understand why we felt somewhat helpless. Why we can’t drive back home from Boys Home without a little hurt in our hearts. A good hurt, though, because we know these boys are loved and known and growing in confidence with the help of their friends and all the faculty and staff of Boys Home. That hurt is a sign that our lives are being changed from within, a sign of God's love.

We want to encourage you to get your heart hurt by building a relationship with some of the Boys. The Boys can't leave campus until COVID cases drop to single digits, but the school welcomes individual visits with a couple of our Grace boys.  Another way you can help if you are so inclined is to establish a monthly contribution to Boys Home. $30 or $40 a month will help this wonderful organization in its life-changing work in our Diocese. And if you have a friendly dog, bring them with you!

Please join our Creation Care Committee at the Rockbridge Area Community

Clean-up!

http://rockbridgeconservation.org/clean_up.php

Martha Burford has volunteered to coordinate any parishioners who would like to create a team from Grace to participate the Community

Clean-up. A small group is already forming, let's make it bigger and show the world Grace cares! Please contact Martha at martha@graceepiscopallexington.org

Organ Recital

Saturday, March 26

Dr. Christopher Reynolds, Director of Music and

Organist at St. Paul's, Richmond, Virginia, and Rockbridge County native, will present a program of organ works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Parry,

Franck, and others. 

Pilgrimage: Spiritual Journeys that Touch the Soul

Lenten Program - March 23 - April 6 - 7 pm - ZOOM only

Join us for Grace's five-week Lenten series that feature stories of personal pilgrimage and spiritual journeys.

This Wednesday, March 23

Iona: A Place Nearer to God?

William McCorkle

The holy isle of Iona, off Scotland’s western coast, has long been a destination for pilgrims and students of the Christian faith. This tiny, remote island, to which St. Columba brought the Christian faith in 563 CE, survived the ravages of time – and Vikings – over many centuries. The 20^th- century restoration of the medieval abbey and the establishment of resident retreat programs of the Iona Community, an international, ecumenical organization working for justice and peace, have brought Iona back to the Christian world’s attention in our time. As one who has made more than fifteen journeys to this place of incomparable natural – and spiritual – beauty, I am eager to share with you some of my thoughts about how and why Iona continues to draw me and so many others to return, again and again, to refresh our souls and to rekindle our creativity. To do this, I will draw upon the eloquent words of my friend and fellow pilgrim, the Scottish poet, Kenneth Steven. WMcC

This series is recorded and placed on our YouTube Channel and Website.

For more information about this series and to register click here

Martha Burford will be this week's guest speaker!

Donate to The Bishop’s Dollar Fund

This year during the season of Lent, Bishop Bourlakas extends his annual invitation to reflect on our discipleship in Jesus' name. As you journey through the forty days of Lent, we encourage generous support of The Bishop’s Dollar Fund to continue to address a variety of initiatives and needs throughout the diocese not otherwise covered through our annual program budget. You may send donations to the Diocesan Office made payable to The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia with "Bishop's Dollar" in the memo line. Mail to: Attn: Bishop's Dollar Fund, PO Box 2279, Roanoke, VA 24009. Or, donate online at www.dioswva.org.

Ukraine Aid

Episcopal Relief & Development is partnering with Anglican agencies and other ecumenical partners to provide humanitarian aid in response to the refugee crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Partner with Episcopal Relief & Development by donating to the International Disaster Response Fund. Your support will help meet critical needs for people fleeing the violence including food, cash, blankets and hygiene supplies. Help today | Read more about the response

DIOSWVA Spring Youth Event

Middle and high schoolers are invited to participate in a memorable weekend where we will trace the roots of black history in the Appalachian Mountains.

Many of you may recall that the diocese hosted two pilgrimages in 2019: one in Gainsboro in January and one across all convocations that summer. We would like our youth to have their own pilgrimage experience!

Click on the button below for more details, including a tentative itinerary, and to sign up for SYE! 

American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese Diocese of Jerusalem

Dear friends,

We invite you to follow with our Lord on his journey to Jerusalem this Lent and Holy Week (March 2-April 16). Each week we will highlight another aspect of the the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East (J-Diocese) and its life changing ministries. At any time we encourage you to make a generous gift of support to the J-Diocese through the Good Friday Offering which we collect here at Grace, or through the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) Opportunities to Transform Lives Online Giving page  https://afedj.org/give/opportunities/

Lent Three March 20-26 Luke 13:1-9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down. 6400 students attend the twenty educational institutions of the J-Diocese in four different countries. Each school offers education and hope to poor and marginalized families throughout the region. Two of the most amazing, life changing “fruit bearing” schools in the world are the Princess Basma Center on the Mount of Olives https://j-diocese.org/wordpress/education-2/ and the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf https://j-diocese.org/wordpress/healthcare-3/

Lent Madness - Have You Caught the Fever?

Check it out!

https://www.lentmadness.org/

Download the Match-ups here: 2022 lent Madness Bracket Poster

Learn more here: https://www.lentmadness.org/about/ and sign up to get Lent Madness delivered to your inbox every day!

You can also keep score with a Saintly Scorecard 2022: Saintly Score card on Kindle or daily on the Lent Madness page on Facebook

Vestry Minutes

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

Happy Birthday

Katherine Green (3/2), George Huger (3/5) Woody Sadler (3/7)

Jim Brown (3/7), Emma Brook (3/7), Jonathan Webster (3/7), Carole Elmore (3/8)

Anne Grizzle (3/9) Mary Price (3/10) Allice Furgerson (3/11), John Doyle (3/11), Daniel Mastin (3/11), Cindy Mullen (3/14), John Milford (3/14), Shay Peters (3/16), Catherine Harcus (3/16), Ed Crain (3/17), Bill Sayre (3/17), Pat McGuire (3/17), Elizabeth Knapp (3/18), Amber Lewis (3/18), Wade Branner (3/19), Cecile West-Settle (3/19), Mary Doyle (3/22), Polly Lawrence (3/23), Laura Stearns (3/23), Rose Gordon (3/24), Sharon White (3/25), AP Smith (3/26), Kathy Hill (3/27), Sarah Dagan (3/29)