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Save the Dates
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Daylight Savings Time: Sunday, March 11 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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Adult Student Exhibition:
Baum School of Art,
through March 23
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 11, at Grace | | |
Eucharist, Reflection on Genesis 1
We celebrate the Eucharist at 10:00. (Don't forget: Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend.) The first reading announces what we call the Ten Commandments, and the gospel depicts Jesus in the Temple, upset at what is taking place "in my Father's house."
After the service, we will meet in the gathering space to consider the first scripture reading of the Easter Vigil, the account of creation in Genesis 1. Read more about this conversation, and the ones to come later, below. Last week's discussion about the Exsultet was lively and engaging, as participants shared how they look forward to that ancient hymn every year at the Vigil. |
| 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. Beth Reed will lead these conversations.
A booklet with texts and meditations is available at the back of the church. It will ground our conversations on the Sundays in March. 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 every week.
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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| Two events related to war and peace | |  What about that tax check?
This Sunday, parishioner and professor Dr. Kelly Denton-Borhaug will speak in Lancaster at a forum about exercising our consciences when paying taxes, especially with regard to funding wars. The forum is in Lancaster, and she'll sign copies of her book, U.S. War Culture, Sacrifice, and Salvation. For more information on this event, click here. A group at Grace read her book last summer and found it very insightful and challenging.
On Friday night, March 30, long-time peace activist Fr. Roy Bourgeois will speak about "The School of the Americas and U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America." Tapas and live music start at 5:00 pm, and the presentation is 6:00-7:15 pm. The event is free and open to the public, and attendees are asked to bring a nonperishable food donation for New Bethany Ministries.
The event will be held in Dyer Auditorium in the Walter Building on Moravian Academy's Upper School campus, 4313 Green Pond Road in Bethlehem.
The image is from the website uncommonpromise.com.
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| Grace's leadership | | David Moyer is our new junior warden
The vestry met on Tuesday night, and one item of business was the election of a new junior warden. David Moyer agreed to fill this important position. Kelly Cannon has done a great job as the junior warden for several years, and while he's still on the vestry, he's retired from the warden duties.
The junior warden is responsible for the physical plant: he organizes the building committee and makes sure cleaning and maintenance (long-term and short-term) gets done. Grace has no outside custodial staff; parish members take care of all the cleaning and repairs except what must be done by professionals.
If you have handyperson skills that the rest of us don't know about and would be willing to assist with cleaning and repairs, feel free to let David know! |
| 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. |
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