Seeking and Serving Christ in all Persons

Parish News For the week of May 29, 2022

The Parish Office will be closed in observance of Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.

Music in the Garden

Grace Episcopal Church has joined in the 2022 sponsorship of Music in the Garden at Boxerwood. Join your Grace family at the first MITG concert, Tom Artwick and the Regency Trio, Friday, May 27, from 6:30 – 8 pm. Gates open at 5:30. Pack a picnic, bring a chair and we’ll see you there!

SUMMIT

Join us on Saturday, June 4, 9 am - 1 pm in the Parish Hall and discover Invite Welcome Connect at Grace Episcopal Church! Invite Welcome Connect is a ministry of transformation that equips and empowers congregations

and individuals to cultivate intentional practices of

evangelism, hospitality, and belonging.

Lunch is included!

Click here to let us know that you are coming

Rooted in the Gospel directive to "God and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) the vision of Invite Welcome Connect is to change the culture of The Episcopal Church to move from maintenance to mission. 

Jenni Faires, DIOSWVA Canon of Youth and Evangelism

will be our facilitator for the day.

Come, join us in Mission!

May is Preservation Month! Putting a Human Face to Slavery in Rockbridge County

May events sponsored by HLA: https://historiclexington.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HLF-Newsletter-Winter-2022-Preservation-Month.pdf

On May 28, Charles Dew, author of the acclaimed book, Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge, will speak at 2 pm at Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, south of Lexington on Falling Spring Road off Rt. 11. Following his presentation, Dr. Dew has agreed to a book signing of Bond of Iron. Participants will then have an opportunity to visit nearby Buffalo Forge, thanks to the property’s owners.

Mission Mondays

Join us on three Mondays and one Sunday this Summer for service in our community.

Our first Monday is June 6. Grace will host the Hiker Dinner at St. John's in Glasgow. Glasgow is a popular destination for hikers on the Appalachian Trail. Shuttles are available from the trail to Glasgow. Glasgow has a shelter with a hot shower, a hostel, a post office, Dollar General, and a restaurant. The restaurant is closed on Monday so St. John's Episcopal provides dinner on Mondays for hikers from May to July. They usually have +/- 30 hikers.

St. John’s was recently interviewed by WDBJ7.

Dinner begins at 6 pm. We’ll need people there to set up between 4:30 and 5.

The menu is usually

Baked spaghetti/ baked Ziti with and without meat.

(5 large, 9x13 or larger Aluminum Pans with meat and 1 without meat, COOKED)

4 or 5 loaves of bread (Walmart sells sliced French bread for $1 each)

3 large bags of salad

Fruit (Apples, Oranges, Bananas)

Email sharon@graceepiscopallexington.org if you can help!

Other mission opportunities this Summer

June 20 - Community Closet in Buena Vista

July 11 - Campus Kitchens

July 24 - RARA Food Pantry

Summer Camp at Phoebe Needles

Coffeehouse of Rockbridge

Grace Episcopal Church is the new home of the Coffeehouse of Rockbridge. The Coffeehouse had its yearly Prom on Friday, May 20. The event brought out 30 guests and their caregivers/family members. The prom was quite a success--a pasta and salad dinner, cake, corsages and boutonnieres for all, dance music by DJ Kenny, and a surprise guest jazz vocalist. The next Coffeehouse will be held in September. 

Holy Hike

Ten Grace parishioners met on Saturday, May 21 for a hike on the Chessie Trail, a service of Noonday Prayer and a taco salad bar lunch. Join us for our next Holy Hike!

Virginia Boys Home Cottage Sponsorship

Virginia Boys Home Cottage Sponsorship is a commitment by Grace Episcopal Church to sponsor one cottage at the home near Covington, Va. The Home has Episcopal roots and accepts boys from 5 to 18 years old. Organizations that choose to sponsor a cottage are asked to contribute $2500 each year for the upkeep and maintenance of the cottage. Grace Church has opted to go further than financial support by engaging with the boys on a personal level. We have recruited individual sponsors from the parish for each boy - to write to them and visit them occasionally. We also plan fun events for all the 9 boys, usually in the Lexington area.

Since our sponsorship started, the boys have been transferred to many different cottages. However, we have chosen to keep sponsoring the same boys regardless of their cottage. Our program currently has 7 Grace Church parishioners who are sponsoring boys. These boys have either been troubled boys or from troubled homes.

We currently need a Grace Church parishioner who will coordinate this work and sponsor a couple of boys who are currently without a sponsor. The following represents the main duties of a coordinator:

1. Boys will be graduating and what new boys we sponsor should be discussed.
2. Grace Volunteers may decide they do not want to volunteer any longer. May need to recruit new volunteers.
3. Plan with help of Grace team members occasional events such as visiting a Grace sponsor home and having a picnic, a swimming/picnic event at a lake or pool, a campout at a sponsor home.
4. Encourage Grace Volunteers to visit their boy(s) at the home and to keep writing to them.

This is a rewarding and needed program. Anyone who chooses to coordinate or be a sponsor for this program will receive more than you give. But then, that is true with most giving.

For additional information, contact David Gates at michaeldavidgates@gmail.com or 261-1410.

BY THE GRACE OF GOD

AND WITH THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE

THE RIGHT REVEREND MARK A. BOURLAKAS

BISHOP OF SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA

WILL ORDAIN

SAMSON JAMES MAMOUR

CARA ELLEN MODISETT

WILLIAM WESTWOOD YAGEL

TO THE SACRED ORDER OF DEACONS

IN CHRIST’S ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH

SATURDAY, THE EIGHTEENTH DAY OF JUNE, 2022

AT 11:00 A.M.

GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

123 W. WASHINGTON STREET

LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA 24450

YOUR PRAYERS AND PRESENCE ARE REQUESTED

Hosting Ukrainians 

A local group has begun planning to host families from war-torn Ukraine.

A first meeting has taken place, with all attendees expressing an overwhelming wish to help. The community-based group, “Hosting Ukrainian Families,” welcomes others to participate, to be a partner in helping ease the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in front of us.

If you would like to answer a call to join us, please let us know at JerryNay@jerrynay.us .You will be sent progress reports with information on how to take part.

Vestry Minutes

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

Happy Birthday

Anne Tyler McCabe (5/31), Ellie Mastin (5/31), Paula Cushman (6/1), Ed Dooley (6/1), Bill Stearns (6/2), Philip Brooke (6/2), Sophie Brown (6/4), Grigg Mullen (6/5)