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Thursday, January 7, 2016

Sum Total


Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin



Grace Notes

7 January 2016



Happy Epiphany!  And Happy New Year!  When we focus on the new it is often good to focus again on the old.  The old, for example, can become so familiar that we take it for granted, but when we actively engage both what has gone before and what abides still we are enriched in experiencing the newness of life.

At Epiphany a familiar aspect of life in this parish became, again, a focus for me.  It is our stained glass and statuary.  We are blessed with much beautiful stained glass, including work by John Glasby of England (in the sanctuary and the chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham), windows which depict the life of Jesus (in the nave), a carved oak rood beam, and statuary in linden (bass) wood on the reredos behind the altar.  There is much to recommend in each individual piece, and if you want the history and a description of any piece these can be found both in the parish archives and (in part) under “Stained Glass” in the Episco-facts section of the parish website.  But, I do not wish to meditate upon any one piece; I want to consider the whole.

We live in an age when we can access an image of most works of art online.  Even if we travel to a museum, we can contemplate an individual painting, or even a collection of a particular artist’s painting, but do so more in an interaction with an individual image than with an overarching narrative message.  In the Church, however, it is not really possible to separate architecture and decoration from theology.  For example, “church in the round”—with the altar in the center—says something different about what happens in worship than when the altar is in a sanctuary separated from the nave by a rood screen.  (Enough terminology?  Again, see Episco-facts.)  If we focus just on stained glass and statuary, however, we see that the message is mediated as an overall narrative; the sum total of the presence of all of the images in glass and wood affects us in ways that any individual image cannot.

Enough about art theory. The point in referring to such theory is to consider what it might illustrate in our faith life.  If I interact with God through individual, separated “images” like my individual prayer life, individual bible study, individual piety, I miss the totality intended in life in community—in the Body of Christ.  Just as the message in Grace is not a series of individual windows or statues, but the sum total of them, the life of faith must be experienced in the whole, joined together with others as Jesus intends (Mtt. 18.20).

Join in the whole.  We will explore the concept of Christian community in further detail at the 9 a.m. Adult Formation hour, each Sunday for four weeks, beginning on 10 January.



Grace abounds:  Please thank:

§  Kevan and Traci Revis, and Dale and Mary Massey for the Sunday coffee hours.

§  Bobbie May for help in the parish library.

§  Set-up and clean-up crews for the Twelfth Night supper:  Paul and Andrea Aparicio, Julie Davidson, Scott Gedemer, Leslie Kohler, Katy Larson, Jennifer Pawlus.



Education Alert!  Diocesan Deacons’ School begins this Saturday, 9 January 2016 at Grace, Sheboygan!  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.



Music this Week: The First Sunday after the Epiphany



Prelude                           How brightly shines the Morning Star               Buxtehude

Entrance Hymn 124         “What star is this, with beams so bright”          Puer nobis

Offertory Hymn 497        “How bright appears the Morning Star”           Wie schoen

  leuchtet

Communion Motet           Christ, when for us you were baptized                       Hart

Communion Hymn 120    “The sinless one to Jordan came”              Solemnes haec

Closing Hymn 119           “As with gladness men of old”                                    Dix

Postlude                          How brightly shines the Morning Star                        Bach



Parish Notices



§  Adult Education: Today we will resume Sunday morning Adult Education with 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.

§  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.

§  Annual Meeting Reports: If you are in charge of anything, please write a short report to be included in the Annual Report and send it to the office office@gracesheboygan.com by Wednesday, January 20th.  Thank you so much.

§  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.

§  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.

§  Girl Scout Cookies! Girl Scout Cookies can be preordered for $4.00/box on Sunday, January 17th after both masses. Money will be due when the cookies are delivered at church. Any Grace Church youth member who is involved in Daisy/Girl Scouts should come in their troop uniform to help work the booth and we will divide the orders up equally between the participants.

§  A community event in support of recovery:  A free showing of The Anonymous People will be held Friday, January 22 at 7:00 p.m. – a documentary about the faces and voices of recovery – followed by discussion with John Shinholser, McShin Foundation co-founder, featured in the film.  On Saturday, January 23rd 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. there will be a community planning workshop lead by John Shinholser.  Both events will take place at 2908 N. 21st Street, Sheboygan.

§  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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