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Thursday, February 26, 2015

Share God

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
26 February 2015

The fundamental truth about sharing a story is that it is a sharing of self.  If you have been following the parish lenten devotions you will have been struck by how much of the content involves the writer sharing of himself or herself.  In the context of meditating on a gospel passage and on a prayer, the writer has had things to say in the form of a meditation on meaning, but this has been stated very much with reference to personal experience.  A common response could be described using a formula like:  “Jesus teaches about X.  I understand X because of what happened to me once.  Here’s what it felt like, and what I learned.”
How we experience God is shaped by who we are, and it is shaped by where we meet God, in time, place, circumstances, and with other persons.  No two meetings are ever alike, but the truth always involves that a meeting with God is memorable, even when we don’t realize that we had an experience of God until afterward (sometimes long afterward).  We confess to God’s providential presence in all of our life, and in all of our lives, so why should we be surprised that when we speak of God we speak about how we have experienced Him?
How we share our faith is shaped less by how we can ever hope to explain belief, and a lot more by how we can just share our experience.  Sharing faith involves story-telling a lot more than analysis and explanation, even when we may have a profound insight to share, because the reality is that when we do have a profound insight it is because of how God has given us the eyes to see, the heart to feel, the “gut” to be grounded in in sureness that can be voiced at best clumsily.
Share God by sharing yourself.  Share God, share the faith with those who do not know God, by sharing how you have experienced His presence, how you have been shaped.   If someone talks to you about being “equipped for evangelism” you may well shy away, but if we translate that phrase to reflect that all you need do is share of yourself, then the fright factor decreases materially.  It may remain a little scary to think about sharing of self, but remember that you don’t do this alone.  You do it with God.  As He has formed you, as He guides you, you can allow others to gain experience of God.  Share the stories, that all may know the Author.

Grace abounds:  Please thank:
§  John Davis and Jack Britton for the coffee hours on Sunday.

Youth and Family Ministry

Call for ContributionsIf 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:  The Second Sunday in Lent

Prelude                        Chaconne in F Minor                                                                      Pachelbel
Introit                          Call to Remembrance                                                                     Plainsong
Kyrie                           Missa ‘Alme Pater’                                             Plainsong, adapt. Wildman
Offertory Hymn 448   “O love, how deep, how broad, how high”                Deus tuorum militum
Sanctus & Agnus Dei                                                                                                          Plainsong
Communion Motet      Dear Lord and Father of Mankind                                                        Parry
Comm. Hymn 707      “Take my life, and let it be”                                                         Hollingside
Closing Hymn 142      “Lord, who throughout these forty days”                                    St. Flavian
Postlude                      Fantasia in C Minor                                                                               Bach

Parish Notices
Adult Formation: March 1st, Christopher Wood, our Seminarian, will facilitate a class on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Confession or the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is not just for Roman Catholics. Come to the adult class and learn about this vital sacrament. We will explore the biblical beginnings of confession, how making a sacramental confusion differs from the general confession we say during Mass, when we should make sacramental confession, and how to prepare for confession. If Confession is something you have done in the past, or something you feel strongly about not doing, please come to the adult education class. This will be very informative, and there will be absolutely no pressure about whether you should make an individual confession.

Potluck Dinner and Compline: Bring a dish to pass and join us next Sunday, March 1st at 6:30pm, for a potluck dinner and fellowship. At 8:00pm the Schola Cantorum will sing Compline, a beautiful restful service full of candles and music.

Stations of the Cross, Simple Suppers and Teaching:  Beginning on the first Friday in Lent (February 20th) we will meet each Friday at 5:30 p.m. for Stations of the Cross, followed by a simple supper and Christian formation.  Our formation program this year will be looking at our Parish Meditations for the week. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so the people who are providing the meal will know how much food needs to be prepared.

Scout Appreciation "Pancake Breakfast": Sunday March 8th Please mark your calendars to stay a few minutes, after each service, to savor a down home Pancake Breakfast. Scouts will supply all the know how for the event. As an added bonus, Maple Syrup will be supplied by the Drewry Farms of Plymouth. This award winning Maple Syrup is served at all the major restaurants in the area and beyond. The Scouts will also have available Maple Syrup gift assortments.

Soup-d’-Do: Pizza Soup is back and available for purchase!! The single $4.00 and double $7.00 serving containers are frozen and are ready for purchase. The soups

offered are Sicilian Chicken, Pizza, Bean & Ham and Vegetarian Vegetable.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Fifty Shades of Deception

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
19 February 2015

Fifty Shades of Deception.  That would be truth-in-advertising for the top-grossing film released last weekend, a film with sales propelled by a viewing audience 68% female.
Let’s look at a little history.  In 1958 the first contraceptive pill was released, becoming widely available by the mid-sixties.  In 1965 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot regulate contraception, including in its ruling (Griswold v. Connecticut) that, although a right to privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution, it’s in there within the overlap of other named rights.  In 1968 Pope Paul VI issued his encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which he predicted that the separation of sex from the potential for reproduction would lead to a deconstruction of human personhood.  Now, in the sixth decade of the sexual revolution, we are at a time when millions of women somehow find an expression of liberation in the story of a young woman being completely controlled, objectified, and subjugated by a powerful man with unlimited resources.
Porn has gone mainstream, and how many people even notice?  The deception is actually quite subtle; it is shaded.  The female character’s name is Anastasia Steele.  Her first name is the Greek for “of the resurrection,” and her second refers to an element strengthened in fire.  The male character is Christian Grey, the implication being that one can bring about the shaded “resurrection” of another whom he controls and forges.  The fantasy is that life without limits—Grey as all-powerful, super-rich, super-intelligent, etc.—is the definition of freedom, and that liberation is to be experienced when we discard limits.  What a cruel deception this is, one described in detail in Romans 1.18-32.
Liberation is experienced when we are freed from whatever in this world seeks to control us.  We are freed to live into the identity in which we have each been created, the image and likeness of God.  Freedom does not involve unfettered choice but the ability to choose well.  We can choose to love, rather than to merely seek pleasure.  We can choose to give, rather than to merely take or be taken.  We can choose to follow the truth, rather than to participate in deception.  We can choose the good.  We can seek beauty and find it all things, not only in the powerful, the physically attractive, those who can control their own immediate environment.
In the sixth decade of the sexual revolution, 6% of college-educated women have children out-of-wedlock.  More than half of women without advanced education now bear children without benefit of marriage.  We focus on economic inequality and yet refuse to name the reality that this inequality is driven in large part by the projection across society of behavior, a libertine lifestyle personified in Christian Grey, that builds up nothing.  This is a behavior that has always existed, and a very small number of people have been able to “get away with it” because of their economic resources and power.  But for most people trying to be Christian Grey or Anastasia Steele results in a new form of servitude in which they look to others for sustenance.  They have been told they are free, and have been restricted to a plantation run by those in power.
In the sixth decade of the sexual revolution long-standing patterns of male behavior and fantasies of power are celebrated.  Men get to behave more as many of them have always wished.  Women are told that they are liberated, when the reality is that they have been further objectified.  And society now celebrates this as progress.  Fifty shades of deception.

Grace abounds:  Please thank:
§  John Davis, Jane Hanson, and Mary Massey, and the Boland family for the coffee hours on Sunday.

A Lenten Tithe of Time:  Lent is underway!  Many people ask themselves what they are called to do or what they are called to give up in Lent.  Positive works are obviously good, but the practice of renunciation is also strengthened when it is tied into the positive.  So here is a suggestion.  For Lent, give one tenth of the time you would otherwise spend exposed to electronic media (like this blog!)  Figure out all of the time you spend in a day on your computer, on your smart phone, watching TV, etc.  Then dedicate one tenth of this time, every day, to a spiritual practice such as prayer, meditation, the study of Scripture, or just to silence (listening to God).  You might want to use the lenten devotional booklet which will be distributed in the parish prior to Ash Wednesday.  You might want to use the lessons for Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, or come to one of the daily services in the parish.  If you are like the average American, you will have close to 45 minutes to devote to prayer, study, meditation, silence.  This could allow you to start The Bible Challenge, but whatever you do, you will be doing it because you have renounced what you were otherwise drawn to or used to, a good first step in connecting better with God.

Youth and Family Ministry:  "But the beauty of Grace is that it makes life unfair." If you subscribe to the notion that gifts should, at least eventually, come out even; you're likely to have an uncomfortable feeling about the gift of Grace that God gives to us freely, constantly, and with love.
The truth is that we cannot live up to it, and therefore by God's nature, and ours, this is an unfair transaction. In our favor! The benevolence and perfect love of God overshadows our frailty and incomprehension. It is completely undeserved on our part, yet God offers it freely, constantly, and with love.
This season of Lent that begins today is a season of reflection, repentance, and reconciliation. The onus is on us to do these things, because God has already seen us at our worst; God has already called us to turn around and turn to Him, and God is already calling us back in communion with him, back into His embrace. Perfect love, loves perfectly. The grace of God is given to us freely, constantly, and with perfect love.
The first sentence I wrote is from a song called "Be My Escape" by the band Relient K (YouTube links below). The final line of the first verse reads: "This one last bullet you mention is my one last shot at redemption, because I know to live you must give your life away." There is ambiguity in the lyric about who's life is being given. On the one hand we must offer up our life to God in His service. On the other hand "you" might also refer to Jesus, and Jesus' death is our "last shot at redemption".
Near the end of the second verse the full line reads, "And this life sentence that I'm serving,I admit that I'm every bit deserving. But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." I'll fully admit that the narrator's tone throughout the song is one of near hopelessness, and futility. But the beauty is that; because Grace is unfair, it can reach the unreachable. Jesus' ministry was a ministry lead by fishermen, not Pharisees, by lay people not clergy, by bumpkins not sophisticates. Jesus' called people who struggled mightily with understanding who had called them. If those people can still be given Grace, so can we. Grace is freely given even or especially to those who don't deserve it.

In the bridge the narrator writes that he is holding himself back, though that doesn't mean he can stop doing it, then he asks, "And all I'm asking is for You to do what You can with me" and immediately replies, "But I can't ask You to give what You already gave." Grace is constantly offered, you can repent and turn around literally any time and accept it.
"And all I was trying to do was save my own skin, but so were You" The last line of the song gets at the part where both characters (the narrator and God) are working toward the same goal, but where the narrator is desperate and struggling God's love is perfect and is ready to bear the load. Grace is offered with perfect love.
The beauty of God is that His Grace is unfairly free, unfairly constant, and comes from a love that is unfairly perfect. Thanks be to God.

Relient K - Be My Escape - MMHMM (2004)
Official Music Video: http://youtu.be/yBEoyADJ59s
Unofficial Video with Lyrics: http://youtu.be/MkHuUgJC1ok
Nick

Call for ContributionsIf 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:  The First Sunday in Lent

Prelude   Two Chorale Preludes on Out of the depths I call to thee      Max Reger
Introit (choir)   Plainsong
           
            Antiphon: He shall call upon me, and I will hearken unto him;
                 I will deliver him, and bring him to honor;
                 With length of days will I satisfy him.
            Ps. Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High
                    shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
                Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
                    as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
                    world without end.  Amen.
            Antiphon: He shall call upon me….

Tract                                       Psalm 91:1-4,11-12                                                             Plainsong
Offertory Hymn #143            “The glory of these forty days”                                      Erhalt uns, Herr
Communion Motet                 Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake                                    John Hilton (16th century)

            Lord, for thy tender mercy’s sake, lay not our sins to our charge,
            But forgive that is past, and give us grace to amend our sinful lives,
            To decline from sin, and incline to virtue,
            That we may walk with an upright heart before thee, this day and evermore.  Amen.
                                                                                    …from Lydley’s Prayers, 1568
Communion Hymn  “O saving Victim, opening wide”                                                        St. Vincent
Closing Hymn #150    “Forty days and forty nights”                                                        Aus der tiefe
Postlude   Chorale Fantasia on ‘Forty days and forty nights’                             James E. Wallace  

Parish Notices

§  Vacation: Fr. Karl and Elizabeth will be taking a few days of vacation Friday, February 20th through Sunday, February 22nd

§  Welcome! We will welcome to Grace Church The Rev. Matthew S. C. Olver who is the Teaching Fellow in Liturgics at Nashotah House. Fr. Olver will preach and celebrate at both services on Sunday.

§  Adult Formation: February 22nd, Christopher Wood, our Seminarian, will facilitate a class on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Confession or the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is not just for Roman Catholics. Come to the adult class and learn about this vital sacrament. We will explore the biblical beginnings of confession, how making a sacramental confusion differs from the general confession we say during Mass, when we should make sacramental confession, and how to prepare for confession. If Confession is something you have done in the past, or something you feel strongly about not doing, please come to the adult education class. This will be very informative, and there will be absolutely no pressure about whether you should make an individual confession.

§  Stations of the Cross, Simple Suppers and Teaching:  Beginning on the first Friday in Lent (February 20th) we will meet each Friday at 5:30 p.m. for Stations of the Cross, followed by a simple supper and Christian formation.  Our formation program this year will be looking at our Parish Meditations for the week. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so the people who are providing the meal will know how much food needs to be prepared.

§  Cooking on Friday Evenings in lent: If you are interested in cooking and hosting a dinner on the Fridays during Lent, there is only Friday, March 27th open. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this manner.

§  Potluck Dinner and Compline: Bring a dish to pass and join us next Sunday, March 1st at 6:30pm, for a potluck dinner and fellowship. At 8:00pm the Schola Cantorum will sing Compline, a beautiful restful service full of candles and music.

§  Scout Appreciation "Pancake Breakfast": Sunday March 8th Please mark your calendars to stay a few minutes, after each service, to savor a down home Pancake Breakfast. Scouts will supply all the know how for the event. As an added bonus, Maple Syrup will be supplied by the Drewry Farms of Plymouth. This award winning Maple Syrup is served at all the major restaurants in the area and beyond. The Scouts will also have available Maple Syrup gift assortments.

§  Soup-d’-Do: Pizza Soup is back and available for purchase!! The single $4.00 and double $7.00 serving containers are frozen and are ready for purchase. The soups offered are Sicilian Chicken, Pizza, Bean & Ham and Vegetarian Vegetable.



Thursday, February 12, 2015

Do One Thing Well

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
12 February 2015

Do one thing well.  In an age of multi-tasking, and of electronic media being ever present while we are doing something else that is supposed to require thought, ask yourself is you can think of an example of an artist, author, inventor, musician, or thinker who developed a truly innovative creation, product or thought while multi-tasking.  Insight and breakthrough requires focus.  Focus can also allow for change being effected through long-term incremental changes, as we come to know and appreciate a thing at an intimate “granular” level.
The reference to knowledge at a granular level resonates with me these days, because I sometimes see the church a series of small tile hexagons.  I have been working too much on refinishing the floor!  But this ongoing project has allowed me, as well, to just be in the church nave, chapels and sanctuary for extended periods, with nothing to think about.  It’s allowed me to listen better to the One whose presence is signified by the lamp which burns in the sanctuary.  It’s allowed me to find little commemorative plaques from years past, with names on them that no longer are found on the parish register, but which nonetheless remain within the cloud of witnesses which surrounds us.  It’s allowed me to sense the years of incense and candle wax, the years of patterns of wear on pews and kneelers.  All of this testimony speaks to me as evidence of a particular charism, a particular spiritual gift, in this place, and that gift is worship.
Whatever else we may be called to do or be, in mission and outreach, in service and caring, in formation, or in something we don’t even yet know we will be called to, we must remain grounded in the offering of true worship, itself grounded in the beauty of holiness.  This is not to say that how we worship cannot change.  Our Lord does not dictate that we offer worship in a particular style.  Worship must be an offering of self, and the collective self of this parish gathers daily to offer worship—thanks be to God!
But we must focus on how we live into this gift.  In the past year there has been a decrease in attendance on daily services, most particularly in the Daily Office.  There has been a decrease in attendance at special services, such as sung Compline and special feasts.  We will be losing two gifted and experienced acolytes to college and a subdeacon to seminary, and we have lost four choir voices to moves.  We need to focus now on recruiting people to serve in worship.  (Don’t worry—training is provided!)  For example, if you like to sing but cannot read music, consider that most of us who engage in choral singing learned to read music by joining a choir.  You might find, as well, that serving at the altar gives you a completely new perspective upon and experience of worship.  (Watch out!  This may have been a factor in pushing a subdeacon toward ordination!)  You may find that there is an experience in worship that calls you to offer something new.
As we approach Lent it is a good time to focus.  Lent is about intention as well as offering of self.  Let this be a holy Lent in which we refocus on the gift of worship in this place.

Grace abounds:  Please thank:
§  Kevan and Traci Revis, and Barb and Bob MacEwen for the coffee hours on Sunday.
§  Ben Dobey and the Schola Cantorum for sung Compline.
§  Jon Whitford for months of work in building the new website, which is now live.  Please thank, as well, Bobbi Kraft for her work with Jon, and Joanne Otte for her ongoing work in web support.
§  Sherry Smies for all of the work she does in preparing the monthly newsletter.

A Lenten Tithe of Time:  Lent begins next Wednesday!  Many people ask themselves what they are called to do or what they are called to give up in Lent.  Positive works are obviously good, but the practice of renunciation is also strengthened when it is tied into the positive.  So here is a suggestion.  For Lent, give one tenth of the time you would otherwise spend exposed to electronic media (like this blog!)  Figure out all of the time you spend in a day on your computer, on your smart phone, watching TV, etc.  Then dedicate one tenth of this time, every day, to a spiritual practice such as prayer, meditation, the study of Scripture, or just to silence (listening to God).  You might want to use the Lenten devotional booklet which will be distributed in the parish prior to Ash Wednesday.  You might want to use the lessons for Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer, or come to one of the daily services in the parish.  If you are like the average American, you will have close to 45 minutes to devote to prayer, study, meditation, silence.  This could allow you to start The Bible Challenge, but whatever you do, you will be doing it because you have renounced what you were otherwise drawn to or used to, a good first step in connecting better with God.

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

Youth and Family Ministry:  This month there is a diocesan event being held at St. Anne's in De Pere on February 27-28. The event is called 30 Hour Famine and is a lock-in that brings awareness about world hunger. Those who attend will be volunteering to fast as a group for approximately 30 hours. There will be more information soon, but I strongly encourage all youth to sign up for this unique experience.
Also Happening #69 will be held March 13-15 at All Saints in Appleton. Any high school  youth who have not been a part of Happening are encouraged to participate. Happening is an experience that changes lives, and is one of the best things we do in the diocese! If you have questions please contact me or the office for information.
―Nick Whitford.

Music this week:  The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Prelude                        Prelude on Coelestis Gloriae                                                             Vintner
Entrance Hymn 7        “Christ, whose glory fills the skies”                                                 Ratisbon
Offertory Anthem       Christ, whose glory fills the skies                                                      Candlyn
Communion Motet      Christ upon the mountain peak                                                      Nicholson
Comm. Hymn 137      “O wondrous type! O vision fair”                                                  Wareham
Closing Hymn 122      “Alleluia, song of gladness”                           alternate tune: Dulce Carmen

Music for Ash Wednesday

Prelude            Chorale Preludes on I call to thee, Lord Jesus Christ            Pachelbel & J. S. Bach
Introit                          Misereris omnium                                                                           Plainsong
Offertory Anthem       Wash me throughly                                                                             Wesley
Comm. Hymn 152      “Kind maker of the world, O hear”                            Urbs beata Jerusalem
Postlude                      Chorale Prelude on O God, be merciful to me                                       Bach


Parish Notices


§   

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Judge Now that Ye be Not Judged?

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
5 February 2015

Judge now, that ye be not judged.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We are very used to the verse (Mtt. 7.1; Lk. 6.37) in which Jesus tells us not to judge others, perhaps because this is the one verse of Scripture quoted by people who otherwise don’t know a thing about or in the Bible.  It’s a little funny to have people say “Do not judge,” when all the time in our culture we make judgments about what is good or bad, including the near universal judgment made in our popular culture that “being judgmental” is bad.  Judgment involves making a decision about something; about how it may be classified, reacted to, desired, etc.  So what do we do with the injunction Jesus gives us?
The first thing we need to notice is that Jesus makes a distinction between judging conduct and judging people.  He tells us, He tells the Church, to judge conduct, saying “[W]hatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ...” (Mtt. 18.18).  But notice that He says this in the context (Mtt. 18.15-22) of teaching His disciples how they are to conduct themselves as between each other (i.e., in the Church), and that when two or three are gathered in His Name, that He will be present.  In other words, we cannot automatically expect that the standard of the Church binding and loosing conduct can apply in all the world—except that it is Jesus’ will that all the world come to Him and know Him in His Church!  For all people—inside and outside the Church—Jesus also teaches that what we need to know about conduct and behavior is revealed in Scripture, when He teaches of the particular judgment of the rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16.19-31), saying “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (v. 29).  In other words, God’s will is revealed in Scripture, and we are given a standard by which to judge conduct.
But what about people?  The conduct we may judge in an unbeliever includes, for example, his or her judgment that the Bible is not normative—that he or she need not heed Scripture.  This default in conduct, in human will, is a failing as judged by the standard of the Bible, but as revealed in this same standard all persons—both believers and unbelievers—are neighbors whom we are commanded to love.
Which brings us to the challenge of “tough love”.  We can judge conduct, but not whether the person is in right relationship with God and will ultimately be saved by Jesus Christ.  This means that we must love even those whose conduct we rightly judge to be ungodly.  And remember, in Scripture love is a verb.  We are to act in love toward those whose conduct we rightly judge to be ungodly.  This will never be popular, but it raises the question implied by the pun with which this column began:  If we do not judge (conduct) will we (as persons) be judged for a failure in love?  What Jesus teaches is that we cannot be indifferent to others, that indifference to them is indifference to God.

Grace abounds:  Please thank:
§  Ann and Bob Hanlon, and Dale and Mary Massey for the Sunday coffee hours.
§  Dale and Mary Massey for clean-up following the pot luck supper on Presentation.
§  Julie Davidson for serving as crucifer at the Presentation Mass.

 “Leave behind” cards:  Small bookmark shaped cards are available for you to give to friends when you talk about the church.  These cards list the times of all of our prayer and worship services, how to get more information, when Bible study and adult education meet, etc.  The cards are available in the office or in the Ontario Avenue entrance to the nave.  The supply in the office is packaged with small olive wood crosses.  These “leave behind cards” should always be offered to visitors, but also take a supply with you to share in outreach.

A Lenten Tithe of Time:  Lent begins in less than two weeks.  Many people ask themselves what they are called to do or what they are called to give up in Lent.  Positive works are obviously good, but the practice of renunciation is also strengthened when it is tied into the positive.  So here is a suggestion.  For Lent, give one tenth of the time you would otherwise spend exposed to electronic media (like this blog!)  Figure out all of the time you spend in a day on your computer, on your smart phone, watching TV, etc.  Then dedicate one tenth of this time, every day, to a spiritual practice such as prayer, meditation, the study of Scripture, or just to silence (listening to God).  You might want to use the lenten devotional booklet which will be distributed in the parish prior to Ash Wednesday.  You might want to use the lessons for Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer.  If you are like the average American, you will have close to 45 minutes to devote to prayer, study, meditation, silence.  This could allow you to start The Bible Challenge, but whatever you do, you will be doing it because you have renounced what you were otherwise drawn to or used to, a good first step in connecting better with God.

Call for ContributionsIf 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 OF SOME SUPER BOWL ADS
One of the main things we do in EfM is “theological reflections”.  TR’s help us look at the world around us to see how we can connect the secular world with our spiritual world.  I would like to share some of my reflections on the Super Bowl ads.  The #1 winner was Bud’s lost puppy & the Clydesdales rescuing the puppy from the evil wolf, showed me the importance of friendship and love and going the distance to whatever it takes, to rescue others faced with evil.  We don’t have to look far for scriptural reference for this one, for we have Jesus’ example of searching for the lost sheep.  Who do we know that we love & care about that needs our help?  The #2 commercial was “run like a girl”.  Our perception of others can certainly, like this commercial, be different than how they view themselves.  How do we view others & how do we close the gap between perception and reality?  Listen to each other?  Talk to the other person & hear their story?  The only enemies we have are those whose stories we haven’t heard.  The disabled little boy learning how to use his new legs caused me to reflect on how do I help & encourage others to become all that God has made them to be.  How do we empower others to use the gifts & talents they have & sometimes don’t even recognize within themselves?  The focus of a number of commercials was on relationships, especially the relationships between dads & their children.  How can we encourage dads to love their children like Jesus loves us?  What can I do to be Jesus’ example of love to others?  Finally, the ad about the man in the airplane trying to find the “right” person to sit in the seat next to him, can speak to many of us & our body language to others.  How do we react to others when we first meet them?  Does our body language reflect what we are saying or is there a gap between the two?  With the football season over, I would also like to comment on Thomas Davis, the winner of the Walter Payton award who challenged ALL professional athletes, who have been given so much, especially money, to use it to help others.  We also need to take up this challenge, for each one of us have been blessed with so much & we have to continually ask ourselves, how can we use what God has given us to bless others.  We know Jesus’ love, have food, clothing & shelter in abundance & I challenge each of you during Lent to examine your generosity & see what more you can do.  God has blessed us.  How are we a blessing to others??   (B. Drury-Zimmerman)

Youth and Family Ministry:  This month there is a diocesan event being held at St. Anne's in De Pere on February 27-28. The event is called 30 Hour Famine and is a lock-in that brings awareness about world hunger. Those who attend will be volunteering to fast as a group for approximately 30 hours. There will be more information soon, but I strongly encourage all youth to sign up for this unique experience.
Also Happening #69 will be held March 13-15 at All Saints in Appleton. Any high school  youth who have not been a part of Happening are encouraged to participate. Happening is an experience that changes lives, and is one of the best things we do in the diocese! If you have questions please contact me or the office for information.
―Nick Whitford.

Music this week:  The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Prelude                        Chorale Partita on All glory be to God on high                                 Walther
Entrance Hymn 1        “Father, we praise thee”                                                                   Ratisbon
Offertory Hymn 135   “Songs of thankfulness and praise”                                                 Salzburg
Communion Motet      Lord God, you now have set your servant free                                 Gibbons
Comm. Hymn 324      “Let all mortal flesh keep silence”                                                    Picardy
Closing Hymn 493      “O for a thousand tongues to sing”                                                    Azmon
Postlude                      Prelude & Fugue in G Major                                                             Kuhnau

Parish Notices

§  Psalms class: Adult Education in February will begin a two week class on the theology of the psalms, on the psalms as the “prayer book of the Bible” (in Bl. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s phrase). How do we use the psalms? What is revealed of God, and of our relationship to Him? What do we do with the troubling emotions sometimes expressed? The class will meet 9th and 16th of February.

§  Office Closed – Clergy Retreat:  Diocesan clergy meet in Retreat Monday, February 9 through Thursday, February 12. Please note: There will be mass at 12:10 on Monday. There will be no celebrations of Holy Eucharist or Daily Office Tuesday—Thursday. The office will be closed from noon on Monday.  In the event of a pastoral emergency Mon—Thu, please contact Fr. Karl or Dcn. Michele at the Norbertine Center for Spirituality, St. Norbert’s College, DePere, 920-337-4315. The normal Friday, Saturday and Sunday schedules will be in place.

§  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 no later than February 12th 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 to the office at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com.

§  Shrove Tuesday Feast before the Fast: Shrove Tuesday is February 17th we will be having a Potluck dinner following a 5:30pm mass. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this festive occasion. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.

§  Ash Wednesday: February 18th is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, it is a day of fasting and penitence. We will observe this day with Mass and Imposition of Ashes at 12:10 p.m., and Solemn Mass with Imposition of Ashes at 6:00 p.m. This is a holy day and a wonderful way to begin your Lenten observance.

§  Stations of the Cross, Simple Suppers and Teaching:  Beginning on the first Friday in Lent (February 20th) we will meet each Friday at 5:30 p.m. for Stations of the Cross, followed by a simple supper and Christian formation.  Our formation program this year will be looking at the Parish Meditations for the week. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so the people who are providing the meal will know how much food needs to be prepared.

§  Cooking on Friday Evenings in lent: If you are interested in cooking and hosting a dinner on the Fridays during Lent, please sign-up on sheets in the Narthex. All of the Fridays are open. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this manner.

§  Lakeshore Coral Presents “Where is Love?”: This Valentine's Day, we invite you to Lakeshore Chorale's annual Valentine concert and gala, "Where is Love?". Enjoy this popular evening of beautiful choral music, solos, ensembles, plus an outstanding gala prepared by Bernie Markevitch, featuring sweets by the The Cookie Jar Girls. You won't want to miss this exceptional Valentine evening! The evening will be directed by Neil Bubke and accompanied by Johanna Schilling. Saturday, February 14, 7:00 pm, Grace Episcopal Church, 630 Ontario Avenue, Sheboygan. Tickets: $20.00. Tickets need to be reserved before Sunday, February 8. Seating is very limited. While they last, tickets are available from any Lakeshore Chorale member, or from our website: http://www.lakeshorechorale.org/Tickets.html.

§  Soup-d’-Do: Pizza Soup is back and available for purchase!! The single $4.00 and double $7.00 serving containers are frozen and are ready for purchase. The soups offered are Sicilian Chicken, Pizza, Bean & Ham and Vegetarian Vegetable.

§  Coffee Hour Schedule: There is a new sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in 2015. 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.


§  Flower Schedule for 2015: 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.