Welcome to the weekly e-newsletter of Grace Episcopal Church. Read about what's happening at Grace, and use the quick links to the left to find other helps to our life with God. To share this news with a friend, click the "forward email" link at the bottom of the page. See you Sunday! 

We celebrate the Eucharist at 10. The first reading overflows with baptismal images: those who have washed their robes and made them white, the ones who worship around the throne, the ones who will drink the water of life, and the ones who form a great multitude "from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages." The second reading sings that we are children of God, another dimension of baptism. The gospel is from Jesus' first sermon in Matthew, popularly known as the Beatitudes ("Blessed are . . .). The list of "blesseds" reads like the shape of baptized life. For the full texts, click "Sunday Scripture texts" on the top left.

Every week during the Great Thanksgiving we "join our voices with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to the glory of your name," as one of our prayers says. But this Sunday we make that "whole company" very specific: these loved ones, the ones I knew, the ones my neighbor knew. In baptism we were made sisters and brothers in a bond that doesn't dissolve.

All Saints Day (November 1) is a major feast of the church, and when it falls on a weekday, parishes may celebrate it on the following Sunday. That is what we are doing. 

After the Eucharist we'll have refreshments. Then a group will gather downstairs to begin preparing the liturgies of Advent and Christmas. All are welcome to participate. 

We won't have Congregational Forum this week, but the church office will still send the material from The Wired Word for personal reflection.

If you have not yet had time, please consider the materials that were mailed by the Stewardship Committee in recent weeks: information on our vision and budget, and a brochure with ways to contribute talent and time as well as money. If you did not receive these documents or you've misplaced yours, extras are on the windowsill at the back of the church. 

Bring the completed brochure to church on Sunday, November 20, and put it in the offering plate when it comes to you. We'll celebrate a successful campaign after church that day with a luncheon. 

Three parishioners participated in a workshop last Saturday about economic inequality. We learned about rule changes and power shifts that have allowed the growth of income and wealth of the top 1% to far outpace the growth of the income and wealth of the other 99%. Also, the poorest people in the country have fared the worst, and that inequality hurts Latinos and Blacks (such as our neighbors in downtown Allentown) even more than Whites. To learn more, visit the website of United for a Fair Economy (UFE).

We engaged in the "10 Chairs" exercise: 10 people sat on their chairs in a line, each representing 10% of the United States' 

population. To illustrate the distribution of income and wealth, the top person could stretch out over 7.5 chairs, while the other 9 people had to share the remaining 2.5 chairs. The presenter asked:  "What happens when the distribution looks like this?" 

Here are some answers: 

"The competition among the bottom ones gets fierce"

"They may blame each other"

"The nine are stressed out living in such close quarters"

"The people at the bottom and the top are very separate"

"The top person can't use all the resources he's amassed"

What else would you come up with?

The Justice and Advocacy Committee of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches helped sponsor this workshop, and the group meets monthly to pursue justice in our area; other downtown Allentown churches participate. Click here for more information.  I plan to join this group; who else would like to be a part? It will be a way to join neighborhood efforts already in progress and to help shape other efforts. Let me (Beth Reed) know if you are interested. 

Saturday, November 5, is Heritage Day for Grace Montessori School. This free event is held in Sayre Hall at the Cathedral in Bethlehem from 12:00 to 2:30. It's a chance for children and their families to make and view displays about their heritages, taste food from many places, and engage in hands-on learning together. You and your children and grandchildren are welcome to come and enjoy.  

 

 

Saturday, November 12, we will celebrate the Eucharist at 4:15 pm with our student visitors and and then share a light supper with our guests.  

Advent begins November 27. 

On Tuesday evenings at 7:00, a group of people in recovery from drug addiction meets in the multipurpose room downstairs. They are a home group (core group) named We Do Recover. On any given Tuesday there are likely people who have been "clean" only a few days, some who are a few months into the program, and some who have decades of "clean time" and much wisdom and patience with newcomers. 

The meetings are open to anybody. They are incredibly humbling and inspiring, as people face their situations with eyes wide open, share their struggles and their learnings, and rely on God (or however they name their Higher Power) to love them unconditionally.