Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
2 June 2016
My week in Alabama at a CREDO conference for
clergy was time well spent. It allowed
for both personal and in-community focus on the priestly vocation, with long
term goals stated with reference to vocational, health, psychological
well-being, financial and spiritual dimensions.
It also allowed me to experience the very wide diversity that makes up
The Episcopal Church.
I have experienced the Church and her congregations
in many different settings. Every
diocese and parish has its own charism, and to label any as “right” is to
dismiss that the Holy Spirit draws different people in different ways according
to God’s plan, not the plan of any one of us.
My own views on many things tend to be those now in the minority, and it
is possible, therefore, to at times feel like an “invisible man”. But that didn’t happen at CREDO, because in
discussing expectations I named the possibility that people can just agree
among themselves and not even be aware of differing viewpoints, differing ways
in which others experience God.
I am certain that there are many in the
parish who disagree on a number of issues.
(Sometimes you tell me!) That’s
OK. The reality is that so long as we
are grounded in the common bond of seeking to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior, we can disagree, and when we disagree respectfully this strengthens the
Body.
There is a wonderful “$20” word in theology, adiaphora, which basically means “that
which is not necessary to salvation”.
Most of the disagreements in any church, and between churches, fall into
this category. How I experience God will
by definition differ from how you (any of you) experience God, but that we
experience God together, in an
intentional community of believers who have gathered to affirm our faith in God
and each other, to offer Him worship and thanksgiving and praise, allows any
differences to become secondary. Gather
and give thanks for the reality that each person around you experiences God in
some way different from the ways in which you do. God’s blessing is manifold, to all persons in
all stations, and we are sometimes so blessed as to be able to witness another
experience God in a way we do not know, and so come to learn. The faith remains unchanged; how we live this
faith together is in constant evolution.
Grace
abounds: Please thank:
§
Bobbie
May for the Sunday coffee hour, and for help in reorganizing the parish library.
Call for
Contributions: If you
have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshipers
toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by
Wednesday in the week of publication.
When I am able I visit a priest in a nursing
home who has no way to attend Mass, on the Visitation, or any other day. He once wrote the guide book for liturgy in
the Episcopal Church … for all the proper ways to celebrate our Lord’s
Resurrection. He has MS and is relegated
to a wheel chair.
Summers I attend another Grace Church in NW
Wisconsin. They have to the best of my
knowledge never had a Solemn Mass, although several parishioners come from more
high Anglican backgrounds. Their priest
is a retired Dean of a Cathedral, and although he knows how, the numbers and
expertise are not there for solemn ceremonies.
So, Tuesday for the Visitation, the Clergy
pulled out the stops, the Priest and both Deacons were vested. There were 5 people in the Altar party. Ben and the Choir had prepared a lovely
“Mary” anthem, and we had other special songs for the occasion. Counting Ben, there were 7 people in the
choir loft.
Mass was at 6 o’clock. The total number in the pews was five
(5). Yes, FIVE!
Many Christians, many Anglicans or
Episcopalians, would give their eye teeth to attend as lovely a service, as
uplifting, with fine music and a serious sermon, and never have such a
chance. Where were the members of our
Parish? Did they all have to work that
night? Or were ill? Or what excuse was there for their absence?
Next time remember Father Dennis and all
those in simple, small country churches, and pray for them when you have the
opportunity for such a glorious evening.
Mary
Kohler
Music
this Week: The Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5C)
Prelude Prière Jongen
Entrance Hymn 616 “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” Es
flog ein kleins
Waldvögelein
Offertory Hymn 448 “O Love, how deep” Deus tuorum militum
Comm. Hymn 693 “Just as I am, without one plea” Woodworth
Closing Hymn 411 “O
bless the Lord, my soul” St. Thomas
Postlude Prelude
& Fugue in G Major J. S. Bach
Parish
Notices
§ Coffee Hour: Currently we have hardly anyone signed up for coffee
hour for the Sundays on 6/26 through 8/28. If you feel moved to serve in this
capacity, please see the sign-up book on the table in the Narthex.
§ Elkhart Lake Chapel: The Chapel will have services every Sunday through
Labor Day weekend. We are in need of help
for each Sunday. This would include: picking up the box of bulletins at
Grace Church, arriving a little early to open the buildings, finding readers
for the lessons and the prayers of the people, lighting candles, greeting the
visiting priest, various other tasks, locking up at the end and returning the
box to Grace Church. There are instructions printed and several people who
would be able to help if you have questions. Please sign up for a Sunday or two
by calling the office at 452-9659 with dates you are available. Thank you.
§ Parish Music Survey: We have concluded our open forums and the
Music Committee is working towards forming a proposal of what this ministry is
called to be after Dr. Dobey's retirement. An additional aid in that
effort is the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RDMKWB8. Please take a few minutes
and offer your thoughts so that we as a family can best listen to how our Lord
is guiding us.
§ Thank you: To the Boy Scouts for cleaning out our gutters!
§ Like Grace Church on
Facebook
§ Follow Grace Church on
Twitter: @GEC_Sheboygan
§ Follow Grace Church on
Instagram: @GEC_Sheboygan
§ We Are on Itunes! Check out
the new podcast!!!
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