Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
21 September 2017
Today is the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle
and Evangelist. Matthew is described at
Mtt. 9.9 and 10.3 as a “tax collector”.
The word used is translated in some bibles (e.g., the King James
Version) as “publican”. In the original
Greek the connotation is that of a “tax farmer”, i.e. as one who
“harvests” taxes and keeps some for himself.
Such people had the reputation in Jesus’ time of being lackeys of the
Romans, and self-interested and gouging.
St. Matthew (who Mark and Luke refer to as
Levi: Mk. 2.14; Lk. 5.27) is described
as sitting at a tax-collecting booth.
When Jesus passes him, Jesus calls him, saying “Follow me.” In all three gospels which describe this
call, Matthew is described as then following Jesus. Most bible translations state this as
something like “And he rose and followed him” (Revised Standard Version). In reality, however, all three evangelists
use the same word, anastas, which (leaving aside the technicalities of
Greek grammar) is closer to “having arisen”.
The action is ongoing. Where
things really get interesting is that the same Greek word is a form of the word
for resurrection.
The word overlap, and the participial
construction (of ongoing action)—particularly given the fact that Matthew, Mark
and Luke all share this language—bears closer examination. When Jesus calls us, when we follow Him, is
this because in encountering Christ we are raised, we arise because of the
encounter? Matthew responds without
further ado. He leaves behind his old
life and ways. Upon a personal encounter
with Jesus, his life is changed. The
call of his Lord changes the posture of his heart and of his life.
God reaches out to us always. He reaches out to all. Most do not respond immediately and
completely. But when we do respond, we
do so as those who participate in Jesus’ resurrection. His resurrection becomes ours. Just as, at Easter, we sing “Alleluia! The Lord is risen indeed!”, we must ever keep
before us the overwhelming reality that we are risen, indeed. We participate in resurrection, and the more
we recognize this, the more we recognize how reality has changed, how the
kingdom of heaven breaks into this world and we are saved not at some future
time but in the new life in Christ.
May the prayer of each of us always
include: Having arisen in Christ, may
I ever follow Him!
Grace
abounds: Please thank:
§ Ben
Crouse for lawn care.
§ Jim
Gardner Leslie Kohler for the Sunday coffee hours.
Special “Thank You’ s” : A supply of Thank You note cards can be found
on the table at the back of church nave.
When someone in the parish does something special, take the time to
write them a personal note. Also, from
time to time, think about who you might want to thank for ongoing service, and
let them know you have noticed!
Call
for Contributions: If 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.
Don’t
forget “Something Extra for Grace”:
Supplemental giving envelopes can be found in pews. If you want to give something extra, please
use an envelope to ensure that you are credited.
Music this Week: The
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20A)
Organist: R. Benjamin Dobey
Prelude Meditation on O thou
who camest from above Francis Jackson Entrance 408 “Sing
praise to God who reigns above “ Mit Freuden zart
Offertory We
will extol you Old
24th
Communion Motet O thou who camest from above Samuel Sebastian Wesley,
arr. R. Benjamin Dobey
Communion 660 “O
Master, let me walk with thee” Maryton
Closing 541 “O
bless the Lord, my soul!” St.
Thomas (Williams)
Postlude Fantasia in E-flat J. Pachelbel
Parish Notices
§ Emergency Funding Appeal!
The jail ministry for women (Good News Jail & Prison
Ministry) in Sheboygan has run out of bibles, for bible study, for personal
meditation, for counseling. $309 has
been advanced from the Rector’s Discretionary Fund to purchase 32 bibles for
this vital ministry. If you can help,
please make a contribution to help defray this cost. Make any donation payable to the Rector’s
Discretionary Fund at the parish.
§ St. Michael and All Angels: Please note there will not be a 6:00 p.m.
Solemn Mass on Friday, September 29th as previously listed in The
Angelus.
§ White Board Selfie
Project. Following mass on Sunday, a member of the vestry will
be present in St Nicholas Hall to take a photograph of each parishioner. We ask
that you hold up a white board with a word or phrase you choose to express what
you are passionate about at Grace Episcopal Church. This will be an ongoing
project to help us discover connections and priorities amongst ourselves.
§ Stewardship Kick-Off Event: Due to conflicting schedules has moved to
Next Sunday, October 1st. we will hold our kick-off event on
Stewardship Revealed in Christ, Community, and Compassion. After the
10:15 coffee hour, a presentation will be given by the Stewardship Committee in
addition to a meal of Italian cuisine prepared by the Hospitality Committee.
Please sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex so that we may know how much food to
prepare.
§ How to be Holy! Is the subject of Adult Formation continuing on Sunday.
This is the second class of a seven-week series meeting each Sunday in St.
Nicholas Hall 9-10 a.m. Come and discover how you can become holy as we read
Peter Kreeft’s How to be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint. Jerry Molitor
is facilitating this course. The book is easy to read, and we will limit the
weekly reading to 20—25 pages. Do you wish to be holy? Do you want to see
yourself as a saint? If so, let’s explore this together. We hope to see you
here! Bring friends! Copies of the book
can be purchased at the discounted price of $10, from the parish office. (Mark
checks “Adult Ed”.) If you need a scholarship for this, just ask.
§ Sunday School: 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Available to:
§ 3-k through 1st Grade with Mrs. Andrea
(Aparicio)
§ 2nd through 5th Grade with
Mrs. Nicci (Beeck)
§ 6th-12th with Mr. Nick (Whitford)
§ The teachers have missed those familiar faces and are looking
forward to some new ones, too.
§ Sunday School Snacks: One
activity that is a favorite of the children is sharing in a snack together and
serving each other in the Name of Christ. If you are able, we would so
appreciate donated snacks and juice boxes. Snack ideas include crackers,
applesauce, fruit snacks, popcorn or any other non-perishable item you think
they might like. String cheese, fresh fruit and veggies are also welcome, just
alert Ms. Nicci or Ms. Andrea if you placed something in the refrigerator and
we'll be sure to use them. Thank you!
§ Catechumenate: Begins
Tuesday, September 26th (6:30 – 8:30 p.m.) and will continue until
May when Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. Catechumenate is a
nine-month course in the basics of the Faith and its practice. It is a period
of training and instruction in Christian understandings about God, human
relationships, and the meaning of life. It includes the Sacrament of Baptism,
if you are not already baptized, and culminates in Confirmation, Reception, or
Renewal of Baptismal Vows. The study is led by Mother Michele Whitford, the
Parish Catechist. If you would like more information, please call the office
452-9659 or email Mother Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com.
There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex.
§ Parish Directory: As
you may know, a picture directory is ‘in the works’ for this fall. The first
step is to get the written information up to date. A print out of what we have
can be found on the table in the narthex. Please check your entry. Initial
the entry if it is correct, or write in any corrections necessary.
§ Coffee Hour:
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. Some of the upcoming Sundays have been taken but
we are still in need of more volunteers. The weeks that are open are 8:00am:
10/8,10/15. 10/22, 10/29, 11/12. 11/19, 11/26, 12/10, and 12/17. For 10:15am:
10/1, 10/15, 10/29, 11/5, 11/19, 11/26, and 12/3. If you can help please sign
up on the sheet in the white binder on the Narthex table. Thank you so much.
§ As a community, are
we really helping? Love
INC is sponsoring a community event and volunteer training. The community event is entitled “The Defining
Difference: Helping in Ways that Transform, based on the book Redemptive
Compasion, by author, Love INC of Treasure Valley Executive Director, Lois
Tupyi. This community event will take place at First Reformed Church, 927
Superior Avenue, Oostburg on Friday, October 6th 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm.
Registration fee is $10 The following day, Saturday, October 7th
volunteer training will be held, details of which can be found on the notice
board in the Narthex. To sign up for either or both events go to:
§ Walsingham Pilgrimage
Music and Flowers: The Walsingham Pilgrimage is just around the corner and
preparations are being made. Music will include the Gaudete Brass again this
year. As you are able, please donate so we can once again offer beautiful music
that has become so much a part of the pilgrimage and the flowers that add so
much to the beauty of holiness. Please make your check out to Grace Church with
Walsingham music or flowers or both in the memo. Reservations are required for lunch at a cost of $20 per person and
will be served at noon on Saturday October 14th. Please make your
reservations by using the sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex or by
calling Grace office at 452-9659.
§ Walsingham Volunteers
Needed: There are many opportunities to help with hospitality for the
Walsingham Pilgrimage. We will need volunteers to greet pilgrims as they arrive
for both the quiet day on Friday as well as Saturday morning for the Solemn
Mass and for the musical offering, healing prayer and Benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament. We will need help with the set-up of St. Nicholas Hall for
lunch and especially for clean-up after lunch. Please sign-up on the sheet on
the Narthex table.
§ Walsingham Accommodation: We need
accommodations for 12 choir members from Nashotah House (eight men and two
couples) for Friday, 13 October. If you can take 1—2 choristers, please
see the sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex. You will not need to provide
dinner. (A light breakfast on Saturday, 14 October will be
appreciated.) You will need to provide pick-up and drop-off at the
parish.
§ Our Lady of Walsingham Pilgrimage
§ Friday, October 13, 2017 - Quiet Day of Prayer and Meditation.
- 12:00pm Service
for Noonday and Meditation
- 3:00pm Service
of Prayer and Meditation
- 5:00pm Holy
Rosary
- 6:00pm Solemn
Evensong and Meditation
§ The Meditations will be led by Ms. Adowa Lewis-Wilson, Episcopal laywoman active in Boston, Massachusetts
and an Oblate of the Order of Julian of Norwich.
§ Solemn Evensong will include the
choirs of the parish and of Nashotah House Theological Seminary, under the
direction of The Rev. Fr. Alexander Pryor, Director of Music at the
Seminary
§ Saturday, October 14, 2017 - Pilgrimage
- 10:30 am Solemn
Pontifical Mass with procession of Our Lady
- Celebrant is The
Right Reverend Matthew A. Gunter,
- Eighth Bishop
of Fond du Lac.
- The preacher is
The Rev. Jeffrey Queen,
- Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky
- Choral and organ music will include Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey Organist
- and the Gaudete
Brass Quartet of Chicago.
- 12:00 pm
Harvest Lunch. The cost is $20.00.
- Please make
reservations by October 7, 2016.
- 2:00pm
Anointing with Walsingham water and Healing Prayer, musical offering, and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
§ To register and for
more information: (920)452-9659,
§ Paper Drive: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
in Plymouth is having a paper drive! Please bring in ONLY newspapers (inserts
included). We cannot accept magazines or anything with a binding. A
semi-trailer will be in the Plymouth Furniture parking lot, 2133 Eastern Av,
Plymouth, the month of September. Drop off times are Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00
– 6:00pm and Saturdays 9:00 – 4:00pm. Pickups can be arranged by calling Jesse
Cortinaz at 920-464-0303.
§ The Commission on
Congregational Vitality is hosting a workshop on managing
change in congregations, repeated in
each of the deaneries and two workshops are still left: St. Anne’s, Depere,
Saturday, September 30th, and St. John, Wausau, Saturday, October 7th.
This workshop, presented by Leslie Gunter, the Rev. Diane Murray, and the Rev.
Ralph Osborne, is designed for both clergy and lay leaders. The workshop
will begin at 8:30 with a continental breakfast, with program beginning at 9
am. The day concludes by 3 pm. A registration fee of $15 per person includes
the continental breakfast, lunch and materials. To register, please go to www.diofdlccv.weeblyc.om/workshops
§ Grace Notes is
here: http://gracechurchgracenotes.blogspot.com/.
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§ Like Grace Church on Facebook:
@gracesheboygan
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