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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Servanthood

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
13 March 2014

Servus servorum Dei (Servant of the servants of God) is one of the titles of the pope.  It is used as the opening of each papal bull (proclamation).  The title was adopted by Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), the same Gregory we associate with Gregorian chant, and the same Gregory who dispatched St. Augustine of Canterbury to England in 587, to take the Roman way of Christianity to Britain.
Gregory’s feast day was yesterday, and the collect prayer in our Anglican liturgy for the feast makes a neat play on his title, referring to God raising Gregory as “a servant of the servants of God”.  This nod to this papal dignity is testimony to the catholic (that is, universal) outlook in Anglicanism, but also serves to remind us about what real Christian leadership is comprised of—servanthood.
To serve God and others—this is to lead.  When you see others in the parish who serve you are seeing those who model Christian behavior.  They are leading, and they are calling all of us to serve with them.  In serving God and each other, we are making changes in how the Vestry meets.  It has been our practice to meet once a month, and to include in meetings a detailed review of parish financial status, action items and concerns.  This has involved discussion of the financial reports, and reports made by the wardens and rector.  We are now moving past this model, which was adopted intentionally to allow for maximum transparency and trust-building.
What will change?  We will continue to meet, but we will not review reports.  They will be distributed well-enough in advance that each member of Vestry can review them and determine if he or she needs to raise a question.  The actual meeting time will be devoted to how the Vestry functions in spiritual leadership, thinking and praying about who we are and who we are called to be, and how we will become the Church we are called to be, both within the parish and the wider community.
Remember:  Vestry meetings are open.  Any parishioner may attend.  (The meeting for March will be on the 23rd, at 11:45 a.m.)  Any parishioner may request copies of all reports and financial information.  Most importantly, as you lead by serving, as you discern who we are called to be, raise your insights with any member of Vestry, or just come to Vestry yourself, that through each other’s voices we may better learn who God is calling us to be.

Grace Abounds:  Please thank:
§  Jane Hanson and Mary Massey for the Sunday coffee hour, with Jack Britton for clean-up.
§  Bill and Deb Gagin for the Friday Lenten supper.

All:
Wednesday you received an email request for assistance for this weekend's Happening #67.  The request for food donations was responded to in FULL!!  Once again, Grace has shown its willingness to bless the youth of our Diocese and provided in abundance.  What a wonderful way to keep the cost down and offer a ministry that wouldn't otherwise be available!!! 
Thank you for blessing us!!
Yours,
Happening #67 candidates and staff

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I Cor 10:31

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:  

Prelude            From Seven Sketches on Verses from the Psalms        Percy Whitlock
Introit              Plainsong
Antiphon:  Call to remembrance thy tender compassion and mercy, O Lord, and thy loving-kindnesses towards us, which have been ever of old: neither suffer our enemies to triumph against us; deliver us, O God of Israel, out of all our troubles.
Psalm: Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: my God, in thee have I trusted; let me not be
            confounded.
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:  Call to remembrance…
Kyrie   Missa ‘Alme Pater’                                                                Plainsong, adapt. Wayne Wildman
Psalm 121 (choir)                                                                                Anglican Chant: Walford Davies
Tract (choir)    Psalm 106:1-5
Offertory Hymn 448   “O love, how deep, how broad, how high”    Deus tuorum militum
Communion Motet      Dear Lord and Father of Mankind                 C. Hubert H. Parry
Closing Hymn 142  “Lord, who throughout these forty days”          St. Flavian
Postlude          Fantasia in C Minor (a 5 voci)                                     J. S. Bach

Parish Notices

§  Metropolitan Opera:  On Saturday, 15 March, we will gather at 11:45 a.m. for the live broadcast of Jules Massenet’s masterpiece Werther, in a new production starring Jonas Kauffman and Sophie Koch.  A review of this found here:

§  Adult Formation: on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. will allow us to journey together through the Lenten meditations prepared in the parish. For each day in Lent or parish devotional booklet includes the collect prayer, the gospel lesson, and a meditation prepared by one of your fellow disciples in this parish. The booklet also includes space for you to add your own meditation. On Sundays, we’ll explore together the meditations for the week, that together we can walk on our Lenten journey. We can experience our journey together by offering our own insights in small group settings.

§  Stations of the Cross, Simple Suppers and Teaching:  Every Friday in Lent we will meet each Friday at 5:30 p.m. for Stations of the Cross, followed by a simple supper and Christian program. The program will consist of facilitated discussion which will focus on particular stations of the cross in the context of our own spiritual
§  lives. Such a testimony will be followed by facilitated small group discussions. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so enough food will be prepared. Thank you.

§  Service of Reconciliation: Please join Grace Church, Sheboygan, St. Peter’s, Sheboygan Falls and St. Paul’s, Plymouth on Wednesday, March 19th at 6:00pm. The evening will include scripture reading and hymns; prayer and self-examination. There will also be opportunity for both corporate and private confession. Please come for an evening of hope and forgiveness. The service will take place at St. Paul’s, 312 Main St. Plymouth.

§  Knit Together: Since 1898 (yes, EIGHTEEN ninety-eight), Christmas at Sea has provided commercial mariners with hand knit hats, scarves, vests, and socks each winter as our way of saying “thank you” for making our lives more comfortable. Indeed, international seafarers and inland river mariners deliver the goods that make our own gift-giving celebrations possible. (http://www.seamenschurch.org/christmas-at-sea ) On Saturday, March 22nd we will gather together from 2:00-4:00 PM to hear more about this organization and the ways we could possibly help. We will have the 1898 Hat pattern on hand and some supplies available. Whether you’re a new knitter or an experienced one, whether you want to bring a project you’re working on or try this new one, whether you don’t even knit but want to bring a project to work on while in fellowship…please join us. And if you’d like to find out what supplies to bring to make an 1898 Hat, contact Deacon Michele or Bobbi Kraft for more details.

§  All Saints' Chapel Ownership - Sunday services at All Saints' Chapel will continue to be a shared ministry this year which means volunteers will be needed to have ownership of opening and closing the chapel. A sign-up sheet is located in the Narthex.  If you have questions regarding responsibilities, please ask any member of the Vestry.





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