Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace Notes
29 January 2015
At our parish annual meeting we spoke of outreach and
evangelism. This begs the question: In speaking to the secular culture, do we
confront the culture head-on? A more
successful strategy may, in fact, lie in how we outflank the culture rather than
charge at it. This is the argument of
Bishop N. T. Wright, who argues that by being true to the arc of God’s
revelation found in all of Scripture, the Church outflanks the world.
Two major characteristics of secularism allow for this
approach. First, secularism has revived the
ancient philosophy (Epicureanism) in which God is very distant from and
indifferent to humans or what happens on Earth.
Humans are thus left conveniently to run things on our own. The result is
to divide heaven from earth, and Jesus from His Church. Second, the secularism embraces the idea
of progress, by which this latest age is seen as the best of
all that came before it. Moreover, progress is all the result of human
enlightenment and effort, with no need for God.
The Church’s strategy in response to secularism must,
therefore: (1) Refuse to separate heaven
from earth, or God from humanity. Jesus
tells us, repeatedly, that the kingdom of heaven has come near, and in
the Holy Eucharist the kingdom of heaven and this world intersect. (2) Refuse to separate past and future time. We proclaim the kingdom of heaven as realized
in the resurrection, in our own life in Christ, and in our future rising with
Christ. The glory of God is experienced
in the union of Jesus Christ with His Church.
(3) Refuse to allow the secularists to pick up and exploit the bits and
pieces left lying about through the years, such as the concepts of justice and
equality for all of God’s creation. The secularists co-opt these concepts into various
“movements”, one after the other. By teaching the union of space (heaven and
earth) and time (past, present and future now) which itself embodies the full
justice of God on earth, Scripture completely outflanks secularism, and thereby
leaves a bankrupt philosophy nowhere to call its own.
To do any of this the Church—that’s us—must live in
the reality of the kingdom of heaven, of being the Body of Christ, of
past-present-future as the single reality of holiness. When people are seeking (whatever it is that
they define that they seek, whether this be truth, enlightenment, even
happiness), it is then that the ultimate bankruptcy of the secularist worldview
becomes more and more apparent to them.
It is in seeking that they come to see something different, something
holy, but only to the extent that we incarnate it. In other words, if we are comfortable with
the culture, why would anybody seek what they seek by and through us? They must experience the Church as
different. They must witness a flanking
movement.
Grace abounds: Please
thank:
§ .
“Leave behind” cards: Small bookmark shaped cards are available for
you to give to friends when you talk about the church. These cards list the times of all of our
prayer and worship services, how to get more information, when Bible study and
adult education meet, etc. The cards are
available in the office or in the Ontario Avenue entrance to the nave. The supply in the office is packaged with
small olive wood crosses. These “leave
behind cards” should always be offered to visitors, but also take a supply with
you to share in outreach.
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.
Youth and Family
Ministry: Grace and peace to you! I thought I would
share some research I thought was interesting especially in light of our annual
meeting and all the talk about being the church "out there" beyond our
walls.
This research comes from Barna Group, a research firm that is
"widely considered to be a leading research organization focused on the
intersection of faith and culture."
This article showcases the top 10 findings of their research throughout
2014, complete with helpful info-graphics.
Just to highlight a couple that I found interesting: First is about
world poverty, and the huge amount that it has decreased in the last 30 year,
and yet American's don't believe that is the case. Why is that? Lastly the
research that looks at what Millennials want in a church. (you can find more
about their generational distinctions here: http://bit.ly/1zXKLvK ).
Barna Group - Year
in Review Top 10 Findings from 2014
Music this week:
Music for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Prelude Lumen ad revelationem Russell Woollen
Entrance Hymn 616 “Hail
to the Lord’s Anointed” Es flog
ein kleins Waldvoegelein
Gloria S-202 Missa
de Sancta Maria Magdalena Healey
Willan
Offertory Hymn 448 “O
love, how deep, how broad, how high” Deus
tuorum militum
Sanctus S-114
Willan
Fraction Anthem S-169 My flesh is food indeed Ray Urwin
Communion Motet O everlasting Light
John. E. West
Communion Hymn 457 “Thou
art the Way” St. James
Closing Hymn 438 “Tell
out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord” Woodlands
Postlude Voluntary in D William Croft
Music for Candlemas, Monday, Feb. 2nd
Solemn Mass at 6 p.mm
At the Blessing of the Candles: Nunc dimittis Plainsong
Processional Hymn “O
Zion, open wide thy gates” Richmond
Psalm 84 (choir) Anglican chant: C. H. H. Parry
Offertory Anthem Behold, a Star from Jacob shining Mendelssohn
Communion Motet Nunc dimittis in B Flat Stanford
Communion Hymn 324 “Let
all mortal flesh keep silence” Picardy
Closing Hymn 657 “Love
divine, all loves excelling” Hyfrydol
Postlude O Thou of God the Father Walther
Parish Notices
Care and Share
Small Groups:
Sunday, February 1st Small groups will meet between services at
9:00am. Questions will be provided to reflect on the lessons for the Day. Please
meet in St. Nicholas Hall and the groups will be divided up and rooms will be assigned.
Presentation of Our Lord in
the Temple: This holy day is also known
as Candlemas in which all the candles used for the year are blessed. You are
welcome to bring in your own candles to be blessed during this service. Please
mark your calendars and plan to attend this Solemn Mass on February 2 at
6:00pm. We will conclude the celebration with a Potluck Dinner. Please sign up
on the sheet on the Narthex table.
Lenten Booklet: Grace Church will prepare our own parish book of Lenten meditations,
written by parishioners. For each of the forty days of Lent season, a Gospel
lesson taken from the Eucharistic lectionary for the weekdays in Lent, plus the
Sunday Eucharistic lectionary, are provided on a clip board on the Narthex
table. Following each Gospel lesson will be the Collect prayer for the
celebration of Eucharist on each day. The Collect “collects” our prayers as
founded in the Scripture appointed for each day. The method envisaged for use
of this booklet is that parishioners will read the Gospel lesson– perhaps more
than once, perhaps underlining the words or phrases that resonate with them on that day–then reflect on the Collect, and then
write down their own reflections on the page appointed for the day. These
reflections will be gathered no later than February 12th to
allow for production lead-time. The publication
of a parish devotional will be published to the whole parish, in print and on
our website. Please submit your meditations to the office at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com.
Shrove Tuesday
Feast before the Fast: Shrove Tuesday is February
17th we will be having a Potluck dinner following a 5:30pm mass.
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this festive occasion. There is a
sign-up sheet on the table in the Narthex.
Ash
Wednesday:
February 18th is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, it is a day
of fasting and penitence. We will observe this day with Mass and Imposition of
Ashes at 12:10 p.m., and Solemn Mass with Imposition of Ashes at 6:00 p.m. This
is a holy day and a wonderful way to begin your Lenten observance.
Office
Closed –Clergy Retreat: Diocesan clergy meet in Retreat Monday, February
9 through Thursday, February 12. Please note: There will be no celebrations
of Holy Eucharist or Daily Office Monday—Thursday. The office will be
closed from noon on Monday. In the event of a pastoral emergency Mon—Thu,
please contact Fr. Karl or Dcn. Michele at the Norbertine Center for
Spirituality, St. Norbert’s College, DePere, 920-337-4315. The normal Friday,
Saturday and Sunday schedules will be in place.
Lakeshore Coral Presents “Where is Love?”: This Valentine's Day, we invite you to Lakeshore Chorale's annual Valentine concert and gala, "Where
is Love?". Enjoy this popular evening of beautiful choral music, solos,
ensembles, plus an outstanding gala prepared by Bernie Markevitch, featuring
sweets by the The Cookie Jar Girls. You won't want to miss this exceptional
Valentine evening! The evening will be directed by Neil
Bubke and accompanied by Johanna Schilling. Saturday, February 14, 7:00
pm, Grace Episcopal Church, 630 Ontario Avenue, Sheboygan. Tickets: $20.00. Tickets
need to be reserved before Sunday, February 8. Seating is very limited. While they last, tickets are available from
any Lakeshore Chorale member, or from our website: http://www.lakeshorechorale.org/Tickets.html.
Soup-d’-Do: On January 18th Grace Church
introduced a new fundraiser. Bernie and Barb are offering 3 gluten-free soups
for sale. The single $4.00 and double $7.00 serving containers are frozen and
are ready for purchase. The soups offered are Sicilian Chicken, Pizza Soup,
Bean & Ham and Vegetarian Vegetable.
Coffee
Hour Schedule: There is a
new sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour in 2015. If you would like to host
please sign up for either 8:00am or 10:15am. We are in need of someone to
oversee the schedule and be the point person for questions. If you would be
able to spend a few minutes a week double checking the sign-up sheet and giving
reminders or if you have questions please see Deacon Michele or Bobbi Kraft.
Thank you so much.
Flower Schedule for 2015: Giving the gift of flowers is a
wonderful way to remember a loved one or to offer thanksgiving for your
blessings. If you wish to sign up for a specific Sunday, the Flower Schedule is
available on the table in the narthex. More than one person can sign up for
each Sunday.
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