Sunday, October 7

Please complete and submit your 2013 pledge cards as soon as possible so the Budget Committee can get started on formulating a budget.

If you haven't received a card, please request one from the office. 

You can support the work of the Georgetown Ministry Center through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaigns! Here are GMC's numbers: 

Georgetown Ministry Center is dedicated to guiding homeless individuals towards stability and housing through street outreach; providing a safe and welcoming clubhouse environment where everyone is treated with respect; and educating the community about homelessness.

 

Learn More

Donate Directly to GMC

 

 

Let us know what your group is working on!

Volunteer to write a Parishioner Profile or "cover" an event. 

Is there a topic "beyond the gates of Grace" that you believe our readers would be interested in? 

Contact our editor, Jeanne Jennings, to discuss opportunities and see about getting on our editorial calendar.  

Greetings from Grace is published every month to inform and engage members and friends of Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown.

Henry and Stacy Carter with Sally Stanfield, enjoying a picnic and the music!

Stephanie Chan from Georgetown Ministry Center joined us and set up a table to sell some of the adorable knit and crochet items handmade by GMC clients.

See the article above for more information on Music on the Lawn 2012 

Happy Fall! Music on the Lawn 2012 is over, but there's still a lot going on here at Grace! 

Please join us for the Blessing of the Animals on October 7, and read on to learn more about the upcoming Bike Ride with the Bishop, Vestry Nominations and thoughts on same gender marriage from Bishop Mariann.   

In Christ's Redeeming Love,

Join fellow Episcopalians for the fourth in a series of DC Bishop's Bike Rides, all culminating at Grace Church Georgetown for lunch at 12:30 PM!

There are three rides to choose from:

• Short Ride: Family friendly! Six miles, all downhill, starting at 11:00 AM from St. Dunstan's Church in Bethesda on the Capital Crescent Trail. 

• Intermediate Ride: 16 miles on the Capital Crescent Trail (part gravel) and Beach Drive, starting from St. Dunstan's Church in Bethesda at 11:00 AM; thick tires advised

• Expert Ride: 40 miles one way, beginning at 8:00 AM at St. Peter's Church in Poolesville, along the C&O Towpath to St. Dunstan's (11:00 AM) and on to Grace Church Georgetown.  

All rides are free; lunch at Grace Church Georgetown is $10. Registration and optional bike checks begin at 10:00 AM at St. Dunstan's Bethesda. 

Childcare is available from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM at St. Dunstan's Church (advanced sign-up requested).   

Order a "Ride with the Bishop" Episcopal Bike Jersey for $75. 

Register online, learn more or Contact the ride coordinator, Elizabeth Schwinn.

To volunteer to bring food or to be a host at Grace for the Bishop and other riders please contact Helen Buhr. We need 4 to 6 volunteers. 

Many thanks to everyone for making Music on the Lawn 2012 a success! I hope everyone that attended enjoyed themselves! 

 

I especially want to thank our volunteers and other Parishioners who provided support: 

 

Catherine Aselford | John Boynton | Helen Buhr

John Graham | Kay Horst | Tom Horst

Chris Kreutziger | Donna Pica | Joanna Riley 

 Thelma Smullen | Sally Stanfield

Ari Lynn Tonini

 

I also want to thank our wonderful performers: 

 

Sir Alan and the Calypso Ponzi Schemers 

The Georgetown Chimes 

The Larry Brown Jazz Quartet 

Poet Holly Bass accompanied by a Jazz Trio

 

Some friends of mine were in DC for a work conference and came to Music on the Lawn on September 13. Afterward they had a moving experience which my friend Dennis Dayman posted on Facebook; I wanted to take this opportunity to share it with you.  

 

Members of the Wallace Family enjoying the music!

"So I have to get this God moment off my mind. 

 

"At an outdoor event with Ryan Phelan and Jeanne Jennings last night in Georgetown. As we were helping clean up from the A Cappella Choir and the event overall, went to take down some signs and balloons on the wall of the church and street area.

 

"Ryan and I joked that we needed to inhale the helium, but then decided to find a kid on the street in front of 

• Beth Lee reported that the General Convention, meeting in Indianapolis this summer, authorized trial liturgies for same gender marriage.

• The Vestry set November 18 as the date for the Grace Church Annual Meeting. Janet Sale will chair this year's Nominating Committee for new Vestry members. She will be recruiting 3 non vestry members to serve on the Committee.

• Paul Alligood, our Junior Warden has hit a snag in the stonework repair project. The sandstone is hard to find in this day and age. Ours is probably original to the building. The cost is very high, possibly prohibitive. Paul learned about a compound to use instead of sandstone, but the contractor said that in many areas, including the arch around the red door, there is not enough stone for the compound to adhere. Paul is back to the drawing board. The next step may be to have the Cathedral's chief stonemason look at the stonework, assess the risk and help us decide on next steps, if any..

• John Graham, our Rector, is working on a job description for a new assisting priest.

• John Graham reported on prospective upgrades to our Grace Church website. One proposal is a 'Keep and Share Calendar.'

• Kay Horst and Sarah Haft have begun as new coordinators of Grace's Table.

• We hope to improve the flow of Communion on Sundays. We will have a second Vestry Member in Charge at the altar during communion to assist with serving communion from the center out. 

• Attendance at 'Music on the Lawn' performances averaged about 50, with several people coming more than once. Jeanne Jennings prepared small plates of light fare for our guests. Music on the Lawn was scheduled on four consecutive Thursdays this year, instead of monthly as in previous years, in order to test the idea that events in close proximity generate higher attendance. The Outreach Committee will assess this year's efforts and make plans for 2013.

Full Minutes of Vestry Meetings are in the notebook in the Volunteer office of the Rectory after they have been approved by the Vestry. 

The numbers have finally come together and the net raised this year for GMC is $28,000, a plus of $2,000 over last year's earnings of $26,000. 

Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard selling Taste tickets and acting as greeters on June 2nd. And thanks to Catherine Aselford for organizing them! It was a great day all around!

And thanks to the restaurants that participated: 

Baked & Wired | Bangkok Joe's | Bodega Spanish Tapas & Lounge

Cafe Bonaparte | Clyde's | Daily Grill | Dean & DeLuca

Degrees Bistro at the Ritz-Carlton | Georgetown Catering | Georgetown Cupcake

J. Paul's | Martin's Tavern | Mie N Yu | Muncheez Mania | Neyla | Old Glory

Paolo's | Ristorante Piccolo | Rugby Cafe | Sea Catch Restaurant & Raw Bar

Sequoia | Serendipity 3 | Shut Your Pie Hole | Sprinkles Cupcakes

Thunder Burger

If you visit these restaurants in Georgetown please be sure to thank them for their hard work and support of the Georgetown Ministry Center and the Taste of Georgetown. 

• Front part of the Rectory tuckpointed - very noticeable! Cost: about $16,000

• New flooring in the breezeway between the Parish Hall and the church. Cost: about $2,000

• See the Vestry note above about the status of the Stone frame around the red doors

 

 

In our meeting with Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde on June 10, 2012, the Vestry discussed with her the tension between Canon Law and the 2009 General Convention's  authorization of a "generous pastoral response" to same-gender couples.

 

To help us with this inconsistency, Bishop Mariann spoke about the values of our Church. She also gave us new insights into how change happens in the Church.

 

According to Bishop Mariann, our church seeks to have "a discerning mind and an inquiring heart." Our values are compassion, love, and care of our own and care of the outcast. We know  people by the fruits their lives bear. Many Episcopalians believe that unconditional love trumps all.

 

The Bishop is in favor of same gender marriage. She talked about how the Church is in flux and how change gets accepted. She has studied how ideas move slowly through key influencers. 

 

It starts with the 'early supporters' A "middle place" follows, where the idea is accepted by a larger group.Finally, it becomes the norm. "There will always be resistance," she said; "We need to discern, 'Is this of God?'"

 

Bishop Mariann believes that we are in that middle place. She believes in being pastorally generous. She is ready to take the heat on Canon Law, letting the tension with pastoral generosity be there. She wants the Church to find as much common ground as we can, but let differences be accepted and respected. We can agree to disagree.

 

She foresees that the Church will get ahead of Canon Law on this, and one day look around and say, we really ought to change Canon Law.

 

The Bishop described how her relationships with homosexual friends and parishioners were a strong influence on her thinking .