Grace Episcopal Church  
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Sunday Ministers
Birthdays
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Sunday Services

8 AM

Celebrant and Preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold

LEM:

Branwen Smith-King
Ushers:Wesley Foote, Sr. 
Altar Guild:June Pietrantoni
 
10 AM
Celebrant and Preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Minister of Music:  Ruth Roper
LEM I: Louis Carson
LEM II:
Lector I*: Sandra Eriksson-Ellis
Margaret Smist
Acolytes: Chioma Opara, Nzube Opara and Melanie Edgecomb 
Ushers: Butch Edgecomb and Daniel Egger
Altar Guild
Dottie Palladino and Margaret Smist
Healing Ministers:
Vestry Person of the Day:
Catherine Smith
Coffee Hour Hosts:
Tom Hamel, coffee  and Margaret Smist, food
Counters:
Bryan Spence and Jean Spiers

5:00 PM
Celebrant:
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold 
Musician: 
Cheryl Forest Morganson
Altar Guild: 
Mia Benjamin and Carolyn Rogers 
 
*click on link to prepare for this week's readings  

Birthdays

 

Evan Fillebrown and John Rogers, Sr. (4/12); Kathryn Benjamin (4/13); Christopher Walker, Danalee Williams and Cheryl Woodbury (4/14); Nora Bond (4/15); Melanie Edgecomb (4/16); Emily Brady (4/17); Tim Lwanga and James Williams (4/18).

 

If we do not have your birthday, please contact the church office at 781-396-7215 or office@gracemedford.org  
Welcome
Please join us at 
Grace Church!

We celebrate the Eucharist at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  The celebrant and preacher for all services is The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold. Sunday School begins promptly at 9:45 AM. Nursery care is available.

 

"Farewell, See You Soon"

Organ Sendoff Celebration, Dinner and Party on Sunday, April 12, 2015, 6:00PM

On Monday, April 13, our 1875 Hook & Hastings Organ will be removed and taken to the shop of our organ restorer for its complete restoration.  We will be saying farewell to our organ until it returns just before Christmas.  So we are going to have a farewell party! ** Spaghetti Dinner ** Opportunities to Play the Organ ** Organ demonstrations and Tours ** Children's Activities ** FUN!! ** FREE ** (with plenty of opportunities to pledge to the Organ restoration fund)  Questions or want to help?  Talk to Hallie Lee or Naida Gavrelis.

Wednesdays at Grace

5:30: younger children's Godly Play classes

6:00: Community Dinner

Dinner Host on April 15: Kathy Mumma 

6:45: older children's classes

Adult Education- 6:45-8:00PM

 

Celebrate Earth Month with Grace Church 
 

"Let Justice Roll on Like a River"

A Presentation about River Stewardship and Access -- April 15, 2015 - 6:45PM

Russell Cohen, Rivers Advocate at Division of Ecologic Restoration/Riverways Program, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game

Russ Cohen will address the adverse impact of urbanization - particularly of impervious surfaces on water quality and quantity - and provide examples of Best Management Practices being used to mitigate this impact. 

  

Richard Beinecke is a professor in the Suffolk University Institute for Public Service

 

Dr. Beinecke will discuss opportunities for public access to the Mystic River, addressing issues many citizens are unaware of - which could use advocacy with "the powers that be" to effect lasting change - including full pedestrian access to/along the river near I-93, part of the Mystic River Master Plan.


For more information about these speakers, click here.

 

April 29, 2015 

Movie: "Trashed - No Place For Waste"

"Trashed - No Place for Waste" looks at the risks to the food chain and the environment through pollution of our air, land and sea by waste. The film reveals surprising truths about very immediate and potent dangers to our health, a global conversation from Iceland to Indonesia between the film star Jeremy Irons and scientists, politicians, and ordinary individuals whose health and livelihoods have been fundamentally affected by waste pollution. Visually and emotionally the film is both horrific and beautiful: an interplay of human interest and political wake-up call. But it ends on a message of hope: showing how the risks to our survival can easily be averted through sustainable approaches that provide far more employment than the current 'waste industry'.

 

There will also be a presentation by a local community group about recycling and waste in our own community. 

 

This free screening is sponsored by the Medford Film Collaborative, Grace Episcopal Church, and the City of Medford Office of Energy and the Environment.

Outreach Corner 

 

The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining is April 25.  It is not just cooking. There are several other duties that go along with community dining, such as, serving food to people seated, clean up, washing dishes, cutting up vegetables, filling the plates with food before serving and so much more.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 item for Sunday, April 12 is canned soup.  The items for Sunday, April 19 are pasta and sauce.

 

The Spring Clothing Pantry will be held on Saturday, April 11th.  See Maria Fenn if you would like to volunteer to set-up or to help out. All ages are welcome to help sort clothing on Thursday in the church or help set up on Friday. Adults only please during the clothing pantry hours from 9AM to 1PM.
Green banner
GreenUp CleanUp Event Hosts Needed!
 http://gracemedford.org/greenupcleanup/

If you are interested in being the point person for a CleanUp, or represent a group that would like to partner with Grace Church to clean up a park, please let us know.  No prior experience is necessary.

Email us at  greenupcleanup@gracemedford.org  to get the process started.  If you have questions, please ask a member of the GreenUp CleanUp team: Alicia Hunt, Margaret Smist or Ann Frenning-Kossuth

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Medford Community Park Clean Ups on April 25th!

In addition to organizing community park clean ups, members of Grace Church also support other area cleanups.  This year, for Earth Day & DCR Park Serves Day there are 4 cleanups on Saturday April 25th in Medford. Let Alicia Hunt know if you want to coordinate a Grace Church group to any of these events:

9AM-noon Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) will host a river and park cleanup to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 25 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Volunteers should meet at the DCR Torbert MacDonald Park parking lot off of Mystic Valley Parkway/Route 16 in Medford.  Contact:Andrea Ritter

9am-1pm Friends of the Middlesex Fells will host a day of service in conjunction with DCR Park Serve Day.  Available projects will include trail cleanups and habitat restoration at sites throughout the Fells Reservation.  Volunteers should meet at Flynn Rink (300 Elm St., Medford) between 9am and 10:30am
 to register and receive your work assignment.  All ages are welcome! Please bring water, snacks, sunscreen and/or bug spray to suit your needs. Any required tools will be provided.  Lightning cancels, otherwise please dress for the weather.  Contact: Rich Sanford

9:30am-1pm - Friends of the Mystic River - 20th annual Mystic River Spring Cleanup
Volunteers meet at Hormel (90 Locust St.) to sign in and pick up bags, gloves and instructions. Work will focus on the Mystic Riverbend Park and adjacent MacDonald Park areas, but participants are welcome to travel to any other location along the Mystic in Medford that they may wish to clean up. At the end of the event, organizers will collect all bags of trash that have been filled and return them to the Hormel site for pickup by the city.
2pm-4pm - Medford Community Coalition - Medford Square
Participants should meet at Burying Ground Plaza at the corner of Riverside Ave. and River St. in Medford Square by 1:45 p.m. Jointly with Medford DPW, Green Medford, and the Medford Department of Energy and the Environment.  Contact: Laura at medfordcoalition@gmail.com.

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Water Chestnut Pull
Our river is covered with an invasive plant - water chestnuts.  The City of Medford, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) and the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation are involved in a multi-year project to remove this plant from our river.  One portion of the work each year is hand pulling the weeds.  The work is messy, wet and fun!

Saturday July 18th, 9am-noon
 join members of Grace Church to hand-harvest water chestnuts with MyRWA.  Advance registration will be required to reserve space in a canoe. For more information contact Alicia Hunt.
Other Announcements
 

Medford Rehab and Nursing Center  

The Grace LDI Team, now known as SHARE Grace (Spreading Hope Awareness and Renewal with the Elderly and People with Mental Illness) has come together around a shared purpose of combating the stigma against mental illness and aging in our communities to create a beautiful and sacred space for worship at the Medford Rehab and Nursing Center.  We are having our next monthly service on Wednesday April 22 at 3 PM 

 

Senior Men's Lunch

The next Senior Men's Lunch will be Wednesday, April 15th at noon at John Brewers Tavern in Malden.

 

Book Club

The Women's Book Club meets every third Thursday except in August at 7 pm. Any woman is welcome to attend any meeting. For April 16 we're reading The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. . For more information, see Genita at the 10 am church service or email her at pawleyslegacy@verizon.net.


Friday night youth event on April 17:

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 Laura Duggan and Deb Smith. Dinner is not provided, but kids can bring a favorite board game to share.

 

Peabody Museum visit, 

Wednesday, April 22: 

Grace parishioner Jeffrey Quilter is the Director of Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and has organized a visit for elementary school children (grades 2-5) during April vacation week, on Wednesday, April 22 at 10:30am. We will experience a program on religious artifacts and practices on the Day of the Dead in Central America. All kids must be accompanied by an adult. Admission for the day and program are FREE! This is a great opportunity. You must RSVP to Rev. Maggie in order to join our group, 

maggie@gracemedford.org. We'll plan to get lunch in the area together afterwards.

 

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.

 

20/30s Fellowship

Join us for a simple meal and discussion on Friday, April 24th at 7:00 pm.  We'll be having a classic Stone Soup meal so please bring your favorite soup ingredients ready to add. Contact Mia Benjamin mia@gracemedford.org to RSVP or join our Facebook group.

 

Calling all artists!

The SHARE Grace team is looking for artists (children and adult volunteers) to create portraits from photographs of the residents of Medford Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. We will have a portrait workshop and masterpiece creation party after the 10am service on April 26th. Portraits will be displayed in the Parish Hall and then presented to residents in May. If you are interested using any range of media to create portraits or looking to get involved, please contact Mia at mia@gracemedford.org.