Greetings to you all, and a happy end-of-July/almost-August to each of you. The summer is moving along too quickly – as it always does – and before we know it the fall season will be here with all of the deadlines and commitments that come with it. So I hope that you are able to enjoy some rest and relaxation during the upcoming lazy, hazy days of August. In the meantime, here’s a quick update of life at Grace Church:

1.     The Chantry to close for the month – Anyone who has been in the Chantry chapel in recent years knows that the interior has suffered from a series of water leaks that have been extremely difficult to track and arrest. Earlier this year we installed a temporary roof in hopes of drying out the plaster. The process has been slow but seems to be at a point now when we can scrape down the peeling paint and remove any plaster that has come loose from the wall. It is going to be a mess, and rather than trying to conduct worship services around it, we will simply move the Wednesday and Sunday 6 pm Eucharists into the main church. In the short term, we are aiming to have the Chantry cleaned up and ready for use again by September. The long term plan is to provide permanent (and expensive) fixes to a combination of problems with the roof and gutters that we believe we now understand. Only then can we begin to think about restoring the interior. The frustrating thing is that it was only ten years ago when we did just that – restored the Chantry interior – soon before the roof leaks appeared. In the end I remain eternally optimistic. Fifty years ago astronauts walked on the moon. Surely, fifty years later, we can stop a 19th century building from leaking. 

2. The Choir furniture restoration is proceeding – Back in June we celebrated the conclusion of a successful micro-campaign to restore the choir pews and clergy stalls in the chancel. The great news is that every piece was claimed as a naming opportunity, and the engraving of brass plaques will soon begin. Meanwhile, four choir pews and one clergy stall have already been restored and are back in place, with more to come. Also, a new portable altar table is being designed and built to match the historic furniture and replace the makeshift piece we have been using. Our goal is to have all the restored choir furniture back in place by Sunday, September 8th.

3. Livestreaming Sunday 11 am services – If you find yourself away this month and unable to find a church to attend, you can tune into our 11 am Sunday service and watch it live. If you go to the Grace Church website, click on the Worship menu at the top of your screen and select Video Streaming. Also, you can watch previous services if you scroll down to the bottom of the same page and select the Vimeo icon on the right. Thanks to Jim and Anne Wroten for sharing their technical knowledge and time to make this project a reality. 

I’ll be on vacation for the month of August, with trips planned to Key West, FL and then out to the Midwest to visit family. Summer blessings to all of you, and I look forward to seeing you in September.