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. 

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See you Sunday!

We celebrate at the Eucharist at 10:00. The gospel gives us Jesus healing a leper, who in that culture not only had an awful disease but was an outcast. The leper had faith that Jesus could heal him if he wanted to. Jesus did heal that person. He reached across entrenched social and religious boundaries to touch that outcast. 

Jesus was probably seen as outrageous. Do we think of him as such?

The image, an Orthodox icon, shows Jesus moving close to the leper. If you look closely, you can see the leprosy represented by spots all over the man. 

After the Eucharist, we will share refreshments. An announcement last week said that Girl Scout Cookies would be on offer!

Learn more about downtown Allentown and consider how downtown redevelopments may affect us and our neighbors on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Congregational Forum (around 11:30, after church). Joshua Chisholm, executive director of Congregations United for Neighborhood Action (CUNA) will present information his organization has gathered about downtown poverty and unemployment. He will lead a conversation about how this information relates to the city's plans for the building and operation of the hockey arena and other redevelopment projects. This is important information for us, as our school is in the Neighborhood Improvement Zone and our church is one block outside it. I (Beth Reed) hope many people will be able to participate. If you'd like to learn more about CUNA, check their website. 

A group gathered two weeks ago to prepare the liturgies for the coming seasons. For example, we decided to use a slightly different form of the Prayers of the People during Lent (including more silence). We will make slight changes in some of the music for the Triduum (the Latin term for the three days in Holy Week that stretch from Maundy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday evening, using the Jewish calculation of the day beginning at sunset). The Triduum is the center of the year for us. 

 

During Lent, our Forum time after church will focus on some texts of the Easter Vigil--the Exsultet, which praises Jesus as the Light, and several Scripture texts that we hear each year at that service. We will have a chance to learn more about these texts and share how they sound to us. When we come to celebrate the Vigil in the darkness of April 7, our experience will likely be richer for having already opened our hearts and ears to these texts.

In the seven weeks of the Easter season, the Forum will focus on the Nicene Creed. We will learn of its context and origins and be able to share how we experience it, what we think about it, what questions it raises for us, etc.  

 

For the first month of 2012, our pantry provided food for 296 families. This includes 475 adults, 385 children, and 36 seniors. 

There were 85 new self-declarations of need for the month.  

Bread for the World is a national organization that educates and lobbies for an end to hunger. They have done fine work for a long time, and there is a local group of people who are connected with the national organization. To learn more, visit www.bread.org. The site has information about hunger in our country and around the world and ways that individuals and groups can help end it. The site also has a quote of the day. Today's is from Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world."

The school held two successful open houses last Saturday, with about 16 new families interested in the primary program (3-6 year olds) and about 6 families interested in the elementary program (age 6-11). All the teachers were present, and the substitute teachers provided child care to the little ones while their parents learned about our philosophy and methods. Parents toured the classrooms, saw the Montessori materials, and were able to ask teachers particular questions. 

In the photo, Batool Viquar, an assistant teacher in Classroom 3, describes to parents how the children have their morning snack. Children are expected to wait their turn, follow directions on portions, use good manners when they eat, and wash their dishes afterward. 

 

. . .You know it must be time for the annual Pancake Supper. David Moyer organizes this event for Shrove Tuesday evening, Feb. 21, a feast of fatty food before the fasting of Lent. 

Pancakes, fasnachts (doughnuts), sausage, and applesauce are on the menu. Prices: Adults, $8; kids 6-12, $4; kids under 5, free. All are welcome. The supper is in Hadesty Hall (the lower level of the church building--the entrance is on Fifth Street), from 4:30-7:00.