Grace Notes

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Joyful, Joyful

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

17 September 2015

In identifying Himself at the Good Shepherd, Jesus tells us that He has come that we might have life abundantly (Jn. 10.10-11). Translating this teaching into our everyday life as those who follow Our Lord means that when we cannot be joyful this is a time to question ourselves, not God’s promise.

In his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis I addresses the issue of what is known in theology as acedia, spiritual “dryness,” that state in which we can take no joy, in which we feel God is not present. In extremity dryness become sloth, and thus sinful. A less advanced form of this condition is, however, indifference. In Francis’ words:

[T]he biggest threat of all gradually takes shape: “the gray pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small-mindedness.” A tomb psychology thus develops and slowly transforms Christians into mummies in a museum. Disillusioned with reality, with the Church and with themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope, which seizes the heart like “the most precious of the devil’s potions.”

Francis is direct because the threat is direct. Few consciously rebel against God; more become indifferent, and even as members of a worshiping congregation can come to view faith as a sort of pointless “whatever”. The life of faith can become diminished and “... undertaken badly, without adequate motivation, without a spirituality which would permeate it and make it pleasurable.” Consequently, our work as culture makers and redeemers results not in the “content and happy tiredness” of work done well but “a tense, burdensome, dissatisfying and, in the end, unbearable fatigue.”

The work of faith is never done, but when we are not renewed we fall in danger of wanting faith on our terms, not on God’s, and so we come to view faith through the lens of consumerism, of “What’s in it for me?” But when we focus on our risen Lord’s Presence in our midst, on the life giving Presence of the Holy Spirit, and on the constant renewal of Creation by the Father, it is then that we can better experience joy regardless of life circumstance, and regardless of the work that is set before us.

In this season of newness in the parish—new education programs, new outreach and evangelism, new communication, new works in service of God’s people—be renewed. Take joy! Show joy!

Grace abounds: Please thank:

§ The Burg and Whitford families for the Sunday coffee hour.

§ Pat Ford Smith for help in the office.

Music this Week: The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 20B

“Mass in the Grass” and picnic, Deland Park Center

Prelude Winds of Worship Flute Choir

Entrance Hymn 390 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” Lobe den Herren

Mass Setting Deutsche Messe Franz Schubert, arr. Proulx

Offertory Music Winds of Worship Flute Choir

Comm. Hymn 482 “Lord of all hopefulness” Slane

Closing Hymn 473 “Lift high the Cross” Crucifer

Postlude Chorale Joseph Jongen

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.

Parish Notices

§ Sunday School registration: Yea, it’s time for Sunday School to begin! The teachers have missed those familiar faces and are looking forward to some new ones, too. If you missed registration, just come to the class and we can start the appropriate process. Registration paperwork, classroom lesson schedules, Christmas pageant practice schedules, Operation Christmas Child information and snack ideas will be on hand. See you for sign up!

o Grace offers classes for children of all ages at 9 am on Sundays:

― 3-k through 1^st Grade with Mrs. Andrea (Aparicio), Ms. MaryAnn (Portz) and Mrs. Danielle (Whitford)

― 2^nd through 5^th Grade with Mrs. Nicci (Beeck)

― 6^th-12^th with Mr. Nick (Whitford)

If you don’t have children to register, how about your grandkids? How about your neighbors’ kids or grandkids? Help us teach the little children how much Jesus loves them, by bringing them to Grace’s Sunday School beginning September 20^th!

§ Adult Formation: Beginning on Sunday, 20 September (during the 9 a.m. education hour) we will begin a four week series on Giving Faith a Voice. We are molded by language, by what we call things. How we “process” information about life affects how we understand these data. This can determine, for example, how we experience the reality of faith, but also how we share this reality. For example, if you are overwhelmed in worship this may relate to “the beauty of holiness”. Or, how you identify as one sealed and “marked as Christ’s own for ever” can help you relate to another what “holiness” itself is. In our course we will discuss absolutes like love, truth, beauty, good, being—how we get glimpses of these eternal realities “as through a glass darkly” but shall one day see face to face. We will explore how we understand our own experiences in ways that allows us to share them with others, to let them too know how God is present in their own lives and the life of the world.

Join with us as we explore the connections between experience and understanding, and how to give faith a voice. Come prepared to listen and to share.

§ Catechumenate will begin: 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 Catechumenate will meet on Tuesday evenings each week starting at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The class will begin September 29^th and will continue until May 1^st when Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. The first class, on the 29^th will begin immediately following St. Michael and All Angels Solemn Mass. The study is led by Deacon Michele Whitford, the Parish Catechist. If you would like to be a part of this exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please call the office 452-9659 or e-mail Deacon Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.

§ Community Prayer Summit: Praying together, loving our neighbors Monday, September 28, 2015 beginning at 5:30pm with registration and fellowship continuing from 6:00-8:00pm with prayer. Southside Alliance Church, 4321 County Road A, Sheboygan. The evening will feature John Kieffer, Wisconsin State Facilitator of City/Community Ministries. All church leaders, congregational members and interested community members are encouraged to come and be a part of this intentional prayer time. This event is organized by Love INC. Register now at: www.evenbrite.com search: Community Prayer Summit.

§ 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 8:30am–4:00 pm. Distribution Location: Salvation Army, 710 Pennsylvania Ave. Sheboygan, Friday, October 23^rd, from 1:00 – 7:00pm.

§ 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

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Eyes on Target

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

10 September 2015

I have had recent occasion to introduce a new participant to skeet shooting, a sport in which clay pigeons are thrown at high speed between two fixed points, while the shooter moves around a field, varying angle of approach and distance. The shooter I have been coaching grew up target shooting with rifles and pistols, and initially experienced a lot of frustration in skeet shooting. The practice in skeet is very different, involving a shotgun. The target is moving at high speed, and so the shooter must aim in front of the target by a distance that changes with relative position. The shooter cannot aim at the target, but must aim at where the target will be when the shot stream reaches that point. All of this has been well understood by the woman now learning the sport, but what has most frustrated her is that she was taught as a target shooter to focus with one eye, and in skeet and similar shooting it is necessary to keep both eyes open, for depth perception, for better target acquisition and tracking, and for general situational awareness.

How many of us approach the life of faith without both eyes open, because we have been taught to focus in a particular way? We have been taught that the life of faith must be expressed in a particular prayer practice, or worship style, or practice of study, or in good works, and we so focus on how we “do” faith that we are in danger that our efforts and intentions will lag behind and miss the target that God sets for us, or we are in danger that we will so lack in depth perception and situational awareness that we won’t even know that God has shown us His will, because what He is showing isn’t what we are looking for.

Very particular focus can be necessary (although even in target shooting the best practitioners keep both eyes open). God may call us to a particular focus, perhaps for a long time (lifetime in the case of a particular spiritual vocation) or for a season. But when our eyes are spiritual, and when both eyes are open, then God may reveal a new calling, a new practice, to us. He may, in fact, want us to aim in front of the target, that when our will is projected it will intersect with where His will shall be when our will meets His.

Spiritual eyes, spiritual awareness include all of our senses, but particularly include making ourselves present to God, who is always present and available to us. When we make ourselves available to God, He will lead us. Our spiritual focus will track God’s presence, that we may better discern and do His will. Sometimes we will even have to unlearn the way we have approached faith, like unlearning the practice of closing an eye in focusing on a target. This unlearning does not mean that what we were doing was necessarily harmful or wrong. It means, just, that when God leads in a new direction if we seek to follow Him using only the ways in which we have always been comfortable, we might stay behind the target.

Open hearts will allow the Holy Spirit to so enter and dwell that our situational awareness and depth perception of the spirit will be constantly perfected, and our will shall meet God’s. Then we may pray with the psalmist, “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Ps. 118.23).

Grace abounds: Please thank:

§ The Burg and Whitford families for the Sunday coffee hour.

§ Pat Ford Smith for help in the office, and in pastoral care.

Music this Week: The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 19B

“Mass in the Grass” and picnic, Deland Park Center

Guitar accompaniment

Mass settings from An English Folk Mass”

Prelude Jars of Clay

Opening Hymn #8 “Morning has broken” Bunessan

Offertory Hymn #711 “Seek ye first” Seek Ye First

Comm. Hymn #488 “Be Thou my vision” Slane

Closing Hymn #376 “Joyful, joyful we adore thee” Hymn to Joy

Postlude “Open the eyes of my heart” (guitar)

"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' (Matt 25:45)

What shall we do?

Consider helping:

Episcopal Relief and Development

Save the Children Foundation

The shocking image of a drowned Syrian 3-year-old boy named Aylan Kurdi on a Turkish shore resonates around the world.

Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. There are 8 million displaced Syrians (internally or externally). If that was the U.S., there would be 160 million displaced persons! There are about 6 million people in Wisconsin.

Parish Notices

Mass in the Grass: Please join us Sunday, September 13, 2015 for an outdoor Mass and All Church Picnic at Deland Community Center, 901 Broughton Dr., Sheboygan, the Mass will begin at 10:15 a.m. with lunch following. There will be games and activities for our children’s enjoyment. Inviting guests is encouraged. There will be ONE MASS only that day. We will be asking for donations of cookies/bars, potato chips, water and monetary donations to defray the cost. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table.

§ Sunday School registration: Yea, it’s almost time for Sunday School to begin!

The teachers have missed those familiar faces and are looking forward to some new ones, too. Look for the Sunday School table at Mass in the Grass, Sunday, September 13^th. Registration paperwork, classroom lesson schedules, Christmas pageant practice schedules, Operation Christmas Child information and snack ideas will be on hand. See you for sign up!

Grace offers classes for children of all ages at 9 am on Sundays:
― 3-k through 1^st Grade with Mrs. Andrea (Aparicio), Ms. MaryAnn (Portz) and

Mrs. Danielle (Whitford)

― 2^nd through 5^th Grade with Mrs. Nicci (Beeck)

― 6^th-12^th with Mr. Nick (Whitford)

Join with us as we explore the connections between experience and understanding, and how to give faith a voice. Come prepared to listen and to share.

§ Catechumenate will begin: 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 Catechumenate will meet on Tuesday evenings each week starting at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The class will begin September 29^th and will continue until May 1^st when Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. The study is led by Deacon Michele Whitford, the Parish Catechist. If you would like to be a part of this exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please call the office 452-9659 or e-mail Deacon Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.

§ Fundraising for All Saint's Chapel: We are in the process of replacing the roof for All Saint's Chapel. In recent years its age has started to show where shingles are missing and some leakage is occurring. Our hope is that funding will be available from a private foundation but nothing is guaranteed especially if the funding will be available this year. Would you be interested in contributing towards this project? We are looking to start work on this project before winter before more damage occurs. If funding does come from the foundation your donations will be dedicated to other maintenance items at the chapel and St. Hubertus Hall. Feel free to make donations in the offering plate, noting “Roof” in the memo, or contact our main office at office@gracesheboygan.com. Thank you so much for your generosity.

§ 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

Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Giving of Time

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

3 September 2015

“[W]here your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6.21). This begs the question of what we treasure most, and a pattern is emerging in many church communities, a pattern in which many people are more willing to give money than they are to give time. It is often a lot easier to ask for money than to ask (and expect) that people will show up for a work project. In addition, even those willing to work are often willing to do so on the basis of showing up for a particular time slot in a project that has been already defined. They don’t want to give time in the organization and planning phase, and really don’t want to “be in charge”.

Before you think I am complaining, let me state up front that I am not particularly writing about this parish. The phenomenon I describe is present to an extent here, but what I am writing about is a broad pattern across all churches, one that can be seen in broad coalitions of churches, like LoveINC, and that can be seen when diocesan ministries events are organized.

What’s going on here? It is common that, for anything we consider good, value generally varies inversely with scarcity. The treasuring of time over money points to the reality that many people feel quite harried and over-scheduled, and find that cannot escape from commitments that prevent down time. One result is that Sunday (which is supposed to involve sabbath!) can be treated as down time in an unhealthy manner; we can look at Sunday as a day of rest from all commitments, including our commitment to gather and offer worship to God.

But let’s leave the Sunday phenomenon aside. Let’s focus on the scarcity of time overall. Electronic communications and social media have not helped. Many now are always “connected,” and feel a need to be up-to-date in social media spheres. Remote work connections mean that job concerns can follow many home. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of information. It is easy to feel compelled to respond to every update. We all need to take a deep breath, offer a prayer in which we thank God and recite His greatness and blessing, and focus on regaining balance.

Balance involves the proper apportionment of focus and of resources. In the classical spirituality of the Church, balance involves a rule of life in which work, study and prayer are kept in healthy relationship. Work involves both our vocations in the world and our vocation as Christians (which involves the giving of time in ministry). Study involves being attentive to God’s Word, engaging with God’s revelation every day. Prayer involves dedicating time to God, to listen and to speak.

Many techniques for achieving balance exist, probably the best known being The Rule of Saint Benedict. But, regardless of technique and rule, the first need is one of will. We have to decide to focus. When God is the most important Person in our lives, we will than naturally focus in ways that involve the giving of time for His work. In so doing we will find that all the things that have kept us too busy become so secondary in concern that we are blessed with more time to enjoy the blessings that God showers on us daily!

Grace abounds: Please thank:

§ Steve and Katy Larson for the Sunday coffee hour.

§ Pat Ford Smith for help in the office.

Music this Week: Proper 16B (Guitar accompaniment for hymns and anthem; service music a

capella).

Prelude Hymn Jars of Clay

Entrance Hymn 8 Morning has broken

Offertory Seek Ye First (choir-led round)

Communion Motet “I Need You More” Lindell Cooly & Bruce Haynes

Comm. Hymn 488 Be Thou My Vision

Closing Hymn 376 Joyful Joyful

Postlude “Open the eyes of my heart” (guitar)

The Bus: Introduction: This is a deep thought, dream, or spiritual message that awoke me in July of 2014 the night before I was diagnosed with a terminal brain cancer. It is called "The Bus." I believe this was a spiritual message that I needed to hear to prepare for this part of my journey in this life, to try and keep a positive attitude. I also believe God wants me to share this message.

―Stephen Roman Schad (transcribed by P.F.S.)

"WE ARE ALL ON A JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE AND WE HAVE A CHOICE WHERE TO SIT ON THE BUS AND VIEW LIFE FROM."

God is steering the bus and only He knows the route we must take. Always remember it isn't just my journey but everyone's journey together.

THE DIFFERENT VIEWS FROM DIFFERENT SEATS.

a. The seats over the rear axle or hump.

a. These seats can be fun when you hit bumps and you bounce off the seat. These seats can get annoying after awhile and even make you sore if you sit too long.

b. The side window seats.

a. You are only seeing 1/2 of the journey and missing the other 1/2.

b. Staring too long out the side windows can be hypnotizing and make you feel alone and make your mind wander.

c. Looking out the rear window from the back seats.

a. You can't prepare yourself for the things ahead.

b. If you see something you like, you already went past it.

c. All you can hope for is that it follows you and you get another chance.

d. Staring out the back window can make you feel you are on this journey alone.

e. You don't see the journey unfold before you if you only look out the rear window.

d. Looking out the windshield from the seats in front of the bus.

a. You will see many things from the windshield seats that you won't see from other seats.

b. You will see the sun rises and the sunsets.

c. You will see the beautiful views and have time to enjoy them before they pass.

d. You can sometimes see storms before you get there. You can't stop them, but at least you can try to prepare for them.

e. You can see when you are climbing a hill or when you are going to coast.

f. You will see accidents, tragedy and devastation.

g. During these times you will also see people helping people, friendships being made, aid coming in to help.

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON TO HELP US THROUGH THESE TIMES. STAY LOOKING FORWARD. IT IS THE ONLY WAY THROUGH THESE TIMES.

Some amazing things can be seen and heard but you have to be patient. Keep your eyes, ears, mind and heart open. These are the seats of positive thought on the bus.

In these seats in the front of the bus you will see who gets on and off. Take the time even if only for a moment to introduce yourself, share a laugh, shed a tear, hold a hand or just listen.

AFTER ALL THIS IS OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER. Traveling together is a lot more fun than traveling alone. There are no seat belts on a bus and the seats are wide.

THERE IS A REASON FOR THIS.

a. I believe we should share our seat, move around, see things from different views and let people know about the the view from the windshield.

b. None of us really know when our journey ends but they all do.

c. There may be time when you see the gauge close to E, but only God knows how many mpg the the bus gets, where the next fuel stop is, how many hills to climb, how many times we coast, how many people get on and off the bus.

An important thing to remember is, God will always let you on the bus. So enjoy the journey together.

CONCLUSION: This is a Team Bus.

a. The word team starts with the letter "t" which is a Cross.

b. Look around for a Cross when you feel alone or scared. You will be surprised at how many are out there when you look around.

c. A Cross might be just 2 intersecting lines in a tile or ceiling grid.

d. This will pull your thoughts back to the center which is where God is.

LOVE-LAUGH-SHARE-BE GENTLE AND KIND―Stephen R. Schad (d. 2 August 2015)

Worthwhile reading: A blog worth visiting regularly is one described as “place of dialogue between Catholics and atheists”. http://www.strangenotions.com This is the blog of philosopher/theologian Peter Kreeft, and other contributors, and the discussions are not limited to a Christian identity founded in Roman Catholicism. The discussions are lively, and involve real people asking real questions, but they are also very thoughtful, and beg us to go deeper.

Parish Notices

Mass in the Grass: Please join us Sunday, September 13, 2015 for an outdoor Mass and All Church Picnic at Deland Community Center, 901 Broughton Dr., Sheboygan, the Mass will begin at 10:15 a.m. with lunch following. There will be games and activities for our children’s enjoyment. Inviting guests is encouraged. There will be ONE MASS only that day. We will be asking for donations of cookies/bars, potato chips, water and monetary donations to defray the cost. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table.

§ Sunday School registration: Yea, it’s almost time for Sunday School to begin!

Grace offers classes for children of all ages at 9 am on Sundays:

― 3-k through 1^st Grade with Mrs. Andrea (Aparicio), Ms. MaryAnn (Portz) and

Mrs. Danielle (Whitford)

― 2^nd through 5^th Grade with Mrs. Nicci (Beeck)

― 6^th-12^th with Mr. Nick (Whitford)

Join with us as we explore the connections between experience and understanding, and how to give faith a voice. Come prepared to listen and to share.

§ Catechumenate will begin: 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 Catechumenate will meet on Tuesday evenings each week starting at 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The class will begin September 29^th and will continue until May 1^st when Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. The study is led by Deacon Michele Whitford, the Parish Catechist. If you would like to be a part of this exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please call the office 452-9659 or e-mail Deacon Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com. There is a sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.

§ 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

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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Joyful, Joyful

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Eyes on Target

Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Giving of Time