Grace Episcopal Church  
In This Issue
Sunday Ministers
Birthdays
Sunday Services

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Sunday 
8:00 AM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher:  Mia Benjamin, Life Together intern
LEM: Mia Benjamin
Usher: Wesley Foote, Sr.
Altar Guild:  June Pietrantoni 

10:00 AM 
Celebrant and Preacher: The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates
Assisting Priests:  The Rev. Noah H. Evans and The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Bishop's Chaplain:  Ed Cardoza
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper
LEM I: Genita Johnson 
LEM II:  Warren Ramirez
Lector I*: Wes Foote, Jr.  
LectorII*: Margaret Smist
Acolytes: 
Michael Lwanga, Ava Murray and Amanda Murray
Ushers: Butch Edgecomb, Melanie Edgecomb, Jill Capuccio, The Boy Scouts and The Girl Scouts
Altar Guild: 
Elaine and Robin Sheets
Healing Ministers: John Rogers, The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold, Mia Benjamin and Carrie Cross
Coffee Hour Hosts:
Tom Hamel, coffee  and Agnes Opara, food
Counters:
Bryan Spence and Linda Foote 
Vestry Person of the Day:
Sean Kerans

5:00 PM
Celebrant:
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Preacher:  Mia Benjamin, Life Together intern
Musician: 
Cheryl Forest Morganson
Altar Guild: 
Mia Benjamin and Carolyn Rogers 
 
*click on link to prepare for this week's readings  

Birthdays

 

Adrian King (3/8); Jeff Pietrantoni (3/9); Kristine Brawley and Mildred Burger (2/11).


If we do not have your birthday, please contact the church office at 781-396-7215 or office@gracemedford.org  
Desert Wilderness painted by the 5th and 6th grade class.
Welcome
Please join us at Grace Church!

We celebrate the Eucharist at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  The celebrant for the 8 AM service is The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold.  The preacher for the 8 AM service is Mia Benjamin, Life Together intern.  The celebrant and preacher for the 10 AM service is The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates. Sunday School begins promptly at 9:45 AM.  Please be on time as Bishop Gates will be visiting Sunday School classrooms before the 10 AM service.  The Rev. Noah H. Evans is the celebrant at the 5 PM service and Mia Benjamin preaches at 5 PM.

 

Bishop Alan Gates 

Official Visitation

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Please come to the Rt. Rev. Alan Gates official visitation to Grace Church.  He will have time with children in their Sunday School classes, and will be the celebrant and preacher at the 10AM service.  Come and meet our new Bishop!  (And remember to "spring forward" your clocks that morning.  Daylight savings time begins!)

 

9:45AM Bishop Gates visits with Children in Sunday School classrooms

10:00AM Holy Eucharist, Bishop Gates Celebrant and Preacher

11:30AM Coffee Hour and Question and Answer time with Bishop Gates

12:30PM Lunch with Vestry and Bishop Gates

 

The loose plate offering for this service will be collected for The Bishop's discretionary fund and will be designated for Theological Education.  Checks may be made out to "Bishops Discretionary Fund" for this collection. 

Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 8. Please remember to set your clocks ahead one hour so that you can come to church on time.
KID'S CORNER
Scouting Sunday, March 8: Our Boy and Girl Scouts have been doing learning activities to earn their Religion Awards, trying new spiritual practices and helping with outreach and worship. They've been making Valentine's cards for seniors, walking a labyrinth, making a video to welcome new children to the parish, hosting coffee hour, and more! Look for them in their uniforms on March 8, when they'll be ushering! We will present the awards at this service, when Bishop Gates is with us. Come and help us honor the faith commitment and growth of our Scouts.

Friday night youth event on March 27:

Grace Church is hosting an evening of games and fun for youth, grades 6-12, on Friday, March 27 from 6-10pm. Parent chaperones are Kathryn Benjamin and Linda Rogers. Dinner is not provided, but kids can bring a favorite board game to share.

 

Children's Holy Week Service, April 3: Come to our children's service on Good Friday, at 5:30pm. We will hear the whole story of Holy Week, from the triumphant entrance into Jerusalem to the Last Supper and Christ's Passion. We'll use art and drama to enter into the story from a number of different perspectives: a Roman soldier, a servant girl, and a donkey (yes, that donkey). This will be the one service on Good Friday when it's all right to make some noise. You can even tear the temple curtain in two (God did it first, so it's ok).

Wednesdays at Grace

5:30: younger children's Godly Play classes

6:00: Community Dinner

Dinner hosts on March 11: The Hamel Family

6:45: older children's classes

Adult Education- 6:45-8:00PM

Visions of Jesus

Lent Wednesday Night Series

Who is Jesus, really? Understanding the person, teachings and interpretations of Jesus is central to our faith - yet there are so many different traditions and strands of understanding him. During this series we will explore some of the many, many perspectives and understandings of Jesus, his teachings and what he accomplished through his ministry, death, resurrection and ascension.

 

Jesus as Mother

Wednesday, March 11, 6:45PM

Led by The Reverend Dr. Maggie Arnold

We often pray to God using the name, "Father," following our Lord's example and instruction. But we can also use the image of mother in contemplating the work of Christ. Christ sacrifices His own body on the cross to give us new life, and feeds us from His body in the Eucharist, like a laboring and nursing mother. Come and explore this beautiful image from our tradition, as when St. Anselm of Canterbury prayed in the eleventh century, "Christ my Mother, you gather your chicks under your wings."

 

Jesus Angry, Anguished, and Annoyed

Wednesday, March 18

Led by Mia Benjamin

"In his anguish, he prayed..." (Luke 22:44) In some of the most dramatic scenes of the Gospels, we are given a glimpse into the emotional life of Jesus. Luke tells of us of Jesus's fear and pain in the garden of Gethsemane, Matthew captures his rage in the temple, and Mark describes an indignant and exasperated Jesus many times. So what does it mean for us that Jesus felt and was motivated by strong and unpleasant emotions? How can Jesus's impatience and irritation set an example for our own lives? Come get deep into the texts that challenge us to get deep into Jesus's heart-and our own-with our intern, Mia.

 

Who do you say that I am?  

Our own image of Jesus

Wednesday, March 26, 6:45PM

The Reverend Noah H. Evans

Jesus asks Peter and his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" When they answer that question for themselves it is deeply transformative. We will be exploring that question for ourselves in light of the presentations from this series, and answering it for ourselves, as we approach Holy Week and Easter.

Outreach Corner 

The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining is  March 28.

Lisa Carson is the coordinator of Grace Church's work with the St. Luke's Community Dining ministry. Please contact her with any questions.

 

Food is needed for the food pantries that Grace Episcopal Church supports. Food items may be placed in the baskets just outside the main entrance to the sanctuary (an usher can help you locate them). The items for March 8 are coffee or tea. The item for March 15 are jelly, jam, peanut butter or sunflower seed butter.

 

Help needed! 

Our Church helps two food pantries in Medford and we are looking for help. We need people to help shuttle the food to the pantry. It is light work and it is fun. See Beverly Convery, Sara Folta or Vin Maganzini if you want to help feed the hungry.  It helps and it is very much appreciated.

Other Announcements
 
  

Join us in Lent 

The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold designed a Lenten calendar to guide us on our journey.  Pick one up when you are at church.  Also, please pick up a Lent brochure to find out what is happening at Grace this season.

 

 

 

 

 Lent Madness is back.  Pick up your bracket at Grace Church and follow online. 

 

 

Episcopal Church Classes. 

Rev. Noah and Rev. Maggie will be leading classes about the Episcopal Church on Sundays from January 25 through March 22 from 11:30 -12:30.  For all the topics see the January Newsletter.

 

March 15 - Exploring the Life of the Episcopal Church  (Moderator: Margaret Smist)

A panel discussion of people who have come to the Episcopal Church from other denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church.

 

March 22 - Grace Episcopal Church: Who We Are

(Moderators: Margaret, Maggie and Noah)

A panel discussion of Grace Church parishioners. Learn how Grace Church has impacted and transformed their own and their family's lives.

 

Mobilizing the Church: from Dreaming to Doing -- Saturday, March 7, 2015 from 9AM to 4:00 PM - Christ Church, Needham

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and Episcopal City Mission present a spring learning event. The Rev. Noah H. Evans is a presenter at the event.

"...We know that growing congregations have effective clergy and lay partnerships in leadership, tell their faith stories and do projects that generate excitement. We also know that community organizing promotes similar outcomes through the practices it teaches. Come join other followers of Jesus at this intersection of faith and action and be stirred by what the Bible says about social justice."

 

Keynote addresses by activist, community organizer, advocate and urban planner Alexie Torres-Flemming and Associate Professor, Dept. of Public Policy and Public Affairs at McCormack Graduate School at UMass Boston, Dr. Mark R. Warren as well as reflections from Bishop Alan M. Gates and Bishop Gayle E. Harris are part of the day's events.

 

Idle Threat:

A Documentary Screening on March 11 at 7:00 p.m.at the Medford Public Library

Idling engines consume more than 6 billion gallons of gasoline annually, and contribute to local air pollution,respiratory disease and global climate change.  Idle Threat : Man on Emission is a lively look at one man's spirited struggleto improve public health by raising awareness, starting in New York City.

 

Presented by the Friends of the Medford Public Library and the Medford Department of Energy and the Environment

 

"Symphony of the Soil" Screening
Friday, March 13th
Doors open at 6:30pm and movie starts at 7pm. 
6:30-7PM Folks from the Community Garden Coalition will run a spring gardening workshop.

In conjunction with the Medford Farmers Market film series, and the Medford Film Collaborative, Grace Church is hosting a screening of "Symphony of the Soil."Check the March Newsletter for more about the film.  

 

20/30s Fellowship Group

Come for dinner, discussion, and games at Mia's intentional community house in Cambridge on Saturday, March 14 at 6:30 PM!  Bring a side dish, drink, and/or favorite game. Friends welcome! Contact mia@gracemedford.org
 if you can attend or RSVP on our Facebook group. 
 

Grace Medford LGBTQ Coalition Luncheon

The LGBTQ presence has been growing at Grace Episcopal Medford for years,  yet we have never met formally as a group.   Please join us Sunday, March 15 at Salvatore's Italian Restaurant in Medford Center, for an informal gathering of our community.  While this will be mostly a social gathering, we will also be discussing our role at Grace, outreach and how we build a better sense of inclusion. 

 

Lunch will be "Dutch treat".  Please RSVP to Patrick Hardy no later than Wednesday, March 11 if you plan to attend.

 

Medford Rehab and Nursing Center
Open Meeting
The Grace LDI Team has come together around a shared purpose of combating the stigma against mental illness and aging in our communities and creating a beautiful and sacred space for worship at the Medford Rehab and Nursing Center. We are inviting anyone interested in participating and supporting our efforts, including planning Holy Week and Easter celebrations, to attend an open meeting on Sunday, March 15th after the 10:00am service.  

 

Senior Men's Lunch

The next Senior Men's Lunch will be Wednesday, March 18th at noon at John Brewers Tavern in Malden.

 

Passion Play 2015 will be performed on Palm Sunday, March 29th, as the Gospel during the 10:00 AM service. It's still time to join our multi-generational cast in the telling of the Passion of Christ! Just contact Director Laura Duggan at LauraRDuggan16@gmail.com. There are only two Saturday rehearsals: March 21st and 28th, 10:00 to noon.  Don't miss this chance to join the Parable Players of Grace Church!

 

New Multicultural Play Coming to  

Grace Church October 2015!

Open Auditions will be held for "The Virtue of Penelope: A Chinese Odyssey" on April 18th and 25th from 10:00 AM to noon and 1:00 to 2:00 PM at Medford's Grace Church, 160 High Street, for actors aged 12 years -old to adult. All applicants should be prepared to audition with a two-minute monologue. "Call backs" will be on Saturday, May 2nd, 10:00 AM to noon and 1:00 to 3:00 PM at Grace Church. "Odyssey" will premiere at Grace Church this October 16th and 17th in conjunction with CACHE's October "Arts Around Medford" celebration.

 

Written and directed by Laura R. Duggan, "The Virtue of Penelope: A Chinese Odyssey" is based upon Homer's Epic Poems, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." It will be done in a Chinese theatrical style with both authentic dance and kung-fu staged by Medford's Ninja Nguyen of XTreme Ninja on Riverside Avenue.  Direct all inquiries to Laura R. Duggan at  LauraRDuggan16@gmail.com.

 

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.