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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Chose to Testify


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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