Grace Church in New York
This Week at Grace
This Week’s Services
Wednesday, December 4
6 p.m. Holy Eucharist, in the Chantry
Homily: The Rev. Chase Danford
Sunday, December 8
The Second Sunday of Advent
9 a.m. Holy Eucharist
Sermon: The Rev. J. Donald Waring
Music: The Parish Choir
11 a.m. Morning Prayer
Sermon: The Rev. J. Donald Waring
Music: The Combined Novice and Junior Choristers with Adults
4 p.m. An Advent Procession with Carols
Music: The Adult Choir
6 p.m. Holy Eucharist
Sermon: The Rev. Megan E. Sanders
Music: Hymns with Organ
Dec. 8 – An Advent Procession with Carols
Readings of scripture foretelling the coming of Christ are interspersed with beautiful music of the season from the four corners of the church. Sung by The Adult Choir at 4 pm in the Church. Details on our music page.
Dec. 7 – A New Year of Partnership with Habitat for Humanity!
Please join our build day on Saturday, Dec 7th in Jamaica, Queens. You may register here (Use join code “GCNYC” and site address: 101-64 132nd Street, Jamaica, NY 11419). You may travel to the site via subway and the Habitat shuttle (a separate sign-up on the volunteer page), or you may sign up for a carpool from the church at 8 am, by contacting the Rev. Chase Danford. Next volunteer date will be January 11.
Dec. 8, 15 – The Sunday Forum @10 am – Advent Reflection on the “Comfortable Words”
“Come unto me, all ye that travail, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.” -Book of Common Prayer. Deep in shopping, feeling depressed, writing cards, afraid you’ll be left out of the fun, hanging up the wreaths, feeling anxious? Advent can be one extreme to the other. If this is so for you, join the Very Rev’d Harry Krauss in a two-part series on December 8 and 15 for a strengthening look at the “Comfortable Words.” Reflection on this part of the Eucharistic liturgy might be just what you need.
Dec. 4, 11, and 18 – The Advent and Christmas Poetry of W.H. Auden
On Wednesday evenings in Advent, the Rev. Chase Danford will lead a class on W. H. Auden’s For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio. According to the publisher’s note, Auden’s only explicitly religious long poem is a “remarkably ambitious and poetically rich attempt to put Christmas in double focus: as a moment in the history of the Roman Empire and of Judaism, and as an ever-new and always contemporary event for the believer.” Each week we will read and discuss selections from the poem. Participants are encouraged to obtain a copy of the 2013 Princeton University Press edition, edited by Alan Jacobs, from your preferred bookseller. Wednesdays 7-8 pm, Reception Room. For more information, contact the Rev. Chase Danford.
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The Weekly Epistle
December 1, 2019
Dear Friends,
When I was growing up my mother drove the family car as little as possible. Getting behind the wheel and putting the “pedal to the metal” was simply not her idea of a good time. When she couldn’t avoid driving she would plot out how to arrive at her destination by taking right turns only. Believe me: it can be done. Even being a passenger was (and is) something of an ordeal for my mother, and upon exiting the car she will often declare that the journey was a “white-knuckle ride.”
Life at Grace Church is like a white-knuckle ride. Finding the resources to keep up these large, old buildings is a never-ending adventure. Will we have enough to stop this or that roof from leaking? Are we ever going to restore the badly damaged plaster in the southwest corner of the nave? Replacing the AC chillers is going to cost how much? Watch out: here comes the city again with another sidewalk inspection! And all that is just maintenance. The mission of the church costs money, too. It’s a white-knuckle ride, indeed.
Nevertheless, you, the people of Grace Church, always help to steer the way. On this day before Thanksgiving, I want to pause and give thanks to God for you. This week I have been signing thank-you letters to everyone who has made a pledge or already given a gift in support of the 2020 annual campaign. This first thing I noticed was the stack of letters itself. It was thick. It would take several sittings to sign them all. Then going through the pile one-by-one was a spiritual exercise. I marveled at the sheer generosity and personal sacrifice behind each letter.
Make no mistake: we are still in the middle of a white-knuckle ride. In other words, even though the initial results are encouraging, we are only about half way to our goal, and we are waiting to hear from many of our households. But I have no doubts about the big heart and the willingness to stretch that is in the DNA of this parish. In just a few weeks I am looking forward to being presented with another thick stack of letters to sign.
Thank you for being God’s faithful people in this place and time. You make the ride fun! A blessed Thanksgiving to you all, my friends.
See you in church.
802 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-2000
An Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New York
