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Save the Dates
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Christmas Eve Eucharist:
Dec. 24, 7:30 pm
Christmas Day Eucharist:
Dec. 25, 10:00 am
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Neighborhood Events
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Baum School of Art
Handmade Gifts Gallery:
Open through Dec. 23
Free Admission
at the Art Museum:
Every Sunday
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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.
It's an important time of year to welcome seekers and visitors. Who do you know that may be hungry for God and a spiritual community? To share this news with a friend, click the "forward email" link at the bottom of the page. This could be a simple way to let someone know about our life and work, and to communicate our welcome.
See you Sunday! --Beth Reed, Priest-in-charge |
| Sunday, December 18, at Grace | | |
Eucharist, greening, cookies, music
We celebrate the Eucharist of the Fourth Sunday of Advent at 10:00. We hear the angel's "annunciation" to Mary that she will have a baby, and we hear Mary's response: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." One piece we will sing is Mary's song of praise, known as the Magnificat, for its opening words, "My soul magnifies the Lord."
For the full readings, click on "Sunday Scripture texts" (above left).
After the service, we'll transition into work mode. We will prepare the church for Christmas by decorating our huge wreath, hanging garland, setting out candles, stringing lights on the trees, and then cleaning up all the pine needles from the floor. We'll have sandwiches and cookies and Christmas music. Please stay: it's a lot of fun and there are tasks for children, young people, and adults.
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| Advent | | Look for some quiet this week
This season can become frenetic. Spending quiet time with the written wisdom of our Tradition can be an antidote.
You can access daily Scriptures texts from the link at the top left of this page.
You may find apps for iPhones helpful: Lectionary ($.99) has all the Sunday texts, and from within that app, for another $1.99, you can access the texts for daily prayer. |
| Grace Community Foundation | |
Two volunteers are needed Saturday morning
Patty McNamara needs two extra volunteers on Saturday from 8:30-11:00. Volunteers offer hospitality to the clients, help distribute food, and assist with clean-up. If you can help, please call Patty at 610-435-7245.
The pantry received four pallets of food (about 3,000 pounds) this week from the Second Harvest food bank. At right, volunteers get ready to receive the next box of food that will come down the rollers from the truck.
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| Christmas at Grace |
|  Get ready to welcome visitors
We always have visitors at this time of year, especially on Christmas Eve--family members who come home, newcomers who check us out, people who have visited before and decide to spend Christmas with us. It's a blessing and an opportunity for us to be as hospitable as we can. If people who are new to you are sitting next to you, please help them feel at home by showing them the bulletin, accompanying them to the Table, and inviting them to stay for refreshments. |
| Christmas Peace Pilgrimage | | About 130 walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem
The Lehigh and Pocono Committee of Concern (LEPOCO) held its 52nd Annual Christmas Peace Pilgrimage on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous, the route (along 191) was flat, and there was opportunity for great conversation. Parishioners Kelly Denton-Borhaug and Beth Reed and her family were among the walkers. At right, some walkers posed at the second rest stop, First Baptist Church in Bethlehem.
For more information, check the LEPOCO site.
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| Grace Montessori School | | |
Elementary children explore the labyrinth
In the chapel program this fall, our elementary children have been practicing ways to be quiet, internally and externally. One tool they have used is the labyrinth. The labyrinth has a circuitous path that leads from the edge to the center, where one may pause and then retrace the path out to the edge. A labyrinth is not a maze with tricks and detours; rather, it is one continuous path.
We (the children and I, Beth Reed) have used small labyrinths that we trace with a stylus and others in which we trace a pattern in sand. Each of these we use silently. On Monday, we were able to use a labyrinth in the most traditional way: by walking it. It can be a kind of "walking meditation." The children did their best to walk slowly and silently and to respect others on the path.
The labyrinth we used is painted on heavy canvas so it can be portable. The students and I are grateful to Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, which owns the labyrinth, for letting us borrow it.
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