Grace Episcopal Church  

In This Issue
Sunday Ministers
Birthdays

Connect with Grace!

Sunday Services
9:00 AM

Celebrant: 
The Rev. Roger Nelson
Preacher:  Mia Benjamin, Emmaus Fellow 
Minister of Music: 
Ruth Roper  
LEM I:
Rochenet Joseph 
LEM II: 
Branwen Smith-King  
 Lector I*:
Lucia Page    
Lector II*:
Esther Brownsmith 
Acolytes: 
Timmy Lwanga, Catherine Woodbury and Elizabeth Woodbury 
Usher:
Aram Smith   
Altar Guild
Elaine and Robin Sheets  
Vestry Person of the Day:
Aram Smith   
Children's Homily: Maria Fenn
Coffee Hour Hosts:  
Vin Maganzini, coffee 
Counters:
Jane Scherban and Naida Gavrelis    
 
*click on link to prepare for this week's readings  

Birthdays

 

Linda Foote ((8/25); Adam Pearson (8/26); Rev. Noah Evans (8/27); Michael Cox and Guesly Eugene (8/29).


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!
Grace Church is on our summer service schedule with one Sunday service at 9:00 AM. This will be a chance for worshipers from the 8 AM, 10 AM and 5 PM congregations to be together, and also allows us to beat the summer heat! The Rev. Roger Nelson is the celebrant this Sunday.  Mia Benjamin, Emmaus Fellow will preach.
    #FlatGrace with Grace Church folks at St. Luke's Community Dining. 

You can bring Grace Church with you wherever you go this summer too! 

Pick up a picture of Grace Church and bring it with you on your travels this summer.  Take a photo and post it to social media or send it in and we will post it on our bulletin board. To print one from home, click here.

   Read the new post on the organ restoration at the "Restoring Grace" blog.   

 

David E. Wallace & Co. has invited us to visit the organ and see the restoration in person!  The date is Friday, August 28th.  Gorham,Maine is near Portland, about two hours from Medford.  There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the Wiles Parish Hall.  We will plan carpools once we know who is going.


Recently, for the first time since its installation, the organ was completely dismantled piece-by-piece and sent to David E. Wallace and Co. organ builders in Gorham, Maine for a complete restoration. We anticipate the return of a fully restored organ back at Grace Church by Christmas

 
The organ restoration project is the final project to be paid for by the 2011 Grace Church Capital Campaign along with additional fundraising being done to help support this effort. Please consider a contribution to help us reach our fundraising goal. 

Outreach Corner 

The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining is August 29. 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.  Please contact Lisa Carson with any questions or to volunteer to help on August 29th!

 

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 August 23 is cereal.  The item for August 30 is tuna.

Kid's Corner  

 

Register for Fall youth education programs

Please register now for our September Sunday School and Wednesdays at Grace programs.  Your registration helps us to plan, group classes and order supplies.  Click here for the online registration form.

 

Summer @ Grace for kids

From now through September 13th, there will be a Children's Homily in the parish hall during the regular sermon time. Please contact Rev. Maggie at maggie@gracemedford.org if the Spirit might be calling you to participate in this fun ministry. 

 

Ask Maggie about our Scripture Explorer Backpacks --filled with materials to help you explore a Bible story together at home or on the road! This is a great opportunity to grow in God's Word wherever you're roaming.  Look for them at the back of the church. 

 

When you're around, help us tend our vegetable garden! We always need help with weeding and watering. Talk to Rev. Maggie or Jane Hamel about putting your junior green thumbs to work.

 

Also, watch for a "Great Summer Reading for Kids" feature on our Facebook page.

Other Announcements

 

Summer Service Schedule

From Sunday, July 5th until Sunday, August 30th we will be on our summer service schedule with one service at 9:00AM. This will be a chance for worshipers from the 8, 10 and 5 congregations to be together, and also allows us to beat the summer heat!  

 

Dining with Grace

We have more picnics scheduled! The Hamel Family will host a picnic at their home this Sunday, August 23 at 4:00 PM.  Cindy Scott will be hosting at her home on Saturday, August 29th at 4PM and Maria Fenn is hosting on Sunday August 30th at 4:00 PM - please note the time change. Sign-up sheets are on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall.

 

Book Club

The Women's Book Club meets every third Thursday (except in August) at 7 pm. There is no meeting in August. On September 17th the book is The Given Day by Dennis LeHane The meeting in October is a bit early, October 15. We're reading A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind. For more information, see Genita at the 10 am church service or email her at  

pawleyslegacy@verizon.net. 

 

Save the Date!

September 13: Fall Parish Picnic

September 16: Columbia Fundraising Dinner 

September 20: Sunday school begins

September 23: Wednesdays at Grace Begins

 

Community Day Booth & Grace Parade Float
It's September 27th. You're watching the Medford 385th Anniversary Parade go down Winthrop Street when suddenly...HERE COMES THE GRACE CHURCH FLOAT!! 

If you just got really excited, have a brilliant design idea, a flatbed truck and/or a trailer, let Mia 
mia@gracemedford.org know!

We'll also be representing Grace to our community at Community Day on September 13th from 12:30-4:30pm. Possibilities for tying in the two events thematically abound! Community Day will especially be an incredible opportunity for explaining who Grace Church is and what "Love God. Love your neighbor. Change the world" really means to our wider Medford community. Let Mia know if this feels like part of your ministry at Grace and you'll like to be there at the booth.

Women's Retreat

Grace Church Women: we are offering a Women's Retreat, October 9-11, at Rolling Ridge retreat center in North Andover. Join us for fellowship, beautiful fall scenery, and activities including tai chi, yoga, and meditation workshops, crafting & art classes, and Bible study. Staying for one or both nights (or just joining us for a day) is fine, so costs will vary. See Maria Fenn, fennways@verizon.net , to sign up.