Christmas at Grace
A special welcome to all! If you will be visiting Grace for the first time this Christmas we hope our celebration will bring you joy and that you will feel at home in our place called Grace.
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Christmas 2010
The Feast of the Incarnation! (Christmas Eve)Friday, December 24, two services: 5:30 pm & 9:30 pm
This night, Christmas Eve, never fails to capture memories and create new ones. We plan for two services, and both will be full. Pick the one that fits. Both services will have special music, and gifts for children. Past experience tells us that the later service does have a bit more room, and "older" children who would like that special chance to stay up late and enjoy the candlelight may find this to be a lovely service for them. Put another way, the early service is often so full that early arrival is helpful! Whichever service fits your schedule, know that you will find friends, warmth, music and hope. And bring a flashlight to navigate a long driveway-or to light the way for others!Christmas MorningSaturday, December 25, one service, 9:30 am
This marvel of a day finds us scattered like the bright ribbons torn from packages, and yet somehow together. We begin Christmas Day with a simple Eucharist, gathered around the fireplace to hear the old story again. Bring cookies to make a Christmas Day Coffee Hour.Welcome! If you are new to Grace, we also hope that you will consider making this your home. This is an open and affirming community, and all are welcome here and invited to receive communion at our table.
Grace is a growing and active place. We do not define ourselves by a building or a tradition, but by our people and our lives. As a Christian community we try to live the Good News together, recognizing that we are all human. Our style of worship is firmly rooted in the Episcopal and Anglican tradition, and at the same time we work to create a worship service that is honest and reflective of the many paths and perspectives in the Grace community. Knowing that we are called to make God known in the world, we try to do so in a spirit of love, forgiveness, inclusion, and support.Children at GraceAt Grace we do not see our children as "the future"-they are the present, and therefore essential to our community life. All children, regardless of age, are welcome to receive both the bread and cup. We hope that every child feels welcome here. We want to celebrate life at Grace, and it's our children who so often make that possible.
When snow is shaken
From the balsam trees
And they're cut down
And brought into our houses
When clustered sparks
Of many-colored fire
Appear at night
In ordinary windows
We hear and sing
The customary carols
They bring us ragged miracles
And hay and candles
And flowering weeds of poetry
That are loved all the more
Because they are so common
But there are carols
That carry phrases
Of the haunting music
Of the other world
A music wild and dangerous
As a prophet's message
Or the fresh truth of children
Who though they come to us
From our own bodies
Are altogether new
With their small limbs
And birdlike voices
They look at us
With their clear eyes
And ask the piercing questions
God alone can answer.
"Noël" by Anne Porter, from Living Things. © Zoland Books, 2006.
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