Greetings from Grace!
In this Issue: Friends of Grace Gala and Silent Auction, Bach Festival, Holy Pilgrimage DC, Sunday Evening Eucharist and More!
Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown
1041 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
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Upcoming Events
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11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Taste of Georgetown
Sunday, June 2nd
10:30 AM service moves to 10:00 AM
This is our tradition between Memorial Day and Labor Day
Adult Forum takes a break
It will return after Labor Day
Grace's Garden and Grounds Workday
5:00 to 8:00 PM
A Texas-Style Shindig, Friends of Grace Gala and Silent Auction
Please join us! Learn more about donating to the auction and the event itself here
Sunday, July 7th
1:30 PM
The 20th Grace Church Bach Festival
Please join us! Details on performers.
Wednesday, July 10th
7:30 PM
The 20th Grace Church Bach Festival
Please join us! Details on performers.
Friday, July 12th
7:30 PM at Wolf Trap
Grace's own Steven LaBrie, baritone soloist, in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, July 13th
9:00 AM to Noon
Grace's Gardens and Ground Workday
7:30 PM
The 20th Grace Church Bach Festival
Please join us! Details on performers.
Sunday, July 14th
1:30 PM
The 20th Grace Church Bach Festival
Please join us! Details on performers.
Thursday, July 18th
6:30 PM
Holy Pilgrimage DC 2013: Spirit, Art & Music
National Cathedral Gargoyle Tour and Sung Compline ( email your RSVP; reservations required);
Sunday, July 21st
12:30 PM
Holy Pilgrimage DC 2013: Spirit, Art & Music
Grace Church Organ Tour followed by Art Project;
Monday, July 29th
Tentative date; time TBD
Holy Pilgrimage DC 2013: Spirit, Art & Music
National Gallery of Art Scavenger Hunt;
Week of August 4th
Day and time TBD
Holy Pilgrimage DC 2013: Spirit, Art & Music
Sunday, August 11th
12:00 Noon
Holy Pilgrimage DC 2013: Spirit, Art & Music
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Coffee Hour Hosts |
June
2nd Friends of Grace Gala Committee
9th Greeters
16th Emile and Juliet Cochet, in thanksgiving for Grace's baptism
23rd Pastoral Care Committee
30th Counters
July
7th Taste of Georgetown Volunteers
14th TBA
21st Choir
28th Garden and Grounds Committee
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Holy Eucharist, Wednesdays at 12:15 PM |
 | Icon of St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany, Archbishop of Mainz and Martyr |
Each Wednesday during the 12:15 PM service we celebrate the life of someone important in the church. Here's the upcoming line-up:
June
5th Boniface, Archbishop and Martyr
12th Emmegahbowh, Priest and Martyr
19th Bernard Mizeki, Martyr
26th Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon
Please join us for this brief (30 minutes) but spiritual service.
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Parents Night Out, June 11th |
Leave your little ones with us on Tuesday, June 11th from 6:30 to 9:00 PM and enjoy an evening in Georgetown or simply some time to yourself.
Helen Buhr and Chris Kreutziger will be on hand to have fun with the children.
Please contact Helen via email or phone (301-529-2511) if you plan to come.
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Glory of the Heavens |
Our Trip to the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia for a Star Party has been postponed. We are hoping to reschedule for late summer or early fall.
Please contact John Boynton, Jeanne Jennings or The Reverend Sarah Motley if you're interested in learning more, attending or helping us plan the trip.
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Purls of Great Price |
The Pastoral Care knitting group is taking a break until September. We hope you'll join us in the fall for fellowship and to help knit baby blankets for children baptized at Grace.
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June Birthdays |
Helen Buhr Agness Derrendinger Elinor Dunn
Kasper Dunn
Hugh Hatcher
Phil Kopper
Caleb LeBouder
Beth Lee
Eun Ok Lee Mako
Diana Munson
Elizabeth Pener
Phoebe Pham
Ricky Pham
Stephanie Pham
Jamison Riley
Liliana Smith
Peter Tietjen
We'd like to include you in this list! Please email us with your birthday!
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Flowers for the Church |
 It's always a pleasure to see flowers in the church! If you have a loved one or an event you'd like to commemorate, please consider contributing flowers for the Sunday services! You may deliver flowers to the church yourself on Saturdays or call 202-333-7100 or email the church office and we can order them and have them delivered for $65.
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Write for Greetings from Grace! |
 You don't have to be Clark Kent or even Lois Lane to write for Greetings from Grace! Planning to attend the Annual Grace Gala and Silent Auction? We'd love to have you write about it and send a few pictures for the newsletter. A fan of the Bach Festival? Get a byline by putting your thoughts about one or more of the events on paper for Greetings from Grace. Participating in the Summer Pilgrimage Inter-generational Vacation Bible School program? Share your experience and some photos with our readers! The more voices in the newsletter the better -- please contact editor Jeanne Jennings to discuss opportunities.
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June 3, 2013
Dear Friend of Grace,
If you haven't already purchased your tickets for the Friends of Grace Gala and Silent Auction, I hope you will today! It promises to be a fun event -- A Texas-Style Shindig -- and will raise money for the Saving Grace Fund. We are building the fund to address a current need -- repairing the sandstone arches on the front of the church.
Please take a moment now to get caught up on upcoming happenings at Grace.
In Christ's Redeeming Love,
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A Texas-Style Shindig -- The Annual Grace Gala and Silent Auction
Join the Friends of Grace Episcopal Church for our Annual Gala and Silent Auction
Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
5 o'clock in the evening
Grace Episcopal Church
1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Join us in the Lonestar State for Rocklands BBQ, boot-tappin' live music and our famous Great Escapes Auction.
$100 a person | $175 a couple | $25 student Contact The Reverend John Graham about scholarships
Proceeds benefiting our ongoing $90,000 stonework reparation project; Reduced parking rates at the Colonial Garage
R.S.V.P. by June 14th; please make your check out to "Grace Church, Saving Grace Fund" and mail it to or drop it by the church (address above)
For more information about contributing to the silent auction please email Hillary Liebtag or Scott Murphy. Hope to see y'all there! |
 | Johann Sebastian Bach |
20th Annual Bach Festival at Grace Episcopal Church Georgetown
Sunday, July 7th, 1:30 PM
The Teiber Trio Regino Madrid, violin Charlie Powers, cello Sarah Hart, violist All works are by Johann Sebastian Bach
Wednesday, July 10th, 7:30 PM Stephen Ackert, organ and harpsichord Claudia Chudacoff, violin Ben Wensel, cello Sonata in E Major for Violin and Harpsichord, BWV 1016 and Sonata in G Major for Cello and Harpsichord, BWV 1027 (both works, c. 1720)
Saturday, July 13th, 7:30 PM Con Brio! Lawrence Molinaro, harpsichord Shaughn Dowd, flute and friends
Sunday, July 14th, 1:30 PM Lawrence Molinaro The Goldberg Variations
Wolf Trap Summer Series Friday, July 12th, 7:30 PM Steven LeBrie, bariton soloist, in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra |
 | "Curly Locks" Gargoyle at the National Cathedral |
Summer Pilgrimage 2013 By The Reverend Sarah Motley
It's summer - schedules change, the weather changes, the comings and goings at Grace take on a different tempo.
Part of the summer tradition here is to take time to reach out and open up to experiences that help us on our Christian pilgrimage - which is to say, experiences that help us reach out and open up to the Spirit's guidance in and around us.
Grace's Summer Pilgrimage 2013: Spirit in Arts and Music is taking shape for the months of July and August. In keeping with our parish's involvement in and celebration of arts and music, we will be visiting sites in the DC area that highlight just a few of the expressions of God's creative spirit.
Before the scheduled events begin, it's important to note that the Bach Festival (July 7, 10, 13 and 14) here at Grace will be a kind of 'prelude' to the rest of the summer's activities. Plan to attend one or more of the concerts to prepare for more enlightenment and enjoyment as the summer progresses!
Though some details are still to be decided, the tentative schedule is:
- Thursday, July 18th: 6:30 PM, National Cathedral Gargoyle Tour; 7:45 p.m. Sung Compline (reservations required)
- Sunday, July 21st: 12:30 PM, Grace Church Organ Tour followed by art project
- Monday, July 29th (tentative date): Time TBA, National Gallery of Art Scavenger Hunt
- Week of August 4th: Day, time and event TBA
- Sunday, August 11th: 12:00 noon, Howard Theater Gospel Brunch (reservations required)
Watch the weekly Thursday email from John, Sunday church announcements, The July 1st newsletter and Website for further details.
Don't forget - signup sheets will soon be on the kiosk outside after church - it is important to indicate your interest, especially for the first and final events which will require reservations.
The Summer Pilgrimage is intergenerational, and also a welcome way to bring along friends or neighbors for a glimpse of Grace's openness to and involvement in the world of the Spirit. For questions, ideas, or to sign up please contact the church office or The Reverend Sarah Motley.
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Sunday Evening Eucharist ~ Summer and Beyond
By The Reverend Sarah Motley
It's not only one day/ morning each week that is busy on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and South Street.
Though Sundays at 8:30 and 10/10:30 AM draw the new and the venerable, the close-by and the far-flung to Grace Church, all week long this parish sits 'where cross the crowded ways of life' (Hymn 609) - in a constant stream of cars, pedestrians, tourists, neighbors, workers, shoppers, children, students and so many more.
From early morning to late evening, the sidewalks and the path through the garden in front of church are filled with people.
It is for this mix that Grace Church exists. Liturgies, programs, and prayers respond to the 'needs, concerns, and hopes of the world' (Book of Common Prayer page 543) in many ways.
For years, the Sunday afternoon/evening Eucharist has offered Grace parishioners and those exploring or seeking a church home, as well as passersby and occasional visitors, a time for worship that is 'the same but different' from Sunday mornings.
It is a time for all who are simply seeking a moment to end the weekend and begin the week with scripture, prayer, bread, wine - communion and community with attention to the quiet time so many appreciate - a time to catch our breath and prepare for what the following week will bring.
This summer, the next phase of the Sunday Evening Eucharist will be a topic for discussion by those who attend - and for those who haven't yet. Reflections, ideas, and suggestions about how this service might serve and draw more people, are welcome.
The Vestry has received a memo outlining some preliminary thoughts and will be more than happy to discuss them. Or, send a note to The Reverend Sarah Motley, who will coordinate this informal, yet important, conversation.
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Music on the Lawn for Whitsunday
Even the cold, rainy weather couldn't stop us from celebrating on WhitSunday!
The jazz music provided by
Herman Burney, on bass, and
Marshall Keys, on alto sax, sounded just as glorious in the parish hall as it would have outside on the lawn!
The cakes in honor of the birthday of the church tasted just as sweet.
The mimosas and virgin mimosas added a festive touch.
Parishioners and guests, young and old, gathered to enjoy a lovely brunch buffet.
And we raised funds for the Outreach Committee to continue their good works.
Thanks to all who contributed to the buffet, made donations and attended!
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Profile: The Reverend Bill Doggett
By Jeanne Jennings "Sometimes God has to teach you your heart's desire before he gives it to you." Bill Doggett had been the choir director for his hometown church for 16 years before he entered seminary to learn about theology and explore the possibility of becoming a priest. Often people asked Bill if he'd ever considered the ministry -- and his answer was always an energetic 'no.' But his Bishop convinced him to explore it, which Bill says taught him that other people can know you better than you know yourself. Become coming to DC, Bill was active with St. Gregory of Nyssa, an Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Saying it was a bit different than Grace is an understatement. The San Francisco Weekly News wrote about the church in 1996; the headline was "One Weird Church," a moniker Bill agreed with and joyously embraced (read the article). The congregation danced at every service -- and sang a cappella in four parts as they did it. The sermon had two parts -- the part given by the rector and the follow-up reflective conversation offered by the congregation. The idea was that the Gospel was still being written in our lives -- and that by sharing experiences we can spread it. If you ever attended one of the Sunday evening services of prayer, meditation and communion led by Bill, you saw some of the influence that St. Gregory's had on him. Bill says he always tried to include both silence and conversation in the service, things which are unusual in a traditional Sunday morning gathering to worship. Bill came to DC 14 years ago when his spouse Matt got a job here. They moved to Capitol Hill, quickly made friends and found a community. Bill was still working on his doctorate and being so close to the Library of Congress made his research easier. Christ Church Capitol Hill, the first Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia, created a job for him and he was the assistant rector there for 12 years.
Bill is also well-known in Church circles for designing and making vestments. He counts Bishop Mariann Budde as a client, having worked with her to design vestments which would express her goal of creating unity among a complex and diverse diocese. Bill also teaches at Virginia Theological Seminary; he was a facilitator for one of Robert Hartmans' courses there. He also loves to cook and donates a literary-themed dinner party to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation's Literary Feast once a year. Bill and Matt have two teenage boys, Kevon and Dominic, and two dogs, Scout and Chili. We wish Bill the best as he leaves us and thank him for his contributions to Grace. I hope he's not a stranger! |
 | H. D. Cooke |
Gleanings from the Grace Archives
By John Boynton
Grace Church was built through the generosity of the Cooke family who amassed a fortune selling war bonds to the union cause.
Jay Cooke was the financier, but it was his brother, H.D. Cooke, a parishoner at St. Johns Episcopal Church, who purchased the lots and built the church that stands today.
H.D. was the only Governor of the District of Columbia during a brief experiment in constituting the District as a Territory of the U.S.
Rocked by scandal and plagued by excessive debt, D.C. went into a period of decline. Moreover, the financial Panic of 1873 reversed the fortunes of the Cooke family and forced their firm into bankruptcy.
The Cooke creditors discovered that the deed for Grace Church had never been officially filed and moved to reclaim the land. After a series of failed negotiations and a decision against Grace Church, the parish prevailed and the deed was validated by the Supreme Court for the District of Columbia (not the U.S. Supreme Court.)
I have seen a picture of that judge and can only say that I would be afraid to see him on the street, let alone at the Bar. Not for the last time impending disaster was turned away by "Amazing Grace."
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Vestry Notes from the May Meeting
By Barbara de Beaufort
- Eastbanc construction next door has started. McCullough Construction is going to send an email to John Graham each week to let Grace Church know what is planned for that week. A pedestrian walkway has been set up for GMC.
- We have a baseline analysis of our retaining walls, and will do a resurvey when Eastbanc is finished construction.
- Two of the trees planted in December are dead. 'Care of Trees' told us that they are desiccated from winter planting. Paul Alligood and John Graham are working on a solution with Eastbanc.
- An engineering firm has taken samples of the sandstone for analysis. They observed that it is possible that the sandstone might be decorative, not structural. That may mean we can use composite, not sandstone replacement.
- The Churchyard looks great. Paul Alligood announced that the garden team had a good turn out and worked hard! The next garden work day will be on June 8.
- John Graham is working with GMC on a shared policy for response to disruptive behavior, either at GMC or in church services and events.
- Paige Hill reported that invitations to the Friends of Grace Gala will be going out this week. Learn More
- During 8:30 and 10:30 AM services on May 19, the Parish celebrated the time we had with Robert Hartmans and Bill Doggett. After the 10:30 service we enjoyed a festive "Music on the Lawn" celebration, moved inside due to threatening weather. The Vestry expressed their deep gratitude to Robert and Bill, and to Jeanne Jennings and friends for organizing Music on the Lawn. Learn More
- Starting on the Sunday of May 19, Sarah Motley, our new Assisting Priest, has made some changes to the 5 P.M. service. It is now listed as 'Evening Eucharist, and uses prayers from ENRICHING OUR WORSHIP, authorized by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Chairs are now arranged in a semi-circle. And refreshments are now offered following the service. Learn More
- Mystelle Ruble will be the chair of the 2013 Fall Parish Retreat. She will update us as she begins the planning process.
The full minutes of the Vestry Meetings are filed in a binder in the Volunteer Office in the Rectory, after they have been approved by the Vestry.
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Weekly at Grace |
Sundays
8:30 AM
Holy Eucharist
Prayers for the Nation and the World
Held outside at the Memorial Cross, includes remembrance of the Fallen (only the last Sunday of each month; 15 minutes)
10:00 AM
Holy Eucharist
Music, child care and Sunday School
5:00 PM
Evening Eucharist
Plan to stay for refreshments after the service
Tuesdays
12:15 PM Centering Prayer
35 minutes
Wednesdays
12:15 PM
Holy Eucharist
30 minutes
Saturdays
11:30 AM
Grace's Table
From September through May, Grace's Table offers hot lunch, Bible study and fellowship for persons who are homeless or living on the margins.
This ministry is also offered on some Saturdays over the summer, contact the office for specifics.
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 About Grace
Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown, was founded nearly 150 years ago to serve the laborers, craftsmen, shopkeepers, and watermen of the Georgetown waterfront.
By 1857 regular services were being held in a wooden chapel that stood in the southwest corner of the churchyard, where the World War I Memorial Cross now stands.
Outreach to the community, particularly lower Georgetown, remains a vital ministry of Grace.
To that end we host a variety of events for the public, including an annual Bach Festival and Music on the Lawn. Our parishioners are also active volunteers for the Taste of Georgetown, which supports the Georgetown Ministry Center, located in the basement of our Rectory.
Grace Church is committed to providing a spiritual refuge for everyone living and working in the Georgetown area regardless of their religious affiliation.
Visitors to Grace find a warm welcome, wonderful music, and a heartfelt faith. We are located on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue, just below M Street and the Canal, in the heart of Georgetown.
Please join us for a service, an event, or just moment of quiet during your day. A weekly schedule of events appears in the column to your left.
Grace Episcopal Church 1041 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 2 hours free parking, with Grace validated exit ticket, is available in two locations. The Cinema Garage on K Street (just east of the intersection of Wisconsin and K Streets, one block south of the church): - Sunday until 1:00 PM
- Monday through Thursday until 11:00 PM
- Friday until 6:00 PM
The Eagle Bank lot, directly across Wisconsin Avenue from the Church:
- We have exclusive access to this lot Sundays until 1:30 PM
- And non-exclusive access for the 5:00 PM service on Sundays
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