Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace Notes
24 April 2014
The first Christians—the men and women who
knew Jesus when He walked the earth and proclaimed the kingdom of God, and
these same men and women to whom He appeared, risen from the grave—they did not
engage in dry debate, spiritual abstractions or speculation about meaning. They proclaimed the astounding reality
experienced by them, that One whom they had seen brutally killed was alive;
that death had been defeated. They told
the whole world that something so new and astounding had happened that nothing
would ever again be the same.
If we ever forget that at Easter everything
in all of Creation changed, if we ever allow the Resurrection to be reduced
to the level of myth, metaphor, or symbol, then we will be doubly to be pitied,
for having been saved we will have rejected salvation. Even if we profess a belief in God we will
have said that He has given up on His Creation, that the fallenness of the
world is “just the way things are” and that there is no such thing as
real Love, real Truth, real Good, real Beauty.
The biblical record is filled with examples of
humans beings who, left to their own agencies, take what has been created and
seen by God to be “good” and have wrecked it, and then have rejected each
correction and help sent by Him (in Noah and the ark, in the prophets, in the
Law and Temple, in the people of Israel themselves). But, despite the repeated “no” of human
beings, God has spoken an eternal “yes,” culminating in the “yes” of the Word
Himself, the incarnate Son. In Easter we
see and experience that we always have reason to hope, for God continues to say
“yes”.
Alleluia! The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Grace Abounds: Please thank:
§
Wayne and Pat Sather, Ed and Mary Clabots for
the Sunday coffee hours.
§
Ben Dobey for providing flower plantings and
general clean-up for the columbarium courtyard.
§
Dcn. Michele Whitford for leading the team which
planned and implemented to bishop’s consecration, with musical consulting from
Ben Dobey.
§
All the members of the parish who journeyed to
Appleton for the consecration of our new bishop.
§
All the members of the parish who served in the
consecration liturgy:
―
Ushers:
Bill and Deb Gagin, Steve and Katy Larson.
―
Choir:
Jack Britton, Jennifer Pawlus, Elizabeth Schaffenburg
―
Acolytes:
Dee and Tasha Crouse, Bryan Stenz and Paul Aparicio
―
Thurifer:
Scott Fabiano
―
Chaplain to the retiring bishop: Dcn. Mike Burg
―
Flowers:
Bernie Markevitch
―
Registration assistance: Bobbi Kraft
―
Set-up and transport of liturgical materials: Jon Whitford
―
Transportation: Paul Aparicio, using transport donated by Terry
Kohler
―
Youth Leadership: Bobbi and Kaleigh Kraft
Prayer Ministry
Beginnings: A Prayer Ministry is
beginning here at Grace and it will look
like this. Saturday
mornings at 10:00 am (beginning this Saturday, 3 May) members of Grace will
meet and walk throughout the church praying.
Our prayers will be focused on
asking the Holy Spirit to be released in a deeper, more powerful way into our
Grace Church community. The prayers will
begin at the back of the church and continue through each pew, chapels, pulpit,
sanctuary and sacristy. Where the Spirit
leads, we will pray, ending at the main altar.
In Acts1:14 we read that the early church prayed together
constantly. Paul reminds us in 1 Thess.5:17
we are to pray without ceasing. It is
with deep devotion and great conviction that we begin this Prayer Ministry by
meeting once a week to pray for our Church.
If anyone feels called to join in the praying, please come.
“May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by
the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Romans
15:13 (Jane Hanson)
The power of prayer:
The prayer ministry described above is literally the answer to a prayer
I have said during the Daily Office every day this year—that our Lord would
raise up a new presence and gift of the Spirit in this place. I cannot overemphasize the importance of such
a ministry. Here’s an example. Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas (http://incarnation.org/) is an Episcopal
Church parish that can be described using any number of superlatives, in terms
of faith, size, outreach, ministry, wealth—you name it. One key, bedrock ingredient in this “success”
(in living into this blessing) is the fact that for years a group of “prayer
warriors” have gathered to pray about and over every decision in the life of
the parish, to raise up those in need of prayer, to pray that God’s will for
the parish might be revealed and lived, ... etc. This ongoing prayer warrior ministry has made
an abundant difference in the life of Incarnation (and other examples can be
cited, as well). I fully believe it will
make a difference here. Please gather in
ministry. Whether or not you gather on a
Saturday morning, be constant in prayer.
A Parishioner in the
News: This link will take you to a
an article in Episcopal News Service on the 26 April consceration of our new
bishop. The accompanying photo has one
of our parishioners (Kaleigh Kraft) with the bishop.
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.
Music this week:
Prelude Chorale on ‘Haec dies’ (This is the day the
Lord hath made) Widor
Entrance Hymn 199 “Come,
ye faithful, raise the strain”
Offertory Hymn 305 “Come,
risen Lord, and deign to be our guest”
Communion Motet Most glorious Lord of life Harris
Comm. Hymn 343 “Shepherd
of souls, refresh and bless”
Closing Hymn 194 “Jesus
lives, thy terrors now”
Postlude Trumpet
Tune & Ayre Telemann
Parish Notices
§ Potluck
Dinner and Compline: Bring a dish
to pass and join us this evening Sunday, May 4th 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.
§ Game
Night at Grace: In conjunction with
Compline, we invite everyone to arrive a little early for a few games beginning
at 5:30pm. Games, potluck, some more games (if time allows) and then
Compline to send us peacefully home once again. All ages are
welcome. A glorious evening of fun, fellowship and peace.
§ Christian
Formation Schedule for May:
o 4 May Rector’s forum: An open forum for
questions about the Church, the parish, the faith.
o 11 May: Care and Share: Small group
ministries formation and sharing
o 18 May: Biblical Reflections:
Meditations/reflections will be offered on the Sunday lessons for all Sundays
in May, as prepared by Mary Massey, Jane Hanson, Mary Snyder and Connie
Schneider, for use in small group discussions. The meeting will be facilitated
by Dcn. Michele Whitford.
o 25 May: Small groups: Such as Care
Givers, Galatians and other existing ministries.
§ Enthronement
of the Eighth Bishop of Fond du Lac: Please plan to attend the Enthronement of Matthew Alan Gunter, the Eighth
Bishop of Fond du Lac at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, 2014 at the Cathedral
Church of St. Paul, Fond du Lac. Refreshments to follow.
§ Summer
Camp: Diocese of Fond du Lac Summer
Camp is for kids age 4 through graduating 12th graders. Camp is an
opportunity for campers and staff to learn more about God, about community,
about themselves and have fun! If you have questions about what camp is like
please call Michele at the office. Scholarships are available.
o Senior
Camp (completed grades 9-12) June
15 (Sun 3pm) – June 21 (Sat 12noon)
o Middler
Camp (completed grades 6-8) June 22
(Sun 3pm) – June 26 (Thu 4pm)
o Junior
Camp (completed grades 2-5) June 22
(Sun 3pm) – June 26 (Thu 4pm)
o KinderCamp
(parent & kids ages 4-7) June
12 (Thu 5pm) – June 14 (Sat 11:30am) There are application forms on the Narthex
table.
§ All
About Camp: A special event will be
held Sunday, May 4 from 2-5 p.m. at All Saints Episcopal Church in Appleton. It
is for youth who have been to camp, those who have never been to camp but want
to learn more about it, for parents with questions about camp, and anyone else
who wants to find out what Summer Camp is all about. Many of the 2014
counselors will be there. There will be food, games, arts & crafts. For
questions, contact Canon Tony Walter at twalter@diofdl.org or at 920-284-7967.
§ Stay Connected! There are many
ways to stay connected and find all the latest announcements. Grace Church can
be found by “liking” us on Facebook. You can also sign up for the Grace Notes
blog at http://gracechurchgracenotes.blogspot.com/ on the right hand
side there is a place to sign up and receive the blog by email. You can find
the Grace Church website at www.gracesheboygan.com. At the end of
each bulletin there is QR code that you can scan with your smart phone and it
will take you directly to the website. If you have an email address you can
receive the Angelus electronically and save the church some printing and
postage costs as well as receive any gentle reminders that may pop up between
Angelus publications. If you have questions about any of these things please
call the office.
§ Eucharistic
Festival: Plan to attend the 55th
Annual Diocesan Eucharistic Festival at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 28th, at
the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Fond du Lac. The Homilist will be the Rt.
Rev. Matthew A. Gunter, Eighth Bishop of Fond du Lac. Picnic to follow.
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