Grace Episcopal Church  
In This Issue
Birthdays

Connect with Grace!

Grace Church
 
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Sunday Services 
8:00 AM
Celebrant:
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Preacher:
Mia Benjamin, Life Together Fellow
LEM:
Branwen Smith-King
Usher: 
John Schlesinger
Altar Guild:
June Pietrantoni

10:00 AM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Preacher: 
Mia Benjamin, Life Together Fellow
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper    
LEM I:
Mia Benjamin
LEM II:
Margaret Smist
Lector I *:
Ellery Klein
Barbara Povey
Acolytes:
Becca Spence, Tori Spence and Sam Cluggish
Ushers:
Linda Foote and Jill Capuccio
Altar Guild
Elaine and Robin Sheets
Vestry Person of the Day:
Aram Smith
Counters:
Tom Hamel and Linda Foote
Coffee Hour:  Tom Hamel, coffee and Laura and Steve Duggan, food
 
5:00 PM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Noah H. Evans
Preacher:  Mia Benjamin
Musician: 
Nicholas Hayes 
 
*click on link to prepare for this week's readings
Birthdays

Nathaniel Stinson, (2/14); Claudia Stumpf (2/15); Ray Pardy and Celeste Younger (2/16); Stephen Clouse (2/17); Shawn Piper (2/19) and Karen Voorhees (2/19).

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.  A children's homily will be offered following the Gospel reading at the 10 AM service in the Parish hall. Children will return to the service during the exchange of the peace. Nursery care is available during the 10 AM service.

"The season of Lent is upon us," Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael Curry said in his Message for Lent 2016. "It is a season of making a renewed commitment to participate and be a part of the movement of Jesus in this world..."
More images from Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday at Grace Church.  read more  
Listen to The Rev. Noah H. Evans' sermon for the Last Sunday of Epiphany given on February 7, 2016.  Listen here.
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.

Grace Church will also be holding special Lenten events, including children's activities.  read more
Use your imagination and the locations mentioned in the calendar as clues to link the journey through Lent to the life and history of the City of Medford. Reflect on Jesus' journey at each site that you visit.

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 to post what you discover along the way.
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 item for February 14 is coffee.  The items for February 21 are peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, or jelly.
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 by going to David E. Wallace's website or checking their Facebook page and checking 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
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!  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. Goto 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:
2/14       Church History
2/21       Reading Scripture
2/28       Prayer
3/6         Christian Practice
3/13       Christian Vocation

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.