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Weekly Announcements | Grace Calendar Week of SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 WORSHIP LEADERS SCHEDULE (The ROTA) can be found by clicking here. “START-UP” SUNDAY RECEPTIONS – Join us today as we celebrate the first day of Church School, the return of our choirs, and the beginning of the fall season. After the 11 a.m., and 6 p.m. services, festive receptions with plenty to eat will help us welcome each other home from summer sojourns. WELCOME TO OUR NEW ASSISTANT CLERGY! THE REV. BENJAMIN THOMAS and THE REV. JAY WELDON join us officially today in their new roles as assistant clergy. Ben is already known to many of us, having attended Grace Church for the past year with his wife Holly, and two children Nathaniel and Hannah. Ben will be working part-time at Grace Church and studying full-time in the doctoral program at General Seminary. Jay is a transitional deacon from the Diocese of Georgia who will also be part-time at Grace Church while he pursues full-time studies at General Seminary. He and his wife Alison have recently taken up residence in the city and will be with us for one year. WELCOME BACK TO SUNDAY SCHOOL TODAY! Join us for an open house in the new Church School rooms from 10:30-11 a.m. Children are encouraged to participate in the new Sunday School program, taking place during the 11a.m. service. Prior to the sermon, the children will be called to gather and process to the classrooms. Following the 11 a.m. service, don’t forget to join us for fellowship out on the lawn of Huntington Close! The children’s playground will be open and it’s a great way to catch up with old friends and meet new Grace Church families! Parents be sure to fill out a registration form to enroll your child in Sunday School. SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS MEETING meets today in the Reception Room at 1:30 p.m. Please try and make this meeting if you plan on teaching this fall—we will be covering a lot of ground. If you are interested in teaching, but don’t understand what it entails, simply show up at this meeting to find out more about the program. Contact Stephanie Bauman at 212 254-2000 ext. 113 or sbauman@gracechurchnyc.org. CENTERING PRAYER GROUP TODAY AT 5PM - Centering prayer is a Christian meditation practice described by Father Thomas Keating in his book Open Mind, Open Heart. Drawing from the Christian contemplative tradition, the regular practice of Centering Prayer initiates a healing process that might be called "the divine therapy". Facilitated by Joe Budenholzer, meets in the Reception Room on Sundays at 5 p.m. Each session will begin with a brief introduction and discussion of the Centering Prayer technique followed by a 20 minute group meditation. EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS AHEAD FOR THE CHURCH SCHOOL: -A New Meeting Time – Rather than meeting at 10 am before the 11 am service, Church school will occur during the 11 am sermon and continue on a bit into coffee hour. This will give the teachers much more quality time with the students -New Classrooms – The new classrooms in the Federal Houses off Tuttle Hall will be ready for the opening of Church School on September 7. These are classrooms that the church has renovated for the primary purpose of growing the Sunday School and Children’s Ministries. -New Program – A new space with more time calls for a new program to help our children know and name the love of God in their lives. Please stay alert to the July/August Epistle, as well as announcements and flyers concerning the upcoming changes. For more information, contact Stephanie Bauman at sbauman@gracechurchnyc.org. YOUTH GROUP will have its first gathering on Sunday, October 5, following the 11 a.m. service. All youth, ages 13-18, are welcome to participate. We will gather in the Reception Room to discuss the possibilities for the year ahead. SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS are needed for the fall season. This is a great way to connect with the Grace Church children and other adults who participate in the program. We will be moving into our brand new Sunday School classrooms with a bang! To find out more, please get in touch with Stephanie Bauman. ACOLYTES NEEDED! Looking for a way to get involved in the services at Grace Church? If you would like to be trained as an acolyte (all ages welcome, 10+) please talk to Stephanie Bauman. This is a vital ministry and one that is often overlooked. PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN - Thank you for bringing your children to church! They are an important part of our worship life at Grace Church, and they help make the service more enjoyable for everyone. Some resources you may wish to know about include: books, children's Bibles, and Gospel-based coloring leaflets in the rack near the baptismal font and in the back of the church (children are more than welcome to color and read during church), nursery care for infants and toddlers up to 3 years, and during the 11 a.m. service a Children’s Chapel during the sermon. The Reception Room is also available for parents and children who may need a brief change of scenery. CHILDREN IN CHURCH are a blessing. Sometimes the service can be a long haul for the little ones. Everyone understands that children squirm and often add their own uniquely timed responses to the worship. Prolonged talking or crying, however, especially in the reverberate acoustics of Grace Church, does eventually disrupt the experience for others, and we ask parents to avail themselves of the options listed above. Message for the whole congregation: Children learn best by doing. Give thanks to the Lord that our church is full of children, and that their parents care enough about worshiping God to bring them. CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND COLORING SUPPLIES can be found near the north door of the church. Kids, help yourselves at any point during the service, but please put the books back before you leave. Books are replenished regularly. CONGRATULATIONS to ALEXANDER TALARICO selected as Optimus of the Boys Choir, and to LILY XIAO XIA OVERMYER selected as Optima of the Girls Choir. Congratulations also to ROME ARNOLD, who was selected Lead Senior Boy, and to LIZZIE EVANS, who was selected Lead Senior Girl. We are blessed by all of our choristers, and look forward to a superb year of music ahead. REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11TH – We will have a Choral Evensong service in remembrance of the victims of September 11th 2001, with prayers for Peace on Thursday, September 11 at 7 p.m. with the Adult Choir. WEEKDAY CHORAL EVENSONG begins on Tuesday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m. and will be held every Tuesday that Grace Church School is in session. PARISH CHOIR – Our volunteer parish choral ensemble that sings at the Sunday 9 a.m. service resume their rehearsals on Wednesday, September 10 from 7 to 8 p.m., and each Wednesday thereafter. Members of the Parish, Grace Church School parents and faculty, neighbors in the community, and NYU are invited to join! For more information contact Patrick Allen at 212-254-2000 ext. 110 or via email: pallen@gracechurchnyc.org. BACH AT NOON - Originally born out of the musical meditations offered post 9/11 these programs feature the organ compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach played between 12:20 and 12:50 p.m. every Tuesday through Friday. The Village Voice voted Bach at Noon as one of the best reasons to attend Church last season. SATURDAY/SUNDAY ORGAN MEDITATION series takes place every Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. that there isn’t a special liturgy (first Sunday of the month) or wedding taking place in the church. SUNDAY MORNING CLASSES resume next Sunday, September 14. Join us at 10 a.m. for WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ANGLICAN? In the first of a three-part series, the Rev. Titus Presler leads a discussion on Anglican identity. He comes to us with 19 years of fulltime parish ministry; mission experience in India, Zimbabwe and urban USA; and is currently on sabbatical as Sub-dean for Academic Affairs at General Seminary. Fr. Presler will also be the guest preacher next Sunday at 11 a.m. SUNDAY EVENING CLASSES also resume next Sunday, September 14. At 7:15 p.m. join us for FACES OF ANGLICANISM. This past July Anglican bishops from around the world gathered in England for the Lambeth Conference. Leading the conference was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is trying to hold together a global Communion. Just who is the man at the helm of the Anglican Church, and how did he fare through the Lambeth Conference? This three-part course will be led by the Rev. Stephen Arbogast, Assisting Priest at Grace Church, and Chair of the Religion Dept at Trinity School. Stephen has just returned from his third summer of teaching at the Anglican theological college in Grahamstown, South Africa. Previously, he lived in West Africa for four years where he visited with the Anglican Church in Nigeria. He also did a masters at Harvard in African ethics. WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY resumes Wednesday, September 17 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the Reception Room. We will be studying the Apostle Paul. WEDNESDAY EVENING BIBLE STUDY continues using the Lectio method of Biblical study. Join us every Wednesday from 7:15-8:15 p.m. in the Reception Room. OUTREACH TARGET FOR SEPTEMBER: The Outreach Committee of Grace Church is planning to offer a monthly, hands-on opportunity for all parishioners who wish to get involved and do something positive for those less fortunate than ourselves. On Wednesday, September 24th, 6:30 p.m. in Tuttle Hall we are hosting a meeting that will focus on the challenges of affordable housing in Manhattan. The discussion will be led by leaders of “Housing Here and Now,” one of the local agencies that Grace Church supports. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn more and connect with other people who want to make a difference. If you’re interested in attending, please contact Bill Nave at bnave@gracechurchnyc.org. HURRICANE RELIEF – Anyone wishing to send aid to those affected by the hurricanes Gustav and Hannah may write a check for any amount to Episcopal Relief and Development/Hurricane Relief Fund, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifiled, VA 22116-7058. 3RD FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM – The dramatic transformation of the conference room on the third floor of the parish house is largely complete. This room has functioned before as the nursery, and most recently as the temporary resting place of the parish archives. It is now beautifully appointed as a room perfect for smaller meetings, classes, and studies. We has also moved some of the portraits of former rectors to the room. Have a look today. Take the elevator to third floor and turn right. Abundant thanks go to Sara Story, of Sara Story Design for her work and contributions. SMALL GROUPS – This fall we will be initiating a ministry of small groups that will meet on Wednesday evenings following the 6 p.m. Eucharist. Small groups are intended to provide an ongoing, relaxed forum for you to develop friendships at Grace Church, and in so doing, connect more deeply to God through Christ, who promises to be in the midst of us when we gather together in his name. Groups will be forming in September, and begin meeting in October. For more information, contact our new Assistant Rector, Benjamin Thomas at bthomas@gts.edu. THE 20s/30s GROUP meets on a monthly basis. For more information, or to be included on our email list, contact Chris Shoemaker via email: csxtraml@gmailcom. THE CHAIN ACROSS THE CHURCH – If you have walked by the church after dark in the past week you may have noticed a long metal chain stretched across the Broadway front doors. This is there at the suggestion of the Police, with whom we have been working to address what has become an intractable problem of overnight camps forming in the Broadway doors. The mess in the morning is intolerable. The neighbors and city sanitation services are complaining. Many of these individuals are drunk, disorderly, and dangerous. Often they are neither truly homeless nor mentally ill, but merely drifting through the city seeking a good time without a plan. The police have said it would aid their work if a chain were stretched across the front to serve as a visual reminder that we cannot accommodate the overnight camps. So far it seems to be making a difference. We’ll see. OPEN DOOR MINISTRY – Looking for an easy way to make a difference? Join our large diverse group of OPEN DOOR volunteers who welcome people from all over the world to enjoy the beauty and quiet of our lovely Grace Church. Interested? Email Aaron Mooney at aaronmooney@onebox.com. ALTAR FLOWERS - We are blessed to enjoy beautiful floral arrangements on the altars of Grace Church thanks to donations made by members of the parish. If you would like to commemorate the life of a departed loved one, or give thanks for a happy occasion or anniversary, please consider the gift of flowers for the church. Your donation of $125 provides flowers on the altars of both the church and the chantry arranged by a parish volunteer. If you would like to donate professionally arranged flowers, we can refer you to a local florist. Please email Bill Nave at bnave@gracechurchnyc.org or call 212-254-2000 ext. 100 to select a date and make your donations for the future. PRAYER LIST - If you would like to have a name added to the prayer list, please email Bill Nave: bnave@gracechurchnyc.org or 212-254-2000, ext 100 by Wednesday. Names will be read during the services for four weeks and printed in the bulletin unless notified otherwise. WORSHIP LEADERS SCHEDULE (The ROTA) can be found by clicking here.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Click here to view our calender for events and opportunities for you to participate!
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