Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
21 January 2016
Three red days in a row; that is, three days
in a row on the Church calendar on which we commemorate martyrs: St. Fabian (d. 250), St. Agnes (d. 304) and
St. Vincent of Saragossa (d. 304). A
martyr is, of course, one who witnesses to the lordship of Jesus Christ by and
through his or her blood. The three
martyrs we encounter this week all died during persecutions under Roman rule.
The persecution of Christians in the Roman
Empire was not a uniform process.
Persecutions came in waves, with often many years between them. The principal causes of persecution related
to Rome’s need for compliance, with the refusal of Christians to offer
sacrifice before the image of a supposedly divine emperor deemed to be
subversive. Persecutions came and went
as the political winds blew, with Fabian dying during the persecution under the
emperor Decius. Following years of
amicable (if tacit) coexistence between the Church and empire, in 250 Decius
published a remarkable decree, under which all the inhabitants of the empire were required to sacrifice before the
magistrates of their community “for the safety of the empire” by a certain day
(the date would vary from place to place and the order may have been that the
sacrifice had to be completed within a specified period after a community
received the edict). When they sacrificed they would obtain a certificate (libellus) recording the fact that they
had complied with the order. That is, the certificate would testify the
sacrificant's loyalty to the ancestral gods and to the consumption of
sacrificial food and drink as well as the names of the officials who were
overseeing the sacrifice.
What “loyalty
tests” do we encounter in our society today?
Thanks be to God none that a formal and governmental (unless we join the
armed forces, assume public office, or are naturalized as citizens). But what about informal loyalties? Our culture includes many attempts to win our
loyalties elsewhere, and while we may not need a certificate of compliance,
failure to comply may be experienced in marginalization.
In remembering
martyrs, then, engage in a simple examination of conduct and conscience, and
ask yourself: When there is a conflict in my life between some other activity and
church worship, which do I chose? Do
you choose a social or sporting engagement or opportunity? Do you choose worship knowing that you’ll
have to say “no” to something else?
Tests may not be
formal, but we are tested. Failure to
comply may not bring forth blood, but it may bring forth a price paid in
marginalization and in the “dying to self” Jesus instructs us in. Choose the price and testify to who God is,
and to how you follow Him.
Grace
abounds: Please thank:
§ Kevan and Traci Revis, and Steve and Katy Larson for the
Sunday coffee hours.
§ Bernie Markevitch for decorating the church nave and
sanctuary.
§ Bobby May for ongoing work in reorganizing the parish
library.
Education Alert! Diocesan Deacons’ School began this past Saturday,
9 January 2016 (at Grace, Sheboygan!),
and will meet again next on 13 February. We will begin at 8:45 with Holy
Eucharist, followed by classes beginning at 9:15. We will meet every second Saturday:
§ Old Testament: 3 contact hours. An in-depth survey of the origins,
composition, canonization, contents and theology of the Old Testament.
§ Church History: 3 contact hours. The history of the Church from the apostolic
age to today, with specific focus on theological development.
If you wish to do all of the reading, contact
the office regarding acquisition of the necessary texts. However, you
are free to attend without reading the text books. You can just come to listen and learn.
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.
Hail
Mary: Many times, & as we have seen twice this
Packer season, the final pass of a football game is called a “Hail Mary”. It is one final chance for a team to score
before the clock runs out. How is this
pass like us? We are like a football team,
trying to find different ways to score.
We run, take hand-offs & catch passes all the time as we attend
worship, pray, fast, read scripture & fellowship with others. Our “rule of life” is like the team’s plan
for each game. If we are faithful to
these proven ways of bringing us closer & keeping us in relationship with
Jesus, we can “win” this game & find the joy in our lives.
Bishop Matt has challenged us to establish a
Rule of Life for ourselves. This list
can seem long to many of us, but if we break it down & choose one new thing
to do or to be more faithful & consistent to something we sometimes do; we
will start to see our relationship with Jesus changing. Developing a habit takes discipline &
being faithful. Most of you reading this
have attended worship services at Grace Church.
But how consistent is your attendance?
Once a month? Every other
month? Start by increasing your
frequency. If you were attending once a
month, make it twice a month, then 3 times a month & pretty soon you will
want to attend every Sunday. If you are
faithful attending church every Sunday,
then how about adding special feast days or a weekday service? Perhaps start doing a Daily Office at
home. Using the www.missionstclare
website has really helped me be faithful to this practice.
Do you read your Bible? It is a scary book to get started in. What does all of it mean & where do I
start? If you have never or very seldom
read it, I would suggest starting with 5 minutes a day reading a book like Forward
Day by Day. You have one scripture
verse & a simple meditation to read.
The important thing about developing this habit is to pick the same time
each day to read it & to be faithful to that time. Try to reflect back on the reading during the
day. For me it is the first thing I do
when I get up in the morning with my cup of coffee. I started this habit more than 20 years ago
and it eventually led me reading other scriptures for the day & a now that
habit has expanded to a good hour at every morning.
Most football teams do not win on a
consistent basis with “hail Mary”, last ditch efforts. Teams are like us, they win on short passes
or runs that eventually lead to a score & then a win. If we are faithful in developing life-long
habits, we too can win. Our win is a
deeper relationship with Our Lord & Savior that continues to grow as we
depend on those rules of life. So the
question to each of you: how do you want
to “win” at the game of life? Trying to
catch a few “Hail Mary’s” or learning basic catching & running skills that
are done on a daily basis? The choice is
always yours to make.
—Barb Drewry-Zimmerman
Music
this Week: The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Prelude Partita on ‘All glory be to God on high’ J.
G. Walther
Entrance Hymn 616 “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” Es flog …Offertory Hymn 544 “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun” Duke Street
Communion Motet O Everlasting Light John E. West
Communion Hymn 632 “O Christ, the Word Incarnate” Munich
Closing Hymn 539 “O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling” Tidings
Postlude Carillon Herbert Murrill
Parish
Notices
§ Adult Education: Today we will continue with Sunday morning Adult Education with the third
class in a four-part series on Christian
Community. How do we build Christian community within and outside the
Church? What are the elements of community in Christ? What are the challenges?
The focus will include examining the scriptural models for community, those of
the early Church, those within our own heritage, and how all of these relate to
our sense of community within the wider culture.
§ Clergy Retreat: Father Schaffenburg and Archdeacon Michele Whitford will be out of
the office attending a clergy retreat Monday January 25th through
Thursday January 28th. The parish office will be open Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday. In case of
emergency please call Deacon Mike Burg at 920-918-9944.
§ The Annual Meeting: This year’s Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, January 31, 2016.
We will have one Mass at 9:00 a.m. followed by the Annual Meeting at
10:15 a.m. We plan to have an all parish pot-luck lunch in St. Nicholas Hall at
the conclusion of the meeting. The agenda of the meeting will include committee
reports, new Vestry and Warden elections, 2015 financial review and 2016
budget, review Vestry actions, and an overall review of the 2016 calendar.
Please make every effort to attend and participate.
§ All Parish Potluck
Lunch: Following the Annual Meeting we will have an All
Parish Potluck Lunch. Please bring a dish to pass and share in fellowship.
Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.
§ Call for Vestry
Nominations: Vestry elections will be held on Sunday, January
31st, at the parish annual meeting. We need at least three nominees, with names
provided to the parish office by January 20th. You can nominate another person
or yourself. To run for Vestry you must be a qualified elector of the parish,
which means that: (1) You are regular in your attendance on worship;(2) You
have received Holy Eucharist at least once in the prior year;(3) You are active
in your support of the parish through a pledge or some other form of giving;
and (4) You are at least sixteen years of age. (5) Provide a brief biographical
sketch which allows your fellow parishioners to better understand your
relationship with God and His Church. Vestry members are called to committed
leadership, and are expected to attend twelve meetings throughout the year
(once per month); and participate in
parish activities as you are able.
§ Call for Diocesan
Convention Delegates and Alternates: Diocesan Convention
is scheduled for October 22nd from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at Liberty
Hall, Kimberly (eastside of Appleton). We are in need of 4 delegates and 4
alternates to attend and vote at Diocesan Convention. This will include a
pre-convention information meeting, there are several scheduled. If you are
willing to serve please call the office. Delegates and alternates are
determined by volunteer order. In the event that we have more than eight
responses we will vote on January 31st at the Annual Meeting.
§ Bible Challenge: Grace Abounds launched The Bible
Challenge on Monday, January 4, 2016. If you take this challenge, you will
find that in one year you will read all of the Bible! This will require less
than an hour of your time, six days a week. A schedule of readings will be
provided on the parish website, along with weekly study summaries and a weekly
video summery of the readings. If you need a good study bible for the
challenge, contact the parish office. When we immerse ourselves in Scripture,
the mantle of the Lord does fall upon us. We are equipped to discern God’s will
and to lead others to know and love and serve the Lord.
§ 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 1st 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 eaparicio@gracesheboygan.com.
§ Directory Update: We will be printing a new directory to be finished in time for the
Annual Meeting on January 31st. Please check your entry to make sure your
address, phone and email are all correct. The draft can be found on the narthex
table. Thank you.
§ Coffee Hour Schedule:
There is a new sign-up sheet for hosting coffee hour
in 2016. If you would like to host, please sign up for either 8:00 a.m. or
10:15 a.m. If you have any questions, please see Mary Massey. Thank you so
much.
§ Something Extra for
Grace: Envelopes are available in the pews if you are moved
to give an extra gift, beyond your pledge or regular plate donation, toward the
life of the church. Gifts are tax
deductible if you write your name on the envelope.
§ Flower Schedule for
2016: 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.
§ Like Grace Church on Facebook
§ Follow Grace Church on Twitter: @GEC_Sheboygan§ We Are on Itunes! Check out the new podcast!!!
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