Your Best Life: Not!

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

9 October 2014

Tomorrow we begin our annual pilgrimage festival honoring Our Lady of Walsingham.  We will welcome pilgrims from many states and from our own area, as we gather with our bishop to worship, pray to, and offer thanksgiving and praise to Our Lord in fellowship with the worship, prayer, thanksgiving and praise offered by Our Lady.  In this we seek to live like Mary, as those who may always say “be it unto me according to your word ...”  Let God’s will be done.  Let my will be surrendered to God’s.

Notice the contrast between the surrender of will and the desire that God might do my will.  It is an ever-popular and always seductive projection of self to believe that God just wants me to be happy.  He does bless me, always, but I must choose to live into this blessing, and not confuse God’s will with a projection of my own.

To project my own will is the “default choice” of our fallen nature, and so it is easy.  And if we say that God wants this too, that is a popular message.  In the so-called “prosperity gospel” we are told that “winners” choose to claim the power of God.  The largest church in the U.S., with a weekly attendance of over 43,000, is built upon this message, as articulated in Pastor Joel Osteen’s book Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential (2004), which spent 200 weeks on the best-seller list of The New York Times.  (More books followed, up to 2014’s You Can, You Will: 8 Undeniable Qualities of a Winner.)  A media empire has been built on this message.

But what is it that Mary hears?  Something like “Your best life—Not!”  At Luke 2.35 Simeon tells Mary, “... and a sword will pierce through your soul also ...”, and he says this having praised God for the salvation which he has now seen in the infant Jesus.  Having been greeted by her kinswoman, Elizabeth, as the mother of the Lord, Mary sings that her soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1.46-55).  She does not sing that God makes her great; that she is special, but that her soul turns to God to recognize His greatness.

The “gospel of prosperity” will remain popular because it is what people want to hear.  It comforts us to think that we can somehow “figure out” how to live into blessedness, and that blessedness will look like what we want anyway.  But Mary points to the truth that real blessedness consists in living into God’s will, not ours; that God—in her words—“... has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts ...” (Luke 1.51).  May we ever, like Mary, be those who say “be it unto me according to your word.”

Youth Events

New Beginnings

This past weekend we had approximately 20 middle schoolers and another 10 in high school staff/adult staff. We had a blast with these young folks, and they were able to participate with us at our 10:15 service to see "how we do church," which for some of these kids is very different from their home parishes! We discussed friends, family, and pressure, along with skits, and lots of food! It was a great success, and we all want to thank Grace Church for opening the doors to this ministry.

COMING SOON!!

This week as we all know is the Walsingham Pilgrimage, but the week after is the Diocesan Youth Fall Lock-In (Oct 17-19). For all students grades 6-12. The location is Camp Lakotah (which is where we hold our summer camp program), and registration information can be found here: www.diofdl.org/lockin . I highly recommend that all youth go to this event, it is often described as being "the best weekend of the year".

High Schoolers

If you have never been to a Happening weekend, you're chance is coming. Happening is a High School only lock-in that is intentional about being together and learning together about our faith, and who we are as Christians. Many people find that Happening is a defining moment for them in their faith journey, and the friends and community you create together lasts long after the weekend. Happening will be held at All Saints in Appleton, on Nov. 14-16, and you can register at www.diofdl.org/happening . 

Grace Abounds:  Please thank:

§  Bobbi Kraft, and Joyce Wessel and Brian Heck for the Sunday coffee hours.

§  Bill May for the extra clean-ups occasioned by the New Beginnings weekend.

§  Bobbi and Kaleigh Kraft, and Nick Whitford for their ministries throughout the New Beginnings youth weekend.

§  Ben Dobey and the Schola Cantorum singers for the sung Compline, and all those who provided potluck supper offerings.

§  Barb MacEwen for helping prepare the 9-27 funeral lunch.  (We missed her last week!)

§  Martha Shad for taking a meal to sick parishioners.

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.

Music this week: 

Evensong Friday, Oct. 10^th at 6pm

Nashotah House choral scholars

The Rev. Alexander Pryor, conductor

Prelude                                    Benedictus                                                                      Alec Rowley

Phos hilaron                                                                                                         chant: John Stainer

Psalm 45                                                                                                          chant: Hylton Stewart

Canticles                                 Evening Service                                                      Joseph Kucharski

Anthem                                   Ave Maria                                                       Sergei Rachmaninoff

Postlude                                  Ave Maris Stella                                                          Jean Titelouze

Pontifical Mass with Procession, Oct. 11^th at 10:30am

Prelude                                    The Gaudete Brass Quintet

Processional                            The Pilgrim’s Hymn

Mass setting                            Deutsche Messe                                                          Franz Schubert

Offertory Hymn                      “Hail, holy Queen, enthroned above”

Communion Motet                  God be in my head                                                         Philip Wilby

Communion Hymn                 “Sing of Mary, pure and lowly”

Closing Hymn                         “Ye who claim the faith of Jesus”

Postlude                                  The Gaudete Brass Quintet

Sprinkling, Intercessions Musical Offering and Benediction at 2pm

Prelude                                    Angelus                                                                            Franz Liszt

Opening Hymn                       “Hail Mary, ever blessed”                  

During the Sprinkling             Adagio (Symphonie V)                                    Charles-Marie Widor

Musical Offering                     Magnificat                                                          Alexandre Guilmant

Closing Hymn                         “Alleluia, sing to Jesus”

Postlude                                  Regina Coeli                                                                di Lasso/Liszt

Sunday, Oct. 12^th

Prelude                                    Partita on Blessed Jesus, we are here                            J.G. Walther

Entrance Hymn 518                “Christ is made the sure foundation”

Psalm 23                                                                                                        Anglican chant: Davies

Offertory Hymn 645               “The King of love my Shepherd is”

Communion Motet                  Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all                                  Joseph Barnby

Communion Hymn 321          “My God, thy table now is spread”

Closing Hymn 5441                “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun”

Postlude                                  Fanfare; Galliard                                                     Herbert Howells

Parish Notices

Our Lady of Walsingham Pilgrimage

Friday, October 10, 2014

Quiet Day of Prayer and Meditation.

12:00pm Service for Noonday and Meditation

3:00pm Service of Prayer and Meditation

6:00pm Solemn Evensong and Meditation

The Meditations will be led by Mother Miriam, CSM

Superior of the Eastern Province of The Community of St. Mary

Saturday, October 11, 2014

10:30 am Solemn Pontifical Mass

Celebrant is The Right Reverend Matthew A. Gunter,

Eighth Bishop of Fond du Lac.

The preacher is Mother Miriam, CSM

Superior of the Eastern Province of The Community of St. Mary

Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey Organist and Choirmaster

and the Gaudete Brass of Chicago.

12:00 pm Harvest Lunch. The cost is $15.00.

Please make reservations by October 8, 2014.

2:00pm Anointing with Walsingham water and Healing Prayer,

musical offering, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

§  Adult Education: Second Sunday features discussions centered a series of short films in the BASIC series:—Trends come and go in our culture and the Church some- times seems to follow. BASIC is a seven-part series of short films that challenges us to reclaim the Church as Scripture describes her to be. This series speaks to those who have questions about the Church and to those who may have lost interest in the Church. Each Sunday we will watch one of the seven short films followed by a time of group discussion facilitated by Bobbi Kraft. The next film will be: Follow Jesus. Please join us. (This is also an ideal series to invite friends who have no church but who are open to explore faith.)

§  Stewardship Sunday: On Sunday, 19 October, there will be ONE service only at 10:15am. We will celebrate the conclusion of our campaign with an all-parish potluck luncheon. The service will involve a said liturgy without incense, but with hymns and choir. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table.

§  Winter is Coming! The last wedding for the year will be in late October so that means we will need to prepare Grace and All Saints’ for the winter with some light cleaning inside and out.  Please join us on the following dates to help: Grace Church – October 18th 9 AM to Noon  (back-up date is October 25th depending on weather) All Saints’ Chapel – November 8th 9 AM to Noon  (back-up date is November 15th).

§  Introduction to Essential Oils Class: October 14, 6:30 pm at Grace Church. Invite your friends, and join us for an Intro to Essential Oils Class. You’ll learn what essential oils are and some of the ways they can be used in your life—health and wellness concerns, toxin free cleaning, first aid, emotional needs, and pet care.

§  12 Oils of Ancient Scripture Class: Would you like to know a little more about essential oils and their history?  Learn about the twelve most significant oils of the Bible, their scripture references, and some of their uses—both ancient and modern. You’ll be able to smell the oils of spikenard, myrrh, myrtle, Rose of Sharon, and more. Bring a guest! October 28, 6:30 pm at Grace Church, for more information please call Sandie Palmer at 920-980-1770 or www.facebook.com/sandpiperartsoils.

§  Coffee Hour there are still a few openings: Thank you to all who have volunteered for coffee hour and all who have stepped in and made coffee and put out snacks. We do have a sign-up sheet in the white binder on the Narthex table. Several of the upcoming Sundays have taken but we are in need of more volunteers. The weeks that are open are 8:00am: 9/28, 11/16, 11/30, 12/21 and 12/28. For 10:15am: 9/28, 10/12, 11/16, 11/23, 12/28. If you can help please sign up on the green sheets in the white binder on the Narthex table. Thank you so much.

§  Catechumenate! It’s not too late to join the class! Do you wish you knew more about the Creed, church history, the Book of Common Prayer and why we do the things we do during worship? Would you like to confirm your Baptismal Vows in the sacrament of Confirmation? Would you like to be received into the Episcopal Church from the Roman Catholic Church? Would you like to practice Discipleship? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I am inviting you to be a part of the Catechumenate this year. The Catechumenate will meet on Wednesday evenings each week starting at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and will continue until May 17^th  when the Bishop makes his annual visitation. If you would like to be a part of this exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please e-mail Deacon Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com or call the office 452-9659. Please prayerfully consider this invitation.

§  New Time for Men’s Everyone’s Breakfast: The parish breakfast will be Tuesdays at 7 a.m., Fountain Park.  This is open to everyone to gather for a bite of breakfast and conversation before the day begins.

§  St. Paul’s New Book Club: Will meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month beginning on October 9,2014 at 11am at St Paul's Episcopal Church in Plymouth. They will be reading, viewing, and discussing books, movies, and documentaries that have a spiritual element to them.  The books, movies, documentaries will not be heavy but encourage, challenge and motivate rewarding discussions and impress us in some way.  They will also have quest speakers now and then. A list of suggestions for books and movies will be presented; however, every participant is welcome to suggest their own ideas. Everyone is welcome to join. You don't have to be a member to join us, just a love of learning and child-like curiosity. Contact Pat at 920-400-0048.