Thursday, September 13 

Save the dates! Contact Jeanne Jennings if you're able to volunteer -- more information on performers in the article at the right. 

Please join us -- and invite your friends -- for Music on the Lawn, a free event taking place every Thursday evening in September from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. 

Music on the Lawn will be held in Grace's Garden; in case of inclement weather, the performance will be moved indoors.

Guests are invited to bring picnic blankets, food and beverages; chairs will also be available.

We're looking forward to a great event! If you can volunteer to help us, please contact Jeanne Jennings. See you there!  

September 6:  

Sir Alan and the Calypso Ponzi Schemers

Sir Alan and the Calypso Ponzi Schemers are a classic calypso music trio who play calypsos from the two great hubs of calypso music-the Caribbean and New York City.

The bare bones ensemble includes Sir Alan (MacEwen) on guitar, vocals, and trumpet; Lord Daniel (Schwartz) on percussion and ukelele; and The Mighty Carol (Arthur) on Trinidadian steel pan.

The group was founded in 2009 when the trio's success in the world of high finance gained them the leisure time to pursue their love of Caribbean music. Sir Alan was briefly a Trinidadian from 1969 to 1970. He gained his original stake in calypso music at the height of the big band calypso era in the days when the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener battled it out for the calypso crown.

September 13:

The Georgetown Chimes

The Georgetown Chimes are Georgetown University's oldest all-male a cappella singing group.

Since 1946, the Georgetown Chimes have entertained Presidents from Truman to Obama, cocktail parties from Maine to California, and crowds of all ages from Puerto Rico to Germany.

A Georgetown Chimes concert consists of high-quality vocal performance, entertainment, and energy sure to please audiences of all ages. From barbershop standards and The Star Spangled Banner to Motown and pop favorites, The Chimes always entertain their guests.

September 20:

The Larry Brown Jazz Quartet

Pianist Larry Brown leads one of the most accomplished straight-ahead jazz groups in the Mid-Atlantic area. 

They have performed at Blues Alley, the Meyerhoff, the Kennedy Center, the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, Strathmore Mansion and the Black Rock Center for the Arts, among other venues.

JazzReview.com describes The Larry Brown Quartet as "Straight-ahead jazz at its best, with a forthright approach to well chosen material, supported by first rate soloists and a rock-solid rhythm section."

September 27: 

Holly Bass and her Jazz Band

Holly Bass is a writer, performer and director. A Cave Canem fellow, her poems have appeared in Callaloo,nocturnes (re)view, Beltway, Role Call (Third World Press) and The Ringing Ear, an anthology of Black Southern poetry.

Her pieces have been workshopped and presented at respected regional theaters and performance spaces such as the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, the Whitney Museum and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.

She is the Cullen Poet-in-Residence for Busboys & Poets (DC) where she coordinates open mic nights and writing workshops for the public.

She has received numerous grants from the DC Arts Commission and was one of twenty artists nationwide to receive 2008 Future Aesthetics grant from the Ford Foundation/Hip Hop Theater Festival.

I just returned from a few days in Chicago, celebrating my nephew's fiftieth birthday with him and his extended family.

Chicago has lots of problems these days, but the massed towers of its downtown are invigorating regardless.

They put me in mind of architect Daniel Burnham, an author of the 1909 "Chicago Plan" for the city's development. He wrote:  "Make no small plans. They have no power to stir men's blood."

Partly inspired by Burnham and the skyscrapers that reflect his audacity  (hubris?), I decided to make "no small plan" for this fall's Adult Forum. 

We'll bite off way more than we'll be able to chew, taking on the Problem of Evil, i.e., if God is Love, why does evil exist? The official title of this series will be "Evil and the God of Love." 

The guide for our conversations will be a brief (about 100 pages) book by British author Brian Hebblethwaite, Evil, Suffering and Religion. It summarizes various faiths' perspectives on the problem of evil, with a focus on the Judeo-Christian heritage.  

Not written for scholars, it's nevertheless not an easy read. I'll try to summarize the portion we're discussing prior to each session, so - while I strongly recommend reading the book - doing so isn't an absolute requirement for participation.

Unfortunately, the book is no longer in print, and is not available as an e-book. Limited copies are available from Amazon, Alibris, and other online sites. I'll order 4 or 5 to have on hand at Grace when I return, but hope most of you will order your own copy.

We resume Adult Forum on Sunday, September 9 at 9:40 in the Parish Hall.  I hope some men's, and women's, blood is stirred by our big plans.

Sesquicentennial is a big word for a 150th Anniversary, a threshold we will cross in 2016. Grace's contribution to lower Georgetown's spiritual needs and physical wants since 1865 is an inspiring narrative.

When John Graham asked me to review the archive I discovered a fascinating and engrossing task. I have been logging each document and am making slow progress.

Many Grace parishioners are aware of our church's modest beginnings as a mission church. 

Fewer may know that the church and its property sit on land donated by the Cook family. It is deeded to the parish in perpetuity on two conditions:

• that Communion be celebrated every Sunday 
• that only "low church" liturgy be used 

The declining fortunes of the C&O canal boat families as the railroad flourished and canal traffic waned is a rich era. 

It proceeds to World War I, the closing of the canal in 1924, the hard years of the Depression and the dark years of World War II, the aging of the parishioners in the Fifties and the rescue of Grace from a near collapse.

Grace played a major role in resisting the Vietnam War and supporting the "counter culture" of street kids and runaways. Grace entered the 70's exploring new liturgies and alternative worship. Grace was also an early supporter of the ordination of women.

The changing nature of the neighborhood brought battles with restaurant and bar owners who were encroaching on the property, pushing ABC regulations to the limit with the Vestry fighting back with lawyers from the congregation.

The acquisition of our magnificent tracker organ, hand-crafted in Vermont by David Moore and his associates, was a financial stretch for a small parish.  It was accomplished with controversy. 

Factions who saw the new organ as an opportunity contested those who felt the organ was an indefensible risk and a financial gamble. In the end, hope triumphed over caution and our nationally recognized organ became the voice of a growing musical tradition.

I had a conversation with the curator of The Peabody Archive at the Georgetown Public Library and learned that the archive had a Grace Church  file. His last words were "there's a book in here."

There are so many digital archiving and publishing options available that are beyond my reach that I'm begging for help. If you have experience, or even if you don't but are willing to help research and implement a solution, please contact the church office.  

The curator suggested ways of physical preservation. People have recommended scanning. Four years looks shorter every week. There are so many opportunities to preserve this treasure trove for future parishioners.

The story of Grace Church is a compelling record of faith in action. It is a powerful narrative which fully told could bring new people to discover "Amazing Grace" as a Sixties Washington Post profile characterized our congregation. I invite any interested party to begin the sesquicentennial celebration now.