Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
1 September 2016
The Music Committee
have received applications for the position of Music Director, with applicants
contacting us from six different states. In
evaluating the applicants the committee will, of course, consider their musical
gifts and qualifications, but the focus will be—as it must be in all that we
do—what gifts in ministry are offered, and how does God intend to use these
gifts?
I have written in
the past about the beauty of holiness, and about how our identity as a parish
gathered in the beauty of holiness includes how we will continue to seek to
offer music in worship that offers God glory.
But we cannot assume that just because we might experience beauty here
that others will know about this and come to us. Beauty can only be experienced by others in
how we take this beauty to them. To this
end we are into our second year of outreach through our web ministries, Grace Abounds, but it is also our
intention to work in 2017 to establish an outreach program based on the “Voice
for Life” curriculum of The Royal School of Church Music, to establish a
children’s’ and youth chorus which will participate in worship here.
We are not just
trying to build a youth chorale! This is
not about identifying children from families with musical resources, and
recruiting them. This initiative will be focused on at-risk children, at-risk
youth; those lacking in resources at home; those who will not, otherwise, be
exposed to music and beauty and worship.
In recruiting a Music Director we will, therefore, focus on his or her
spiritual gifts in outreach and development.
But, even if we succeed in finding a person with the necessary gifts in
outreach and the necessary musical gifts, the program will need others to
help. Please pray about how you may be
called to be an adult who helps in supervising a children’s after-school
program. This might involve just being
present to “herd cats”. It might involve
getting to know a child and family, to help with homework. It might involve preparing snacks.
Jesus tells us that
what we need in ministry is … needs, those to whom the Good News of God in
Christ Jesus must be proclaimed; with whom it must be shared. “Church” and the life of faith must be as
much about what is outside of our doors as inside. Pray about how you can help in this outreach.
Grace
abounds: Please thank:
§ Dale and Mary Massey,
and the Boland/McIntosh family for the Sunday coffee hours.
§ Scott Gedemer and
Karl Schaffenburg for lawn care.
§ Elizabeth
Schaffenburg for janitorial help during Bill’s vacation.
§ Ben Dobey for a
thorough cleanup of the columbarium court yard.
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.
Don’t forget
“Something Extra for Grace”: Supplemental
giving envelopes can be found in pews.
If you want to give something extra, please use an envelope to ensure
that you are credited.
Special appeal: Later this Fall we will have a grounds
cleanup day that will include ground cover and shrubbery trimming. We are, however, overdue for major reshaping
of shrubbery, and the arbor vitae which flank the church entrance are
out-of-control. Quotations for shrub
reshaping and removal/replacement of the arbor vitae run into the thousands of
dollars. Major work will not be a 2016 initiative, but we are
appealing for your donations now, to build a fund for work in the Spring of
2017. Keep Grace beautiful! Give
“Something Extra”.
Music
this Week: The
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 18C)
Organist: Thomas Pibal
Cantor: Bernie Markevitch
Entrance
Hymn 377 “All
people that on earth do dwell,” Old
100th
Offertory
Hymn 423 “Immortal,
invisible, God only wise,” St.
Denio
Communion
Hymn
707 “Take
my life and let it be,” Hollingside
Closing
Hymn
473 “Lift high the cross,” Crucifer
Parish
Notices
§ Choir: Choir rehearsals begin Wednesday,
September 7th at 6:00 pm. All voices are welcome, but we especially
need tenors and basses. You don’t need to be a trained singer, an opera star,
or a Broadway sensation – you just need a desire to share the love of Christ
through music! “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.”
Ephesians 5:19
§
Mass in the
Grass: Please join us on Sunday, September 11th for an outdoor Mass
and All Church Picnic together with the parish of St. Peter, Sheboygan Falls
and the parish of St. Paul, Plymouth. This event will take place at Deland
Community Center, 901 Broughton Dr., Sheboygan, beginning with Mass at 10:00 a.m. with lunch following. There
will be games and activities for our children’s enjoyment. Inviting guests is
encouraged. There will be ONE MASS only that day. We are asking for
donations of cookies/bars, potato chips, and monetary donations to defray the
costs which will be shared amongst all three parishes. We are asking for
volunteers for set-up and clean-up and two individuals to help in roasting the
pigs the day before. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table.
§
Sunday School registration: Yea,
it’s almost time for Sunday School to begin – September 18th! The teachers
have missed those familiar faces and are looking forward to some new ones, too.
Look for the Sunday School table at Mass in the Grass, Sunday, September 11th.
Registration paperwork, classroom lesson schedules, Christmas pageant practice
schedules, Operation Christmas Child information and snack ideas will be on
hand. See you for sign up! Grace offers classes for children of all ages at 9
am on Sundays:
§
3-k through 1st Grade with Mrs.
Andrea (Aparicio), Ms. MaryAnn (Portz) and Mrs. Danielle (Whitford)
§
2nd through 5th Grade
with Mrs. Nicci (Beeck)
§
6th-12th with Mr. Nick
(Whitford)
§
If you don’t have children to register, how about
your grandkids? How about your neighbors’ kids or grandkids? Help us teach
the little children how much Jesus loves them, by bringing them to Grace’s
Sunday School beginning September 18th!
§
Catechumenate will begin: Catechumenate is a nine-month course
in the basics of the Faith and its practice. It is a period of training and
instruction in Christian understandings about God, human relationships, and the
meaning of life. It includes the Sacrament of Baptism, if you are not already
baptized, and culminates in Confirmation, Reception, or Renewal of Baptismal
Vows. The Catechumenate will meet on an evening each week starting at 6:30 p.m.
until 8:30 p.m. The class will begin in late September and will continue until
May when Bishop Matthew Gunter makes his annual visitation. The study is led by
Deacon Michele Whitford, the Parish Catechist. If you would like to be a part
of this exciting study and fellowship or would like more information, please
call the office at 452-9659 or e-mail Deacon Michele at mwhitford@gracesheboygan.com. There is a sign-up sheet on the
table in the Narthex.
§ Deacon
Michele Whitford: Will
be traveling Sunday, September 4th through Wednesday, September 21st.
§
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!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment