Grace Episcopal Church  
In This Issue
Birthdays

Connect with Grace!

Grace Church
 
Join us on 
Watch us on 
 
See us on 
Follow us on 
 
Christmas Eve Services
 
4:00 PM
Celebrant:
The Rev.  Noah H. Evans
Preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
LEMs: 
Rochenet Joseph and Dennis Hale
Lector: 
Butch Edgecomb
Usher: Kristen Spence and Don Capuccio
Acolytes: 
Catherine and Elizabeth Woodbury
Altar Guild:

7:00 PM
Celebrant and Preacher: 
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper   
LEM I:
Genita Johnson
LEM II:
Wes Foote, Jr.
Lector I:
Barbara Povey  
Lector II:
Margaret Smist 
Acolytes:
Sam Cluggish, Jaeda Hamel and Isaiah Irwin Evans
Ushers:
Linda Foote and Jill Capuccio
Altar Guild
Margaret Smist 
Counters:
Jane Scherban and Naida Gavrelis

 
December 27
Lessons and Carols 10AM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Minister of Music:  Ruth Roper
Readers: 
Margaret Smist, Claudia Stumpf, Cindy Scott, Barbara Novaes, 
Chioma Opara, Ellery Klein, Jaeda Hamel and Butch Edgecomb
Acolytes: 
Timmy Lwanga, Isabella Pastor and Gabriel Pastor
Ushers:  Daniel Egger and Butch Edgecomb
Vestry Person of the Day: Hallie Stephenson Lee
Altar Guild Margaret Smist
Counters:
Jane Scherban and Linda Foote
Coffee Hour:
Vin Maganzini, coffee - Margaret Smist and Naida Gavrelis, food


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

Kateri Paul (12/27); James Kossuth and Marthe Lysius (12/29); Bo Andreasen, Roman Garcia, Michael Kenyon and Jessica Kenyon (1/1); Maureen Edgecomb (1/2).

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!

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.
You can hear an audio recording of The Rev. Noah H. Evan's sermon from Sunday, December 20, the 4th Sunday in Advent on Soundcloud.  The link to listen is here on the Grace Church website.
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...
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 opportunities to help at St. Luke's Community Dining in Chelsea are December 26, 2015 and January 30, 2016. 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 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.
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
 
Please pray for Alan Novaes from Grace Church and the rest of the diocesan Youth Leadership Academy as they head off on their mission-focused trip to Arizona and Mexico December 25-31, 2015.  You can follow their progress during the week through their group blog at 
http://www.diomassyouth.org/apps/blog/, which will include daily reflections and photos.  We look forward to hearing more on the trip upon their return.   
 
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. 
 
Medford Historical Society & Museum  
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at Noon.
The Medford Historical Society has been around since 1896. In recent years, its mission and identity has become the museum for all things Medford. Have you been to the Society lately, or ever?  
 
MHSM invites Grace Church to come over for a tour and refreshments. We will gather at church after services and walk over together (or drive). It is located just a few blocks from Grace, at 10 Governors Ave.
 
Allison Andrews will introduce you to Medford artifacts and curiosities from the museum's collections. Visit the website at medfordhistorical.org.
 
There is a sign-up sheet in Wiles Hall for planning, but feel free to show up on the day of.
 
Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting
The Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting will be on Sunday, February 28 immediately following the 10AM service.