Annual Meeting

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

23 January 2014

Our Parish Annual Meeting will be held this Sunday, following one 9 a.m. service of Holy Eucharist.  The meeting will take place in the church nave, to be followed by a pot luck luncheon in St. Nicholas Hall.

An annual meeting is a time to take stock, and to consider how we can best continue to live into the identity to which God calls us.  The best strategic plan we can have is to discern God’s will and then do it.

In addition to elections (Vestry, wardens, diocesan convention delegates), we will receive financial reports, both for the parish budget and from the Grace Walsingham Foundation, and we will also hear from clergy and lay leadership about overall health and direction.

Our Lord continues to bless this parish.  We continue to make progress in how we are invested in common ministry together, in participation in ministry, in life in the Holy Spirit, and in discipleship.  Challenges remain, but our Lord continues to equip us to follow Him.

Come to the meeting prepared to listen, prepared to ask questions, prepared to offer insights, prepared to share.  All members of Grace are full members in this Body.  You have a voice.  Come prepared to share it, that our growth as the Body in this place may continue.

Grace Abounds:  Please thank:

§  Wayne and Pat Sather, and Paul and Andrea Aparicio for the wonderful coffee hours this past Sunday.

§  Bernie Markevitch for church decorating.

§  Please thank Crawford and Pat Ford Smith for flowers.

§  Please thank Elizabeth Schaffenburg and Pat Ford Smith for catering the meeting of deanery clergy.

§  Please thank all members of the Vestry for investing their entire day this past Sunday to parish business, including a four hour meeting to finalize financial planning for 2014.

§  Ben Dobey for donating a humidifier for the parish hall.

Call for Contributions:  If you have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshippers toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by Wednesday in the week of publication.

REFLECTIONS

As I began to reflect on what living out my faith “with skin” (to borrow from Father Karl) would really look like, I was led to thoughts going back some forty years.  Up until my thirties I pretty much lived by “the rules.”

Mass on Sundays, confession once a month and the usual short daily prayers we were taught as children.  Then one day, into my life came some anointed, faith filled people who led me into a Spirit filled walk with my Lord and Savior.  Profound changes began.  A deeper prayer life, love for the scriptures, thoughts centered on praise and thanksgiving for His amazing love.  This look back has reminded me of how swiftly the years have passed.  What have I taken, what have I learned, from the joys and sorrows each year brought with it?  How steady have I been holding onto those first glimpses into His amazing grace?    I hear more, read more as life passes, about how God has a plan and purpose for each of us.  He does indeed have one.  How that must have gone astray in my life as decisions were made, plans carried out without seeking Him for counsel.  But He is a God of mercy and His love for his children is eternal.  How then does my creator gently guide me into seeing His purpose and plan?  I see constant  renewal each day.  I see the hope to remain faithful, to seeking a closer union with Him through prayer, and I especially see the desire within me for the need to recover God’s plan, to know His will for me.  I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that “Everlasting love shall be the pillow for my head this night.“  (C.H. Spurgeon) 

Faith filled living looks like that to me.   Trusting in God’s leading, me prayerfully following.  May I fulfill the plan He still has for me.  To Him be the Glory and Praise!

Jane Hanson

Music this week:

Low Mass with hymns at 9am

Delpha MacAloon, guest organist

Entrance Hymn 7        “Christ, whose glory fills the skies”                                        Ratisbon

Offertory Hymn 381   “Thy strong word did cleave the darkness”                           Ton-y-botel

Comm. Hymn 661      “They cast their nets in Galilee”                                             Georgetown

Closing Hymn 539      “O Zion, haste”                                                                       Tidings

Parish Notices

§  Being the Body: Our final session for our current discipleship program will be held on Saturday, 1 February, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. This session will focus on living into The Great Commission, on how we live out our vocation as disciples of our Lord. All are welcome.

§  Adult Formation-Liturgical Workshop: Adult formation will continue February 2 at 9 a.m. with the second of a four week series of liturgical workshops intended to allow participants to become much more familiar with a life of prayer, and the resources in the Book of Common Prayer. The workshops will be led by parish clergy and seminarian. Those who do not already have their own prayer book at home can also get one to use at home!

§  Dcn. Roger Patience will be offering a liturgical workshop on Saturday, 15 February, at St. Thomas, Menasha.  The focus is “Daily Office Basics”.  Participants will not only learn about the office and its place in Christian devotion and discipline, but will also learn practical tips about how to do the offices.  The workshop will begin with refreshments at 8:30 am. Morning Prayer is at 9 am, and the session will conclude promptly at noon.  A workshop like this is itself a "special act of discipline or self-denial" in Lent, and will allow participants to understand how they may continue in the Daily Office as an ongoing spiritual discipline.  Please RSVP to Deacon Roger at dcnpatience@gmail.com .

§  Lenten Booklet: Grace Church will prepare our own parish book of Lenten meditations, written by parishioners. For each of the forty days of Lent season, a Gospel lesson taken from the Eucharistic lectionary for the weekdays in Lent, plus the Sunday Eucharistic lectionary, are provided on a clip board on the Narthex table. Following each Gospel lesson will be the Collect prayer for the celebration of Eucharist on each day. The Collect “collects” our prayers as founded in the Scripture appointed for each day. The method envisaged for use of this booklet is that parishioners will read the Gospel lesson– perhaps more than once, perhaps underlining the words or phrases that resonate with them on that day–then reflect on the Collect, and then write down their own reflections on the page appointed for the day. These reflections will be gathered by February 21^st to allow for production lead-time. The publication of a parish devotional will be published to the whole parish, in print and on our website. Please submit your meditations anonymously or for attribution to Tasha Crouse at gpvehicle@yahoo.com.

§  English as a Second Language teaching group: This ESL group helps immigrants learn the English language to better their lives and job prospects. The group will meet Wednesday evenings beginning February 5^th at 6:00pm on the lower level in the youth room. Contact Scott Lubbers at 698-2002.

§  Simple Potluck Supper and Compline: Sunday, February 9^th we will have our Simple Potluck Supper at 6:30pm. Come and enjoy the fellowship then stay for Compline at 8:00pm. The Schola Cantorum will be singing Compline which is the night time prayers said or sung just before retiring. It is a wonderful and peaceful way to end the day.

§  Flower Schedule for 2014: Giving the gift of flowers is a wonderful way to remember a loved one or to offer thanksgiving for your blessings. If you wish to sign up for a specific Sunday, the Flower Schedule is available on the table in the narthex. More than one person can sign up for each Sunday.

§  Coffee Hour Schedule: There is a new sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in 2014. If you would like to host please sign up for either 8:00am or 10:15am. We are in need of someone to oversee the schedule and be the point person for questions. If you would be able to spend a few minutes a week double checking the sign-up sheet and giving reminders or if you have questions please see Deacon Michele or Bobbi Kraft. Thank you so much.

§  Love Bowls 2014 is right around the corner!  This annual event benefits Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County for the purpose of providing meals for our neighbors who are homebound or unable to prepare meals for themselves. This year’s event will take place on Sunday, February 9^th at South High. Patrons can purchase a bowl for $20 to take home and enjoy plus eat soup from over 70 local restaurants. 

• Another way to support this local event is by volunteering. 
• There are volunteer forms in the narthex with volunteer information. If you are interested or have questions about volunteering contact Susan Mooney at the MOW office 451-7011 or volunteers@shebmoww.org. There is a special need for volunteers during set-up on Saturday, February 8^th 10:00 am-2:00 pm and then during clean up on Sunday, February 9^th 3:00-4:30 pm. If you’d like to hear from those who’ve volunteered in previous years, talk to Kaleigh or Bobbi Kraft. 
• Whether you volunteer, buy a bowl or both, your support of Meals on Wheels is appreciated by many who are served in our community.