Grace Notes

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Reporting for Duty

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

14 November 2012

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Grace Notes is published one day early this week, due to the parish office being closed on 15 November, for a meeting of diocesan Executive Council.

CHANGE IN SERVICE OF WORSHIP TIMES: In order to allow for greater participation in worship of those whose work hours conflict with the existing worship schedule, effective immediately the worship schedule in the parish is changed as follows (changes in Italics):

Sunday No changes

Monday MP 8:45 a.m. Mass 12:10 p.m. EP/Rosary 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday MP 8:45 a.m. Mass 6:00 p.m. EP 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday MP 8:45 a.m. Mass 6:00 p.m. EP 5:30 p.m.

Thursday MP 8:45 a.m. Mass 9:00 a.m. EP 5:30 p.m.

Friday MP 7:00 a.m. Mass 7:15 a.m. EP 5:30 p.m.

Saturday MP 8:45 a.m. Mass 9:00 a.m.

Office hours will be maintained as they are currently, but appointments will be restricted to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This past Sunday we celebrated how we are called together into one Body in Christ, and how we are blessed in our life together. One aspect of this life and blessing involves giving, and it is good to report on the spiritual growth represented in how this parish contributes to God’s work. The final numbers for 2013 giving will not be available for a couple of weeks, but based on what is known now we can celebrate the following:

Overall giving from parishioners who had a 2012 pledge has increased materially.
Not less than 14 new pledges have been received! That’s a 17% increase in pledging units.
The best projection for 2013 is for a parish operating budget which balances, maintaining existing ministries.

Let’s look at that last observation, of a balanced budget. The best projection at present is that giving will increase despite the loss of $31,000 in pledges due to deaths. This means that we will have made up a deficit situation (2012 = $46,000) and put the parish back on a sound financial footing.

The point in stewardship is not to balance a budget, any budget. It is to participate in the work that God has given us to do, and to participate in the blessing which God gives us when we do His work. In this respect, it is illustrative that the body of a church building is referred to as the nave, from the Latin word for a ship. (Most church buildings look, from the inside, a little like a ship turned upside down.) A ship is going somewhere. We journey together. On a ship a person can be a member of crew or a passenger. Crew members determine where the ship goes and how it is run. Passengers are along for the ride. What we have seen in the progress made in giving in this parish is that more people “aboard” have “reported for duty”. You have heard the summons of the Holy Spirit and responded. Thanks be to God! (and welcome aboard).

Grace Abounds: Many people merit thanksgivings for their service this past week:

The New Consecration Sunday Team: The team which came together to realize our stewardship program this year included Steve Larson, Tom Wright, Ed & Mary Clabots, Joanne Otte, Nicci Beeck, Barbara Knauf, Susan McIntosh, and Stuart Schmidt. Please thank, as well, Dcn. Michele Whitford and Sutton Cecil for extensive support to the program.

The Celebration Luncheon Team: Please thank Bernie Markevitch for organizing the meal on this past Sunday. He was assisted in preparation by Nicci Beeck, Julie Davidson and Rex Perry, and clean-up was effected by Nicci and Julie, assisted by Pat Ford Smith and Elizabeth Schaffenburg.

Office help: Sutton Cecil, Pat Ford Smith, Martha Shad, Paul Aparicio.

Seminarian family hosts: John and Jennifer Keller.

All Hallows’ Eve Party: This notice was not included in last week’s Grace Notes due to the editor dropping the ball! Please thank all those who organized and conducted the Sunday School party for All Hallows’ Eve, including: Jessica Ambelang, Nicci Beeck, Annette, Isabella and Scott Fabiano, and Pat Ford Smith.

Please take the opportunity to notify the office of any member or friend of the parish to whom we owe thanks, in order that we can publicize this in the weekly newsletter.

Tripartite Thanksgiving Service: We will celebrate and give thanks with our Tripartite Covenant Parishes November 21, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. This year’s celebration will be at St. Peter Lutheran Church, 2104 Geele Ave., Sheboygan. Please plan to attend. It is important that we have the best possible representation from the parish, for at this service we will renew the covenant entered into between our congregations.

Adult Christian Education: Adult Education meets on Sundays at 9 a.m., in St. Nicholas Hall. On 4 November we continue our nine part series on Christian ethics. The entire course can be found on the parish website under “Christian Formation: Adult Education”.

Biblical Literacy: The Bible Challenge readings will be for week 38. Bible study for the Sunday lessons meets on Thursdays, following the 9 a.m. Mass. Bible study will not meet this Thursday, due to a conflict with the Thanksgiving holiday.

The number of people following The Bible Challenge on-line is gratifying, and weekly summaries will continue to be posted. However, attendance at the Tuesday evening sessions has been problematical. Therefore, Tuesday evening pot-luck and discussion sessions are cancelled.

EYC Notes: I met with the youth leaders from Saint Dominic Roman Catholic and Saint Peter's Lutheran. We are planning to do some things together as a combined youth group. We have something planned for December and something planned for January, and we look forward to the future. There will be more information coming up, so stay tuned. –Nick Whitford

Music this week:

Prelude Alla Sarabanda R. Vaughan Williams

Musette

Entrance Hymn 598 “Lord Christ, when first thou cam’st to earth” Mit Freuden zart

Offertory Hymn 665 “All my hope on God is founded” Michael

Communion Motet God be in my head J. Rutter

Comm. Hymn 615 “Thy kingdom come” St. Flavian

Closing Hymn 594 “God of grace and God of glory” Cwm Rhondda

Postlude Fantasia in C W. Byrd

Parish Notices

§ Children’s Choir: Youth and Children’s choir rehearsals for the Christmas Eve service are at 5:30-6:00 p.m. beginning this Thursday November 29^th, downstairs in the choir room. Additional practices will be on December 6^th, 13^th and 20^th these will be just before the Pageant rehearsals. The choir is open to 2^nd graders and up, and will sing for the 4pm service on Christmas Eve.

§ Christmas Pageant Rehearsals: will be on Thursday, November 29^th, December 6^th, 13^th and 20^th starting at 6:00 p.m. The rehearsals will begin in the church and then go downstairs for costumes. Participation is open to youth of all ages. The Pageant will take place during the 4:00 p.m. Christmas Mass. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. If your child would like to participate but cannot make rehearsals please note that on the sheet or call Annette Fabiano at 451-7098.

§ Salvation Army Gift tags: We have the tree up, and all the name tags on it, for the Salvation Army Family gifts, please take a name or two and follow the instructions on the table next to the tree. If you have any questions please call Nancy Yurk at 453-9948.

§ Christmas Parade: The Sunday School Children will once again be selling snacks during the Christmas Parade Sunday November 25^thfrom 3:30-5:30pm. The proceeds of the sale will go to outreach. Come and watch the parade as it travels past Grace Church on 7^th Street and enjoy some warm snacks. All children are encouraged to come and help with the sale.

§ Advent Lessons and Carols: Advent Lessons and Carols is a beautifully sung service held December 9^th, at 4:00 p.m. The service is followed by a High Tea in St. Nicholas Hall.

§ Sunday School Cookie Bake: Sunday, December 16^th the Sunday School children will be baking cookies for Meals on Wheels, baking will begin after the 10:15 Mass. Pizza lunch will be provided. Please bring family and friends to help, many hands make light work. Thank you both for your time

§ Christian Ethics: The adult formation class is looking at Christian Ethics. We will first examine what an ethical decision is, where we look for guidance in ethical decision-making, and how ethical decisions relate to salvation. We will then pass on to consider specific ethical issues. Throughout the course we will seek to identify the teachings of the Church as found in Scripture, Reason and Tradition. The course materials are posted on the parish website, under “Christian Formation: Adult”. Adult Education meets on Sundays at 9 a.m., in St. Nicholas Hall.

§ Hosting the Seminarian and His Family: Please consider hosting our seminarian Ryan Delaney and his family for a Saturday evening meal or Sunday Brunch. Ryan and his lovely wife Melanie and children Brenna and Bremen will be staying most Saturday evenings in preparation for services on Sunday morning. This will give the parish an opportunity to get to know them and for the Delaney’s to get to know the parish. Please find a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex for dinner Saturday evening and brunch Sunday after the service.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Unity and Identity

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

7 November 2012

Grace Notes is published one day early this week, due to the parish office being closed on 8 November, for a meeting of diocesan clergy.

By the time you read this, the election results should be known. In a time when there are many divisions within this country and state, it is well that we reflect on how the Church can model unity. We first need to recognize that the Church has done a poor job in modeling unity. We confess one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, but the reality is that sad divisions remain, and the world all too often sees the Church as “an institution which ‘circles the wagons’ and then shoots into the middle”!

When we allow disagreements to divide us in the Church we are being worldly. So, let’s look at the types of things which are argued over. It is useful to recall three “D’s”: Dogma, Doctrine, and Discipline. Dogma is fundamental; it is bed rock. One cannot argue over dogma without defining himself/herself to be heterodox (i.e., separating oneself from the faith). Examples of dogma include the confession that “Jesus is Lord,” and anything in the Creed. One cannot, for example, deny the resurrection of Jesus and claim to confess the faith.

Doctrine relates to how we understand the “economy of salvation,” how God’s will is effected in the life of creation. An example of doctrine would be the Atonement, the truth the Jesus’ sacrifice atoned for our sins. But the doctrine of atonement can be argued over, in terms of how Jesus’ sacrifice “takes away the sin of the world”. Does His sacrifice substitute for the penalty which we owe? Does His sacrifice apply to the sins of all, or only to those who confess His Name and follow Him in faith? Arguments over issues like these are real, and holding different positions does not necessaroly define one to be in any way lapsed from the faith.

Discipline relates to how we do things. Can priests be married? Are the faithful to be communicated with both the Body and Blood at every Mass? Arguments over discipline abound. The most important thing to note, here, however, is that most of what is argued over in the Church—most of what divides Christians from each other—are matters of discipline, which can change, and not matters of dogma or discipline. Where The Episcopal Church has set an unfortunate example relates to how arguments over dogma have been tolerated.

At the most fundamental level the unity of the Church is a mystical reality to be experienced as and in identity. When we each identify ourselves as in relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior; when we do this together—as “two or three gathered” in His Name (Mtt. 18.20)—it is then that we experience who we really are as children of God, who we really are as members of one Body in Christ. It is then that when we disagree we can still see each other as members of one Body, each to each as parts of each other. Let us always live into this reality, and model this unity to the world around us, a world divided not only by opinions and political and economic philosophies and agendas, but by sin.

Consecration Sunday: Consecration Sunday is this week! We will gather following our one service of worship that day. (Worship will be at 10:15 a.m.) Our gathering is a time of celebration, at which we can thank God and each other for the blessings we enjoy, including the blessing of giving. This is a catered luncheon (not pot luck), because it is a time of special celebration, as we come together in the life of the church. Mark your calendars now, and look for your luncheon reservation cards to be distributed in one week!

Due to deaths and parishioners moving away, we have lost pledges for 2013 which would have totaled $31,879. In order to stand still (and standing still involves a 2012 deficit), we need to significantly increase how each one of us participates in giving.

Grace Abounds: Many people merit thanksgivings for their service this past week:

Parish clean-up day: We accomplished a lot in raking, trimming, and clearing, plus window cleaning. Helpers included: John Ambelang, Ed & Mary Clabots, Julie Davidson, John Davis, Ben Dobey, Bill Gagin, Bob and Ann Hanlon, Bobbi and Kaleigh Kraft, Bill and Bobbie May, and Tom Wright.

Office help: Paul Aparicio, Jane Hanson, and Pat Ford Smith.

Coffee hours: The Prange Family, The Bouck Family.

Seminarian family hosts: John and Jennifer Keller.

Please take the opportunity to notify the office of any member or friend of the parish to whom we owe thanks, in order that we can publicize this in the weekly newsletter.

Interested in flowers? Flowers are used in Grace at both the high altar and in the chapels. If you are interested in participating in the ministry of arranging flowers for the altars, please see bernie Markevitch, who is willing to train interested persons in flower arranging. No prior experience or knowledge is necessary, just a call to serve!

Biblical Literacy: The Bible Challenge readings will be for week 37. Bible study for the Sunday lessons meets on Thursdays, following the 9 a.m. Mass. Bible study will not meet this Thursday, due to a conflixt with a meeting of diocesan Executive Council.

Music this week:

Prelude Lento Stanford

Prelude on a theme of Orlando Gibbons

Entrance Hymn 375 “Give praise and glory unto God”

Offertory Hymn 388 “O worship the King”

Communion Motet Lead us, O Father Gibbons

Communion Hymn 302 “Father, we thank thee”

No recessional hymn and postlude will be offered this week, due to the plan of the New Consecration Sunday liturgy.

Parish Notices

§ Consecration Sunday: Consecration Sunday is next Sunday! We will gather following our one service of worship that day. (Worship will be at 10:15 a.m.) Our gathering is a time of celebration, at which we can thank God and each other for the blessings we enjoy, including the blessing of giving. This is a catered luncheon (not pot luck), because it is a time of special celebration, as we come together in the life of the church.

§ Michele on Vacation: Michele will be on vacation Tuesday, November 13^th –Thursday, November 15^th. Office hours will be from 9:00am to Noon on Tuesday and Wednesday, the office will be closed on Thursday as Fr. Karl will be at the Executive Council Meeting in Waupaca.

§ Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing, Dessert Party, & Concert: An old-fashioned hymn-sing (you know you’ve been wanting to sing those favorite old-time hymns we never get to do because Episcopalians have such good taste) will be held on FRIDAY, NOV. 16^TH at 6:30pm in St. Nicholas Hall, featuring Aaron Horvat at the mighty Steinway Grand, and Ben Dobey at the fabulous (or appalling, depending on your point of view) Hammond electronic spinet. The purpose is to have some fun and raise money for the Arts in Croatia Ministry for teens in Osijek, led by Aaron and by Winnie Coleman-Horvat. Aaron will play some Bach. It will be worth it just to see if the Hammond explodes, like it kept doing when we did this in 2008. Come, bring a dessert to share if you feel inspired, and enjoy!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

God's "Big Wheel"

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

1 November 2012

All Saints’: Don’t forget that today is All Saints’! Solemn Eucharist (with Baptism) will be celebrated at 6 p.m. today.

How do we know God? This was the question posed this past Saturday in our discipleship program, Being the Body: Knowing, Being, Doing. The session (with forty participants from four congregations) was led by The Rev. Dr. Steven A. Peay, Academic Dean at Nashotah House. The question is the most basic question of “fundamental theology”. It is the question that we ask ourselves as individuals and as the Church. Fortunately, we find answers.

Answers are found in how God reveals Himself and His will for us. This revelation can be “general” or “special,” encompassed in the classical Anglican formula of faith informed by Scripture, Reason and Tradition. Reason encompasses general revelation, the ways in which we—as created beings—can use our own powers of observation and experience to experience little glimmers of God when we experience love, beauty, truth, good, and being. But most of what we know of God is not something we can figure out. It must be revealed to us. This is where the Anglican formula of Scripture, Reason and Tradition needs to be considered with care, for while it is common to refer to this formula as the “three leggèd stool” it is not, for the three legs are not of equal authority.

We need to understand Scripture, Reason and Tradition not as a “stool” but as a tricycle. There’s one big wheel, Scripture, that drives our understanding of faith, with the two smaller wheels of Reason and Tradition providing additional ways in which to understand God’s revelation. In other words, Reason and Tradition cannot contradict the revelation found in Scripture.

In the Church today it is not uncommon to hear someone say something like, “God gave me a brain, and so I can disagree with the Bible.” This disagreement usually relates to something in the Bible that the speaker does not really understand, but more importantly it represents a fundamental misunderstanding of Reason. Reason (in theological terms) is not cognition—it’s not the way we think. Reason must be understood in a classical sense, drawing from Plato and Aristotle, as a participatory knowledge. To know something is to experience it, to share or participate in something. It is not just about how we think. Hence, Scripture and Reason inform each other, with Reason allowing us to experience some of the revelation of God (His general revelation) in nature; in how we can come to know some aspects of God though our experience of the world. Equally, there is a mutual, inward hold that Scripture makes upon us and we upon it. As such, Reason may be best understood as a practical wisdom. It is in this sense that Scripture, Reason and Tradition inform each other. We can use our minds to question the meaning of Scripture—how we are to interpret God’s Word and apply it in our own lives—but we can’t just say that we disagree with what Scripture reveals, in part because at its most complete Reason cannot inform us of many things (for example, the nature of the Eucharist).

We say that our faith is founded on Scripture, Reason and Tradition (God’s holy “Big Wheel”), but it is more accurate to say that our faith is informed by this revelation. Faith is founded first on relationship, on trust in God. So we need to focus first and foremost on our encounter with God—on meeting the risen Christ and on receiving the Holy Spirit. It is in meeting and knowing the Person that we know who to follow, who to trust, and the “Big Wheel” then just becomes one more way to know, to pay attention, and above all to follow.

Consecration Sunday: Consecration Sunday is two Sunday’s away! We will gather following our one service of worship that day. (Worship will be at 10 a.m.) Our gathering is a time of celebration, at which we can thank God and each other for the blessings we enjoy, including the blessing of giving. This is a catered luncheon (not pot luck), because it is a time of special celebration, as we come together in the life of the church. Mark your calendars now, and look for your luncheon reservation cards to be distributed in one week!

Grace Abounds: Please thank Jessica Ambelang for special Halloween treats provided at last Sunday’s coffee hour.

Please take the opportunity to notify the office of any member or friend of the parish to whom we owe thanks, in order that we can publicize this in the weekly newsletter.

Fall clean-up: Fall clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, 3 November, from 8:30 a.m. until noon. (Breakfast snacks will be provided.) We need to rake, weed, clean-up, trim, etc. Please bring hand garden tools with you, and let Ed Clabots or the parish office know you are coming.

Youth Sunday: This coming Sunday, 4 November, our 10:15 service will be led by the youth of the parish. With the exception of functioin sreserved specifically to the priest, all leadership in the service will be given by young people in the parish. Please plan to attend to support them in ministry.

Biblical Literacy: The Bible Challenge readings will be for week 36. Bible study for the Sunday lessons meets on Thursdays, following the 9 a.m. Mass. Bible study will not meet this Thursday due to a conflict with a diocesan clergy meeting.

Music this week:

ALL SAINTS’ DAY

Prelude Justorum Animae Willan

Entrance Hymn 625 “Ye holy angels bright” Darwall’s 148^th

Offertory Hymn 287 “For all the saints” Sine Nomine

Communion Motet The souls of the righteous Thiman

Communion Hymn 620 “Jerusalem, my happy home” Land of Rest

Closing Hymn 293 “I sing a song of the saints of God” Grand Isle

Postlude Toccata on Christe, Redemptor Omnium Benoit

SUNDAY, NOV. 4^TH

Proper 26B

Prelude Tranquillo; Andante Darke

Entrance Hymn 625 “Ye holy angels bright” Darwall’s 148^th

Offertory Hymn 618 “Ye watchers and ye holy ones” Lasst uns erfreuen

Communion Motet O Spirit of Life Bach

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

Closing Hymn 551 “Rise up, ye saints of God” Festal Song

Postlude Trumpet tune in B Flat Johnson

Parish Notices

§ Old-Fashioned Hymn Sing, Dessert Party, & Concert: An old-fashioned hymn-sing (you know you’ve been wanting to sing those favorite old-time hymns we never get to do because Episcopalians have such good taste) will be held on FRIDAY, NOV. 16^TH at 6:30pm in St. Nicholas Hall, featuring Aaron Horvat at the mighty Steinway Grand, and Ben Dobey at the fabulous (or appalling, depending on your point of view) Hammond electronic spinet. The purpose is to have some fun and raise money for the Arts in Croatia Ministry for teens in Osijek, led by Aaron and by Winnie Coleman-Horvat. It will be worth it just to see if the Hammond explodes, like it kept doing when we did this in 2008. Come, bring a dessert to share if you feel inspired, and enjoy!

§ Hosting the Seminarian and His Family: Please consider hosting our seminarian Ryan Delaney and his family for a Saturday evening. Ryan and his lovely wife Melanie and children Brenna and Bemen will be staying most Saturday evenings in preparation for services on Sunday morning. This will give the parish an opportunity to get to know them and for the Delaney’s to get to know the parish. Please find a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex for dinner Saturday evening and brunch Sunday after the service.

§ Salvation Army Bell Ringing: There is still space to sign up! You can have multiple people on, at any time, the more the merrier! Grace Church is signed up to ring bells for the Salvation Army on November 10^th in two different locations. At the Piggly Wiggly on the north side from 1:00-7:00pm and at the Piggly Wiggly on the south side from 9:00am-3:00pm. Both of the locations are inside. The bells and kettle will be there, & a sign in sheet. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. If you have any questions please call Nancy Yurk at 453-9948.

§ Annual Clothing Drive: The annual community clothing drive is Saturday, November 10^th from 9:00-11:00am at the Grant School Gym 1528 North 5th St, Sheboygan. Donations of warm clothing in good condition (for all ages) is being accepted during the Annual Clothing Drive. Clothing donations can be dropped off at church by November 3rd. What a great way to help the community! This program is sponsored by Kiwanis Club & SASD and open to ALL community members and is FREE. It is suggested that a non-perishable food item be donated in exchange for warm winter clothing items.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Reporting for Duty

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Unity and Identity

Thursday, November 1, 2012

God's "Big Wheel"