Grace Episcopal Church  
In This Issue
Birthdays

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Sunday Services
 
8:00 AM
Celebrant:
The Rev.  Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher:  The Rev. Noah H. Evans 
LEM: Mia Benjamin    
Usher: Wes Foote, Sr.
Altar Guild: June Pietrantoni

10:00 AM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher: The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper   
LEM I:
Louis Carson
LEM II:
Genita Johnson
Lector I*:
Sean Kerans  
Lector II*:
Ann Frenning-Kossuth  
Acolytes:
Nzube Opara, Chioma Opara and Lucy Kossuth
Ushers:
Steve Duggan and Vin Maganzini   
Altar Guild
Margaret Smist and Dottie Palladino
Healing Ministers: 
Brenda Pearson, The Rev. Noah Evans, Mia Benjamin and Sara Folta
Vestry Person of the Day:
Lucia Page    
Coffee Hour Hosts:  
Tom Hamel, coffee and The Outreach Committee, food 
Counters:
Jill Capuccio and Tom Hamel
 
5:00 PM
Celebrant and Preacher: 
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Musician:  Nicholas Hayes 
Altar Guild Carolyn Rogers and Mia Benjamin
Healing Ministers: The Healing Ministers of Grace Church

*click on link to prepare for this week's readings
Birthdays

Adele Travisano (12/20); Sadie Nowick and Benjamin Wirz (12/21); Monty Hill (12/22); Tori Spence and Becca Spence (12/23); Joné Marceau and Nathan Paquet (12/25); Butch Edgecomb, Elizabeth Pardy and Abi Shittu (12/26).

If we do not have your birthday, please contact the church office at 781-396-7215 or office@gracemedford.org  
Christmas Caroling at Medford Rehab
Welcome.
Please join us at
 Grace Church!
The Services this week are Sunday at 8 AM, 10 AM and 5 PM.  Our Sunday School classes begin at 9:45 AM.  Nursery care is available   The children will join the service to celebrate the Eucharist.

The Grace Church Christmas Pageant will be Saturday, Dec. 19th at 5pm, with a community potluck to follow.
 
Blue Christmas Service, December 20 at 5PM
Grace Church is offering a special "Blue Christmas" service; a service of remembrance, hope and healing. Everyone, regardless of faith and/or church background (or lack thereof) is welcome. For more information, contact the church office at (781) 396-7215 or at office@gracemedford.org 
A Christmas Message
written by 
Oscar H. Greene
Grace Church parishioner, Oscar Greene, has been writing for many years.  At age 96, he is still writing.  His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and anthologies. He is the author of several books:  House of Strangers, Hampton and the War Years, and From Homecoming to Twilight and Ruby: A Love Story.  read more
Repent! and Mercy... - A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent, December 13, 2015 by
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold

It's an easy sermon to give, right now, this text is like a softball to the preacher. So much sin so evident in our world. There is the devastation of our environment, the product of human greed, and we witness the reluctance of people to deal with it. There is the tragedy of racial violence and of economic injustice-both...
Help Respond to the Syrian Refugee Crisis 
Grace Church members met on December 4 to discuss how we should respond to this crisis.  We identified a few short term projects and some longer term projects.  There is still an opportunity to help out.  In fact, before Christmas, there are three opportunities to help refugees, one of which will actually SAVE you time during this busy season!  read more 
We have  confirmed a  date of Tuesday, January 12, 2016 for the re-installation of the organ to begin.  The work will take 3-4 weeks to complete.  We are excited that this project is nearing completion, and that soon enough we will have organ again for our worship.  You can follow the organ restoration progress on the Grace Church restoration blog. 
Outreach Corner 
The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining in Chelsea is December 26.
Please contact Lisa Carson
with any questions or to volunteer to help. 
 
Food is needed for the food pantries that Grace Episcopal Church supports.  The items for December 20 are pasta or sauce.  The items for December 27 are coffee or tea.  Please remember that on Christmas Eve we are collecting non-perishable food items for the Medford food pantries that Grace supports.  Help us share our gifts.

Giving Tree Thanks to all who supported the Grace Church Giving Tree Project! Grace Church offers gift cards to those who come to the church looking for aid.  You can help by dropping off a gift card anytime you are at church.
Wednesdays @ Grace will resume January 6 
Toddler Godly Play class - 5:30-6:30
Godly Play 1-Preschool-Kindergarten,   5:30-6:15
Godly Play 2-Grades 1-2,   5:30-6:15
Dinner,   6-6:45
Child-care for children through 2nd grade, 6:45-8
Bible Class (grades 3-4), 6:45-8
Rite 13 youth group (grades 5-7), 6:45-8
J2A youth group (grades 8-9), 6:45-8
Adult Education classes, 6:45-8

Wednesday, January 6, 2016  at 7:00 PM 
"A Small Good Thing" Film Screening with the Medford Film Collaborative. 
For the longest time, we've been living as though the more we have-the more money, the more goods, the more territory-the happier we'll be. Surprisingly, over the last fifty years as our standard of living has improved, our happiness has not...read more 

Wednesdays, January 13, 20 , 27 at 6:45PM
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy
Led by the Reverend Noah H. Evans
We know that major environmental and social change is beginning to happen, and that our lives and habits need to change as well. read more
January 13 - The Great Turning
January 20 - Seeing with New Eyes
January 27 - Going Forth

Wednesday, February 3 at 6:45 PM
Thru-Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
Last summer, Chris Pirrello, Beverly Convery's grandson, hiked the entire Continental Divide trail...read more
Other Announcements
   
Christmas Eve Services
ALL ARE WELCOME!
December 24, 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Grace Church will gather for our celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve, December 24th with services at 4:00 PM (service for Children and Families) and 7:00 PM (Candlelight with Choir).  Please bring a nonperishable food item for the Medford food pantries.  Children: please bring an ornament to decorate the Grace Church Christmas tree. 
 
Christmas Lessons and Carols
Sunday, December 27th at 10:00AM
Join us as we continue to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas!  There will be no 8AM and 5PM service on December 27th. 

Youth Mental Health First Aid Course
Building off of our successful Mental Health First Aid course this past February, Grace Episcopal Church is partnering with the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts to host the Youth Mental Health First Aid course on Saturday, January 9th from 9:00am-6:00pm (with a break for lunch). The course is open to Grace Church, the wider Medford community, and adult youth ministry volunteers across the Diocese. Cost of the program and materials is $25. Lunch and hospitality is included. Register here:

Book Club
The Women's Book Club meets every third Thursday at 7PM.  On January 21 we read -The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown; For more information, see Genita Johnson at the 10 am church service or email her at  
pawleyslegacy@verizon.net.

Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting
The Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting will be on Sunday, February 28 immediately following the 10AM service.