After Action Report

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

22 October 2015

In the week following our annual pilgrimage there are many who focus first on a little rest.  Many have been busy (see the thanksgivings offered below).  We were blessed to welcome and participate in prayer and worship with pilgrims from ten states and two Candian provinces.  There certainly was a lot going on, but in an “after action report” I want to focus on one part of the pilgrimage that is less well known to most in the parish, and even to many of the pilgrims, this being Benediction of the Blessèd Sacrament: (http://www.gracesheboygan.com/index.php/faq/31-blessed-sacrament)

Benediction happens on the final afternoon, after many have left.  The sacrament of Jesus’ Body is placed in a special vessel/stand called a monstrance

(http://www.gracesheboygan.com/index.php/faq/50-monstrance), and accompanied by specific prayers is held over the people as a blessing.  Prayers, both spoken and sung, are offered reciting praises and thanksgivings to God.

For the merely curious, Benediction has its aesthetic charms.  For the faithful it is of such power as to render about half of those attending last Saturday’s service reduced to tears.  This is not merely sentimentality—far from it—but more an identification of self with the presence of Jesus.  When we recognize ourselves to be directly before Our Lord, we are overwhelmed.

So, why should this not happen outside of a special service?  We are always before God!  What is different in Benediction is that we are focused and intentional.  But, when we recognize that we are always before the same God who at all times and in all places reaches out to us, should this not focus our attention?  Should we not recognize all of life to be filled with awe, filled with an awareness of blessing?  In the old parlance of motivational speakers “an attitude of gratitude” can shape us and better focus us, but sometimes we just have to stop, take stock, and say both “Wow!” and “Thank you!”

Stewardship Sunday! October 25th, there will be ONE mass only at 10:15am. There WILL be Sunday School for both children and adults!

Grace abounds:  Please thank:

§  Kevan and Traci Revis, and Art and Nancy Imig for the Sunday coffee hours.

§  All those who helped in the pilgrimage:

―     Greeters/Hosts:  Pat Ford Smith, Jennifer Pawlus, Grace Zangara

―     Ushers:  Nicci Beeck, Jennifer Pawlus, Ed Clabots, Bev Evans

―     Food preparation/service:  Mary Clabots, Julie Davidson, Barb MacEwen, Bernie Markevitch, Bob MacEwen, Terry Kohler

―     Decoration:  Bernie Markevitch

―     Clean-up:  Ed and Mary Clabots, Julie Davidson, John Davis, Bob and Barb MacEwen, Mary Massey

―     Photography:  Paul Aparicio, Ed Clabots

―     Hospitality:  Terry and Mary Kohler, Karl and Elizabeth Schaffenburg, Mary Snyder and Tom Wright

―     Transportation:  Jennifer Pawlus, Mary Kohler

―     Altar Guild:  Bev Evans, Claudia Fischer, Katie Maki, Elizabeth Schaffenburg, Mary Snyder

―     Altar Party:  Paul Aparicio, Chase Beeck, John Davis, Scott Fabiano, Bryan Stenz

―     Music:  Ben Dobey and all of the choir!  (Note that original musical offerings from Ben Dobey were used throughout the services.)  Also including The Rev. Alexander Pryor and the choir of Nashotah House Seminary.

                  ―     Grace Abounds: Jon Whitford, Bryan Stenz, Brian Munro

Call for Contributions:  

THE HONEY COMB AND THE BEE HIVE   

At the beginning of this year’s stewardship campaign I was asked to speak to my church family about standing 100% with Grace Church in pledging for 2016.  As I was giving it prayerful consideration one Sunday morning, I found myself staring at the tile floor.  Look at how small one tile is. I reflected on how many it took to lay the floor, the shape and size of each tile, how long it took to clean it, the way they were connected one to the other, the amber coloring and how much it reminded me of a honey comb, and how sweet the honey of a bee hive is. 

Friends of ours have two hives on their property and they explained how each bee in the hive had a very distinctive function within the hive and that the very existence of the hive depended on each and every single bee to do its part to perpetuate it.  It’s a matter of survival. If they don’t all work together to care for their home it will eventually perish.

I thought of Grace Episcopal Church and what it’s meant to me through the years. In 1983 it was just a building where I met with another group of people in the basement in the old yellow kitchen for about 3 years. There was also a day care center, and Saturday mornings there was a meal prepared and served in that old basement.  In 1986, I met Crawford, in another church.  He invited me to come with him to a Palm Sunday service. I had no idea how beautiful it was upstairs!  In 1989 we married in this church, and someday will be placed in the Columbarium.  We’ve celebrated, prayed, healed, mourned the passing of loved ones, brought our family and friends to worship, and watched people come and go through the years.  It was here that I found Christ through the love of others, experienced the Holiness of God, and felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, Grace Church is a veritable bee hive of activity with worship services, high and low masses with communion, morning and evening prayer, evensong, Sunday school classes, a nursery, adult formation, choir rehearsals, organ recitals, boy scout meetings, Christmas pageants, dinners, luncheons, public meetings, voting, stained glass windows, flowers, incense, pod casts, webinars, bible studies, prayers at the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham and pilgrimages, reciting of the rosary, hands on healing prayers, and the list goes on.  At any given time of day or night there are people in and out of this building. The phone rings all day in the office, people come through the door with questions, seeking, help comfort and more. We’re blessed with faithful ministers! With God’s grace this blessed place is used for His children, His family and for His glory. 

Spend some time here and you will see many people volunteer their time cooking, cleaning, dusting, watering plants, raking, painting, planting, replacing candles, setting up altars, fixing appliances, washing dishes, taking laundry home and the list goes on.  So much happens here and it’s vitally important to keep the lights on, to heat and cool and maintain the building, keep the phones going, and have supplies for the various ministries to function.  Our building and needs have changed through the years, but our mission is the same: To love God, to love others and serve God’s world.

It is up to us to keep this “Holy Hive” alive and well for all of God’s family now and in the future. 

Please prayerfully consider your pledge for 2016, and support Grace 100%. 

                                                       

In His love, Pat Ford Smith                       October 18, 2015

Music this Week:                   Sunday, October 25^th      Pentecost 22, Proper 25B

Prelude                           Offertoire                                           Charles Tournemire

Entrance Hymn               “All my hope on God is founded”                         Michael

Offertory Hymn 523        “Glorious things of thee are spoken”          Abbot’s Leigh

Communion Motet           Eternal light, shine in my heart               Samuel Scheidt

Communion Hymn 336   “Come with us, O blessed Jesus”               Werde munter

Closing Hymn 493           “O for a thousand tongues to sing”                      Azmon

Postlude                         Toccata in C                             Johann Gottfried Walther

Parish Notices

§ Stewardship Sunday: On Sunday, October 25, there will be ONE service only at 10:15 am. We will celebrate the conclusion of our campaign with an all-parish potluck luncheon. The service will involve a said liturgy without incense, with hymns and choir. There WILL be Sunday School for both children and adults at 9:00am. Please come and join with the parish family as we give thanks for all our many blessings.

§  Adult Formation: At 9:00 a.m. today we will start a validation phase of live-streaming adult education on the web.  To do this we will start with a “rerun”.  We will offer a course first offered in early 2012, as updated, to test how existing educational materials can be adapted and expanded in a webcast context.  The course will be Anglican Identity, a four part series for which the written (from 2012) materials can be found already on our website. The Anglican Identity course focuses on what it means to follow Jesus Christ in the unique ways that are Anglican.  What is different about being an Episcopalian, for example, than about being a Christian in another tradition?  How is this identity manifested uniquely, and what strengths and challenges exist in being not just a Christian but an Anglican Christian?  This course can provide a good refresher or process check for lifelong Episcopalians, and a more complete grounding for new Episcopalians.  Come prepared to share!

§  25^th Annual Coats for Kids: is a community service campaign that over that last 24 years the community has donated 20,000 coats to those in need. Area residents are asked to donate clean coats in good repair. We accept coats of all sizes for people of all ages, with the need being greatest for children’s coats. These coats will be distributed to Sheboygan county residents who would otherwise go without. Drop off location: Reinbold-Novak Funeral Home, 1535 S. 12 St. Sheboygan, Tuesday,  September 1^st – Thursday, October 22^nd, Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m. –4:00 p.m. Distribution Location: Salvation Army, 710 Pennsylvania Ave. Sheboygan, Friday, October 23^rd, from 1:00 – 7:00 p.m.

§  Israel Pilgrimage: On October 28th, a group of 25 pilgrims from the Diocese of Fond du Lac, including Deacon Michele and Jon Whitford, Ed Clabots, and Leslie Kohler, as well as friends from other dioceses, and other denominations, will be going to Jordan and Israel.  Please hold these pilgrims in your prayers for safe travel and enrichment. For further information go to: https://stthomas2israel.wordpress.com/

§  23^rd Annual Clothing Exchange: Please bring by October 30^th, gently worn, clean, warm winter clothes (infant to adult), to any public school in Sheboygan, Kohler and Howards Grove, or St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, or to any Sheboygan Wisconsin Bank & Trust.  Exchange will take place at Grant Elementary School, 1528 N. 5^th Street on November 7^th at 9:00 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. For more information please call Chris Kennedy at 208-5459.

§  Order of Julian of Norwich move:  On Friday, October 30, the Julians will move their library from storage into the monastery.  Fr. Karl will leave Sheboygan at 7:45 a.m., with return expected about 6:30 p.m.  There will be a day of driving, and about 5 hours of lifting and carrying.  If your fit, and interested in helping, please alert Fr. Karl.  The Julians will provide a meal.

§  Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Volunteers are need for hourly slots of bell ringing on November 28^th at Piggly Wiggly Northside 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. and Pick & Save Southside 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sign-up sheets can be found in the Narthex. For any questions please call Nancy Yurk at 453-9948.

§  Like Grace Church on Facebook

§  Follow Grace Church on Twitter: @GEC_Sheboygan

§  We Are on Itunes! Check out the new podcast!!!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grace-church-sheboygan/id982836791