Grace Notes Weekly is a newsletter of Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, TN,
and is used to communicate the upcoming activities of this community.
The Season after the Epiphany
FEBRUARY 25, 2022
Ash Wednesday Services
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent, a time when the church marks a period of repentance, fasting, and self-examination, and a time where those new to the community of the church prepared for the sacrament of baptism. This year, Ash Wednesday falls on March 2nd, and Grace will hold services of Holy Eucharist and the imposition of ashes at noon (spoken word service) and at 7:00 p.m. (choral service).
IN THIS ISSUE
Ash Wednesday Services
New Sacred Dialogue Circles to Begin
Inquirers' Class/Episcopal 101
Worship on Sunday
Alice Ramsey Milestone
Gardens and Grounds
Food Pantry
Daily Worship
Bishops' Statements on Ukraine
Keep in Mind (Thorne Sparkman, Craig Scholarship, Family Promise)
Useful Information
Parish Prayer List
Serving on Sunday
Lectionary
New Sacred Dialogue Circles to Begin
We are planning to launch two new Sacred Ground Circles on Monday, March 7 and Thursday, March 10. Both sessions will meet for 10 weeks via Zoom from 6:30 – 8:00. A brief description of the program is given below and a more expanded discussion can be found at: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground/. If you are interested in joining one of these circles or would like more information, please email David.stanislawski@chattanoogastate.edu and indicate which session you are interested in. We will try to hold the group sizes to 10 to 12 people to facilitate discussion.

Sacred Ground is a race dialogue series designed for these times. It is an attempt to be responsive to the profound challenges that currently exist in our society. It is focused on the challenges that swirl around issues of race and racism, as well as the difficult but respectful and transformative dialogue we need to have with each other about them. It invites participants to walk back through history to peel away the layers that brought us to today, and to do so in a personal way, reflecting on family histories and stories, as well as important narratives that shape the collective American story. It holds the vision of beloved community as a guiding star – where all people are honored and protected and nurtured as beloved children of God, where we weep at one another’s pain and seek one another’s flourishing.

David Stanislawski
Inquirers' Class/ Episcopal 101 (continued)
Inquirers' Class/Episcopal 101 continues this week at 9:30am (in the Merritt Room) and 6:30pm on Thursday, March 4th  (via Zoom), all who are interested in baptism, confirmation, reception, or reaffirmation are invited to explore church tradition, history and our place in the Episcopal faith through Inquirers’ classes. Led by Lay Catechist Laura Bertrand, Rev. April and our seminarians, this class will be a space for exploring questions about belief and practice within the Episcopal Church, as well as the life of faith in general. 

 
(While registration is not required, we would love to know you're coming!). Please contact Laura Bertrand for more information (laura@laurabertrand.com). 
Worship on Sunday
For the safety of the community, we encourage all to take advantage of vaccinations and boosters, and we ask that all who attend either service or any indoor activity 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.

If you have questions or concerns about worship practices, please feel free to contact April (aberends@saygrace.net) or Senior Warden, Andy Belcher (belcherandrewr@gmail.com).
Alice Ramsey Milestone on the Horizon
Politics...pandemics...panic...peril... these unfortunate realities often seem to be the pillars of our lives in recent years. The Christian church in general and the Episcopal Church more specifically regularly preach potent antidotes to such terrors, and many of us have been fortunate enough to have encountered in the flesh the embodiment of such relief in the person of Alice Ramsey, whose calm engagement, lively sense of humor, deep intelligence and sustaining joy have kept many of us from the edge of the cliff.

Alice will turn 90 on March 9, and in recognition and appreciation for her and her many contributions to our collective good works and sanity, her friends encourage us all to send her a card and, if your finances allow, a contribution in her honor to St. Mary's Convent at Sewanee, where she has been an associate for many years. The pertinent addresses are below.


Birthday cards to Alice Ramsey
7511 Shallowford Road Apt #118
              Chattanooga, TN 37421

Donations to St. Mary's Convent
           1100 St. Mary's Lane
            Sewanee, TN 37375
Gardens and Grounds
1. What are those weird contraptions arising on the east side of the church? NOTE: they are not finished! We are renovating and expanding our Free, U-Pick garden by the choir entrance. The rebar trellis -- the "Leaning Tower of Peas-a"-- will get additional bracing, signs, and, soon, we hope, actual peas! We hope to do this with a small work party after church on Sunday, but the weather has been too wet for us to formally schedule one. We are also building additional supports for other vegetable crops in that space, leaving room for our beloved zinnias. We hope to glean this for our local food outlets, and it remains open for ALL. Anyone driving by may pick the produce. WANTED: volunteers to join Jerry & Tom to help maintain the vegetables. Even an hour a week would be helpful!

2. We also need garden volunteers to help tend the pollinator gardens along Sunbeam and Belvoir Avenue, particularly after we recently lost two long time caretakers. We will teach you how to maintain these native plant gardens and how to garden with native plants. Contact Lisa or Kristina at lemzala@aol.com, or jkshaneyfelt@epbfi.come.

3. MANDATORY season opening meeting of the Brainerd By Grace (B2G) Community Garden is Sunday afternoon, 6 March, in the Pavilion, at 2 pm.  Note the time change!

4. Grounds work teams will slowly start to work again roughly after St Patrick's Day. We will cut and 'tepee' last year's stems in our pollinator gardens, leaving them on site to protect native, pith-nesting bees which overwinter therein.  GENERAL WORK DAY: Saturday, 2 April, 9 am -- 3 pm, lunch provided.

-- Kristina Shaneyfelt & Lisa Lemza

GreenGrace Environmental Action Team, General Announcements:  Many type projects and dates are in the works for the coming months, beginning with a GreenGrace Environmental Action Team tabling event at the First Tennessee Pavilion on Saturday, 19 March, 9 am to 3 pm. Brittany Williamson is putting the display together, David Riall has designed our first brochure! Helpers still wanted.

Please look for and join our brand new GreenGrace Chattanooga Facebook page;
it is intended for use by local Faith and environmental justice communities to post their events and share information. Please check us out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/322239923203733.

-- Brittany Williamson, Kristina Shaneyfelt, Lisa Lemza
Food Pantry
Wednesday's pantry session was a whopper -- we had 23 visitors, and they left with food for 105 -- 50 adults and 55 children. Mercifully, we went into this one with shelves well-stocked; we came out with, well, with the shelves still there, but not much else.

We are COMPLETELY out of these items:

* Spam
* canned hams
* packets of instant mashed potatoes
* spaghetti noodles
* 15 oz. cans of fruit
* baked beans
* large cans of beanie weenies

We are VERY LOW on these items:

* canned chicken
* Pop Tarts
* pasta sauce
* canned pinto beans
* packets of instant grits and oatmeal
* canned chili
* canned tuna
* canned peas and corn
* Chef Boyardi pastas (or similar)
* peanut butter (16 oz. jars preferred)

We fall on our knees in gratitude to all Grace folks and grace-full Belvoir neighbors for all you do for us. You give your intentions hands and feet and send them out into the neighborhood to help, and we can't thank you enough.
Daily Worship
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
Bishops' Statements on Ukraine
February 24, 2022

Dear East Tennessee Episcopal Friends,

I am writing to you today to commend the following statement and prayer by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York.

For some time, we have spoken of living in unprecedented times with a global pandemic and retreating democracies across the globe. To this moment, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now requires all people of faith and goodwill to pray. The people of Ukraine have been living with low-level violent incursions from Russia for several years now, while many of us might imagine this is a new conflict. What we are seeing is an ongoing conflict now growing to regional war.

As we approach the Lenten season, I would encourage you all to add to your Prayers of the People particular prayers for Ukraine and its people, and also the people of Russia, all of whom will suffer because of the madness of President Putin, who seeks of a war of choice.

Peace,

+ Brian

 
A Statement on Ukraine from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York

The horrific and unprovoked attack on Ukraine is an act of great evil.

Placing our trust in Jesus Christ, the author of peace, we pray for an urgent ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian forces. We call for a public decision to choose the way of peace and an international conference to secure long-term agreements for stability and lasting peace.

We invite Christians to make this Sunday a day for prayer for Ukraine, Russia and for peace.

We also give our support to the call from Pope Francis for a global day of prayer and fasting for peace on Ash Wednesday, March 2.
 
A Prayer for Ukraine

God of peace and justice,
we pray for the people of Ukraine today.
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,
that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them.
We pray for those with power over war or peace,
for wisdom, discernment and compassion
to guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear,
that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.

Archbishop Justin Welby
Archbishop Stephen Cottrell
Keep in Mind....
Thorne Sparkman School of Religion
This year's program focuses on "Faith and the Environment," with speakers ranging from Dr. Andy Thompson, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics, School of Theology, University of the South, to the Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith. Ticket pricing options include pricing for regular admission ($30), student admission ($20), dinner options for adults and children, and optional free childcare. The soup-supper preceding the lectures is $30 for all five weeks (adult price).

Masks will be required for the safety of all who participate.

For more details on the speakers, click HERE.

Each evening begins with an organ meditation at 5:15 p.m., followed by supper at 5:45. The lectures begin at 6:30 p.m. Registration is currently open.

Click HERE for more information or to register.

Craig Scholarship
The Dr. Robert Craig Scholarship at Grace Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, TN., was established in 1991 through a generous endowment from Dr. Robert Craig. for Grace Episcopal Church children who attend St. Nicholas School. The Craig family, long-standing and faithful members of Grace Church, have always been devoted to education and especially to St. Nicholas School. This scholarship will continue their support and legacy in perpetuity by assisting our own youth in that endeavor.

The application deadline is April 30th, 2022. If you wish to apply, please contact Paula Garner, Parish Administrator (423-243-3250, ext. 2), for an application. 

Family Promise
Grace's next Family Promise stint will be in June -- dates TBA. If you volunteer for this ministry or are interested in becoming involved, activate your radar as Mothers' Day creeps close and watch for details in Grace Notes and the bulletin.
Useful Information
P.O. Box Use and Address
Please use Grace's P.O. Box for dispatches containing money or other valuables: hard times persist for some of our neighbors, and checks have disappeared from our mailbox more than once. The address is Grace Episcopal Church,
P.O. Box 80954, Chattanooga, TN 37414.

Accessing the Online Church Directory
The directory can be accessed via the church's webpage (www.saygrace.net). Find the menu item “BREEZE” at the right end of the menu options that sprawl across the screen near the top, click and log in; user name is ‘saygrace’ and the password is ‘Chattanooga.’
Parish Prayer List
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 Caroline, our seminarian; 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
 
Jamie Stone, Daniel Stanislawski, Tom Lifsey, Glyn Melnyk, Hannah Brewer,
Lee Moore, Valorie Lephart, David Stanislawski, Rhonda Boocock, Wilma Laney,
Bill Clark, Mary McDonald, Patricia Kelley Williams, Russell, Tony Hill, Scott, Julia, Tony, Mary Cooper, Martha Smith, Sue Sears, William Simpson, Neil Robinson,
Ash Gunlock, Bill Strang, June McEwen, Amy, Deborah, Jim Hinkle, Andrea, 
the Brown family, Reba, 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, who is 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 Ukraine and of Russia who find themselves beset by war.
 
We pray for those who have died, that they may share with all your saints in the full revelation of your eternal glory.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church of Kenya. 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: St. James, Knoxville, and All Angels, Spearfish, SD.

Those in need of continued prayer: 
Sally Cauthen, Mary Lou Walden, 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
Serving on Sunday

At the 8:00 a.m. service: Lectors, Terry Burnett, Stephen Jones

At the 10:45 a.m. service: Lectors, Judy Burnett, Paul Thomas; Intercessor, Richard Hyatt; Crucifer, Jim Harris

Lectionary Readings
Exodus 34:29-35, Psalm 99, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Luke 9:28-43a
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