Save the Dates
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Vestry Meeting:
March 6, 7:30 pm
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Rehearsal:
April 4, 6:30 pm
Easter Vigil Rehearsal and Church Set-up:
April 7
in the morning
Easter Triduum:
April 5-8
Grace Montessori
Benefit Auction:
Friday, April 27
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Neighborhood Events
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Paintings by Walter Baum and His Circle:
Allentown Art Museum
through May 13
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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.
Lent is a spare, stark season in the church's year. We gather in silence for the Sunday liturgy, and we depart in silence. We fast from our weekly refreshments and conversation time, and we will return to these joyful practices at Easter. We reverently prepare for the immersion in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection that is the Easter Triduum (April 5-8).
To share Grace's 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, March 4, at Grace | |  Eucharist, Reflection on Easter Hymn
We celebrate the Eucharist at 10:00. This Sunday's gospel offers Jesus' teaching that he must suffer. It was and is a hard teaching, and the disciples had trouble believing it.
Our liturgy is as spare as it can be. We gather and depart in silence, without a prelude or postlude. We have an opportunity for repentance and confession at the beginning of the service as we reflect on how well or poorly we have loved God and our neighbors. Our Prayers of the People include silent intercession, and our sung acclamations during the Great Thanksgiving are as simple as they get.
After the service, we will meet in the gathering space to consider the Easter hymn that praises Christ our Light, the Exsultet. Read more about this conversation, and the ones to come later, below. |
Lent Meditations on Sundays (or any day) | |
Easter Vigil texts inspire 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. Beth Reed will lead these conversations.
A booklet with these texts and meditations will be distributed this Sunday. It will ground our conversation for four Sundays after church (March 4, 11, 18, 25). These conversations are open to everyone; please consider participating, especially if recent Forum offerings have not appealed to you! Each Sunday's discussion will stand on its own; that is, you do not have to commit to coming to all four Sundays.
The texts can be read at home to prepare for Sunday's conversation.
What questions do they raise for you? How do they sound to you in light of our Triduum celebrations? Which parts of the readings comfort and challenge you? How do you hear the Spirit speaking to God's people? 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.
If you cannot partake of these conversations at the Forum time,
the texts and meditations can seed your prayer at home through the season of Lent.
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Downtown Allentown | |  What's happening in our neighborhood?
Sixteen people stayed after church last Sunday to learn more about the demographics in downtown Allentown and consider how downtown redevelopments may affect us and our neighbors.
Joshua Chisholm, executive director of Congregations United for Neighborhood Action (CUNA), presented statistics on concentrated poverty and unemployment around here. The hockey arena and related projects will have a great deal of public funding, and he helped us think about how the public (including us) can have a voice in how that public money is spent.
Other area congregations are having similar conversations, and Joshua will stay in touch with us about possibilities for next steps.
If you'd like to learn more about CUNA, check their website.
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15th Annual Grace Montessori Benefit Auction | | Funds will provide scholarships
Our school prizes economic diversity. About one-third of the students in our school receive scholarship assistance from money we raise.
This annual benefit accounts for a sizable part of that scholarship aid. There is a silent auction and a live auction, in a lovely atmosphere, with live music, food, and drinks. The event takes place this year on Friday evening, April 27, at the Fegleys' Allentown Brew Works.
Tickets ($25) will be available in advance and at the door. Please consider attending, as neighborhood families often need financial support for their children to come to our school. Executive Director Mrs. Elizabeth House and The Rev. Beth Reed will each make remarks at the event.
Grace Montessori is a lively place. To get a sense of daily life in the school, read classroom newsletters here. |
Parish Leadership | |
New vestry will convene next week
At the parish's Annual Meeting on February 20, three new people (Lisa Figueroa, Monica Lewellis, Joan Roy) were elected to the vestry, the church's leadership group. They were elected because the terms of other vestry members had expired.
The new group will convene next week for the first time on Tuesday evening. Experienced members will orient new members to the work and the decision-making style of the vestry.
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Pancake Mistake | |
The editor messed up
In last week's newsletter, a person who worked all day to make the Pancake Supper a success was wrongly identified. Her name is Mae Peacock, and her time and expertise are greatly appreciated.
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