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Thursday, September 4, 2014

Knowing Enough?

Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes
4 September 2014

This coming Sunday we will celebrate a return to full scheduling with our Fall kick-off, “Mass in the Grass” at Deland Park.  The one service (10:15 a.m.) will be very much like a regular Sunday service with hymns, and will be followed by a picnic and games.  This is an ideal time to invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. to experience worship together with us.
When we think about inviting others to worship, we often stumble over a fear that we won’t “do well” in explaining who we are, in defending faith, and in calling others to know, love and serve God.  Such fear is misplaced.  It is based on the false premise that we need to “know enough” about our faith in order to be able to offer and defend it.  So let me comment on why the model of testifying through apology (the defense of faith) is not helpful.
I am a seminary-educated priest who has served in parish ministry for eight years.  Prior to seminary I was trained in philosophy and the law.  In seminary I was educated in biblical languages and studies, theology, history, liturgics, ... etc.  I preach each week, and prepare bible study each week, and have prepared and published a study guide to the whole Bible.  I have taught biblical languages to others, and have served as a canon law consultant in church trials.  But I don’t “know enough” to convince anybody to have faith.  No one does.  If leading others to Christ was about intellectual brilliance and education, I guess we would all be Roman Catholics, given the indisputable brilliance and wide-ranging erudition of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.  But, despite the learning, the communications skills, the personal saintliness of the last two popes we are not all Roman Catholics, in part because we did not make a personal connection with God by and through a personal connection with them as people.  No one “knows enough” to convince anyone else to seek God.
So what do we do?  We plant seeds which God will water.  These seeds of faith involve personal sharing.  They involve each one of us testifying not to why (for example) a given proposition in the Creed is true, but about what God is doing in our lives.  I can talk about who I am.  I can talk about my own relationship with God, about how I speak and listen to Him in prayer; about how I gather with others to offer Him worship, praise and thanksgiving; about how I receive Him in my body; about how in gathering I live in community with others and know God better because of this community.
Gather.  Invite.  Invite especially this coming Sunday.  You can bring others to Christ by bringing them to just be with us as we gather with Him.  Whatever seed is planted it is God who will provide the growth.

Grace Abounds:  Please thank:
§  Ann and Bob Hanlon for setting up Sunday coffee hour.

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.


Parish Discernment:  Bobbi (Roberta) Kraft has completed the diocesan “Circles of Light” process to discern whether she is called to further ministry, and of what kind.  The result of this process is that she has been identified to have a vocation to ordination to the priesthood.  Pursuant to diocesan procedure, the parish will now form a committee to engage in a formal discernment process with Bobbi.  Recommendations from this process (and a Vestry vote) will be made to the diocesan Commission on Ministry (COM) in December, for a review by the COM, the bishop, and the Standing Committee of the diocese in January 2015.  If the diocese approves Bobbi advancing in the ordination process, she will begin seminary training in August 2015.
Two members of the committee will be from outside the parish (per COM procedure)—one from St. Peter’s, Sheboygan Falls, and one from St. Mark’s, Waupaca.  Three members of the parish will serve on the committee, which will be lay-led.  Final agreement on names is pending, and will be announced on Sunday, 7 September.

Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization (SCIO):  With all of the discussion in the parish  about the LoveINC initiative, let’s not forget SCIO.  The parish supports SCIO with an annual donation, and members of Grace also work in SCIO-sponsored ministries.  Mary Ann N. attends SCIO meetings for Grace, but in order to elevate the profile of opportunities to serve we are specifically recruiting your interest.  Get further details at www.sheboygancountyinterfaith.org .  We need an in-parish champion who can provide timely electronic media feeds for the blog, newsletter, Facebook page, etc.  If you are interested, speak to Mary Ann and also to Fr. Karl.

Sunday School registration:  YAY, 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 on Sunday, September 7th.  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 there!
Grace offers classes to children ages at 9 am on Sundays:
    4-k through 2nd Grade with Mrs. Pat (Ford-smith) and Ms. MaryAnn (Portz)
    3rd through 5th Grade with Mrs. Nicci (Beeck) and
    6th-12th 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!

Music this week:  Proper 18A  (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)

Parish Notices

§  Mass in the Grass: Please join us Next Sunday, September 7, 2014 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 an appearance by Hiccup the Clown for our children’s enjoyment. Inviting guests is encouraged. There will be ONE MASS only that day. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table.

§  Sunday School Begins: We are getting excited about Sunday School! The teachers have met and plans are being made for another wonderful year of learning about the love of Jesus Christ! Sunday School will begin on September 14th at 9:00am. Please watch for more information.

§  Youth & Family News: At our brainstorming meeting for Youth and Family Ministries, we had a great turnout and many ideas were put forward to be considered for the direction, course, and future activities of our ministries at Grace Church. Many of the ideas that were put forward are ones that would be fun for a parish family to participate in to create a larger sense of community, and let's be honest, just to have some fun. Other ideas were specifically focused on community and mission minded outreach. As we continue to brainstorm separately and bounce ideas off of each other. Please put forward any ideas you have for any ministry in our church. If you don't know what ministries there are, ask. If there something that you think should be at Grace Church, but we don't have it, talk about it and maybe you're being called to start something new! Stay tuned to see what happens next, and don't forget to get involved!  

§  Coats for Kids: is a community service campaign. 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. September 2 –October 3 Monday–Friday 8:30am–4:00 pm. Distribution Location: Salvation Army, 710 Pennsylvania Ave. Sheboygan. Tuesday, October 7th, from 9:00am–1:00pm and Thursday, October 9th from 2:00–6:00pm.

§  Walsingham Pilgrimage Music and Flowers: The Walsingham Pilgrimage is just around the corner and preparations are being made. We will have a quiet day with meditations at 12:00 and 3:00pm concluding with Solemn Evensong at 6:00pm on Friday, October 10th. The meditations will be led by Mother Miriam, CSM, Superior of the Eastern Province of The Community of St. Mary. On Saturday, October 11th the Rt. Rev. Matthew A. Gunter, eighth Bishop of Fond du Lac, will celebrate at the Procession and Solemn Pontifical Mass at 10:30am. Mother Miriam, CSM, will preach. 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 you check out to Grace Church with Walsingham music or flowers or both in the memo. Reservations are required for lunch at a cost of $15 per person and will be served at noon on Saturday. Thank you.

§  SCIO – Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization: We have been a member of SCIO for many years. We have donated time and money for the outreach to the community, especially for women and children.  There is a sign up sheet on the table in the Narthex to receive the newsletter which will give many ideas about how to help. If you have questions please talk to Mary Ann Neuses.

§  “Before and After”:  The floor cleaning project to well underway! If you are interested in participating, see Fr. Karl. This is tough, physical labor, so if you are challenged in working on hands and knees, consider whether you want to help with material costs, with a gift outside of your regular giving to the parish. Thank you to all who are helping.



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