Grace Episcopal Church  
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Birthdays

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Grace Church
 
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Sunday Services 
8:00 AM
Celebrant and Preacher:
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
LEM: 
June Pietrantoni
Usher: 
Wesley Foote, Sr.
Altar Guild:
June Pietrantoni

10:00 AM
Celebrant and
Preacher: The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper    
LEM I:
Emmy Llewellyn
LEM II:
Wes Foote, Jr.
Lector I *:
Claudia Stumpf
Ann Frenning-Kossuth
Acolytes:
Tim Lwanga, Lincoln Bell and Jackson Hughes Page
Ushers:
Dennis Hale and James Kossuth
Altar Guild
Adele Travisano and Marie Glynn
Vestry Person of the Day:
Tom Hamel
Counters:
Dennis Hale and Steve Duggan
Coffee Hour:  Vin Maganzini, coffee and food host needed
 
5:00 PM
Celebrant and Preacher: 
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Musician: 
Nicholas Hayes 
 
*click on link to prepare for this week's readings
Birthdays

Siobhan Glynn (2/7); Evelyn Masciave (2/8); Anita Stinson (2/9); Joshua Davis, Genita Johnson and Barbara Povey (2/11); Santino Borelli and Louis Piper Carson (2/13). 


If we do not have your birthday, please contact the church office at 781-396-7215 or office@gracemedford.org  
Soon we will prepare for Lent by burying our "Alleluias" for the season.
Welcome.
Please join us at
 Grace Church!
We celebrate the Eucharist at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  Sunday School begins promptly at 9:45 AM.  Nursery care is available.

PALMS NEEDED TO MAKE ASHES!
If you have palms from last year's Palm Sunday, bring them to church! We are burning palms to make ashes for Ash Wednesday during the pancake supper next week.
Rural and Urban Poverty in Paul Theroux's Deep South and Mary Gaitskill's The Mare

Grace Church parishoner Susan Maltz is a retired physical therapist.  She lives in Arlington with husband, Al, and dog, Reggie.
  
I would like to share these two excellent recently released books with my friends at Grace ... read more
Grace Church parishioner, Oscar H. Greene, has been writing for many years.  At age 97, he is still writing.  His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and anthologies. He is the author of several books... 

Words
"But the tongue can no man tame."  James 3:8
 
I hurried back to the Medford Public Library after dropping Ruby off at her office...read more
Lent at Grace Church
What will your Lent practice be?  What will your family's be? We invite you to join Grace for Lent!  

Find more information about Maggie's walking meditation practice, Noah's lessons in developing our prayer life, and growing a Rule of Life with Mia and the monastic community Society of St. John the Evangelist on our website.

For Lent, Our Wednesdays at Grace Adult Education series is "Read the Bible!" an introduction to different ways of reading biblical texts, which may develop into a practice of reading scripture.

Starting with Ash Wednesday, Grace Church will also be holding special Lenten events, including children's activities and a town-wide scavenger hunt!  read more
Get to know your own city AND the story of Jesus' Passion as you visit different sites around Medford, discovering clues that link the story of our salvation to the life and history of our own community. 
Download our Lent calendar, drawn by Rev. Maggie with thanks to Dee Morris and the Rite 13 youth group for help with ideas and images.  It is called "Jesus-caching" the Journey to Jerusalem.  You can pick up a copy at church or find it on the website here.  Use the hashtag #medfordlent.
Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church's Calendar of Saints read more.
Outreach Corner 
The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining in Chelsea is February 26, 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 February 7 are cereal or rice.  The item for February 14 is coffee.
Save the date!
Bishop Alan M. Gates will be at Grace on Wednesday, April 6 at 7:00PM for a Service of Dedication of our restored organ, and a celebration of the completion of our Capital Campaign project.  A festive community dinner will be held at 6:00 PM.

You can follow the organ restoration progress on the Grace Church restoration blog. 
Barbara C. Harris Summer Camp
Barbara C. Harris Camp & Conference Center Summer Camp registration is now open! Noah will be a camp chaplain and at Camp, Sunday, June 26th - Friday, July 1st. Sign up for that week, or any week of the summer!  Talk to Noah or Maggie about scholarships.  More information at BCHCenter.org 
Wednesdays @ Grace
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

Join us for Ash Wednesday Services on February 10.   There is no community dinner on the 10th.

There is no "Wednesdays at Grace" on February 17 due to school vacation.

Read the Bible! on Wednesday Nights
Wednesdays February 24 to March 16
The Christian scriptures can easily be seen as odd and strange, as well as beautiful and powerful, and sometime even indecipherable.  During this Lenten series we will explore a number of different ways to read and understand the bible.   Join us for one or all of this exciting series! 

How to Read the Bible: 
A Guide for the Perplexed
February 24 at 6:45PM
Led by Esther Brownsmith
As Episcopalians, our historical sources of authority are scripture, tradition, and reason.  Yet so often, scripture can feel intimidating, confusing, or just plain irrelevant.  This introduction to reading the Bible will equip you...read more.

Led by The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Reading the Bible as an Evangelical 
(It's not what you think!)
Wednesday March 2 at 6:45 PM
How do we understand the Bible? It's a collection of 66 books with different authors, written in various places, and even coming from two distinct religious traditions. Can we read this text  read more.

Lectio Divina
Wednesday March 9 at 6:45PM
Led by Mia Benjamin
Lectio Divina is a contemplative method of reading short passages of scripture that has its roots in the Benedictine monastic tradition.  read more

Living Close to Scripture
Wednesday, March 16 at 6:45PM
Led by the Reverend Noah H. Evans
How do we let scripture permeate our lives, and shape our daily experience of God...read more
Other Announcements

Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting
Annual Reports are Due!
The Grace Episcopal Church Annual Meeting will be on Sunday, February 28 immediately following the 10AM service. Annual Reports are due to the office on February 10th.  You can email your report to office@gracemedford.org. 
 
Concert to Benefit the World Food Program
Join the Grace Church team in putting together a benefit concert to raise money for the World Food Program efforts in Syria on Saturday, February 27 from 2:00-4:00 pm. We're coordinating a homemade Syrian supper and silent auction as well as a children's program for the event. Contact Catherine Smith to join this ministry. If you have an idea for items to donate to the silent auction, contact Jeff Pietrantoni. Go to http://www.gracemedford.org/syrian-relief for more information on the event!

Adult Baptism, Confirmation 
and Reception in the Episcopal Church class
Sundays, 4-5PM, January 31 - March 13
Taught by: The Rev. Noah H. Evans, The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold and Mia Benjamin
Are you interested in being baptized or in exploring being confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church?  This class will explore some foundations of Christian faith, life and practice.  Candidates for Baptism will be baptized at the Easter Vigil on Saturday, March 26 at 7PM.  Please let Noah or Maggie know if you have questions of would like to attend.
 
Tentative topic schedule:
2/7         The Sacraments
2/14       Church History
2/21       Reading Scripture
2/28       Prayer
3/6         Christian Practice
3/13       Christian Vocation
 
Service of the Four Chaplains 
Sunday, February 7, 2:00 PM - St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church, 512 High St., Medford
This interfaith service is to commemorate the four chaplains (on Jewish, one Catholic and two Protestant) who died in 1943 saving the lives of many sailors as the USAT Dorchester was tragically sunk.   This service is organized by the Medford American Legion.  The Reverend Noah Evans, our Rector, will be participating again this year.  Please come and join this interfaith celebration of heroic cooperation and service. 

pancakes Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, February 9
Come join us for our annual parish tradition of the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper!  The Supper will be held from 5:30-7 pm in Wiles Hall. There will be fun activities for the kids... read more

Book Club
The Women's Book Club meets every third Thursday at 7PM.   For February 18 we are reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.  For more information, see Genita Johnson at the 10 am church service or email her at pawleyslegacy@verizon.net.

Youth Leadership Academy Project - Intergenerational Tea
The first YLA "YO Tea" will be held on Saturday, February 20th at 3 p.m.  This is an afternoon tea for teens and 65+ adults to get together to share, learn and converse.  Catherine and Elizabeth Woodbury are running this tea for their YLA project for the church.  There is no cost to attend.  Please see any of the Woodbury's for more details.  There will be a sign-up sheet in the Wiles Hall.
YLA (Youth Leadership Academy) Fundraiser
Paint Afternoon for Elizabeth and Catherine Woodbury's YLA mission trip to Arizona and Mexico to talk and learn about border issues and the people this issue effects.  Come and paint with Cheryl Woodbury and have some fun with others from the church.  The fundraiser will take place on Saturday, March 12 at 3 p.m.  Light refreshments will be served.  The cost is $40 and all supplies and refreshments are included.