Grace Episcopal Church  
In This Issue
Birthdays

Connect with Grace!

Grace Church
 
Join us on 
Watch us on 
 
See us on 
Follow us on 
 

Sunday Services 

8:00 AM
Celebrant:  The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher: Mia Benjamin, Life Together intern
LEM: June Pietrantoni
Usher: John Schlesinger
Altar Guild:
June Pietrantoni

10:00 AM
Celebrant: 
The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher:  The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge
Minister of Music:
Ruth Roper 
LEM I: 
Lisa Faber Ginggen
LEM II:
Mia Benjamin
Hallie Stephenson Lee
Sean Kerans
Acolytes:
Nzube Opara, Chioma Opara and Lucy Kossuth
Ushers:
Jane Scherban and Linda Foote
Altar Guild
Elaine and Robin Sheets
Vestry Person of the Day:
Jeffrey Quilter
Nursery workers:
Cassaday Sanders and Brianna Nwachukwu
Counters:
Jane Scherban and Naida Gavrelis
Coffee Hour:  
Steve Duggan, coffee -- Harry Mumma and family, food


5:00 PM
Celebrant:  The Rev. Dr. Maggie Arnold
Preacher:  Mia Benjamin, Life Together intern
Musician: Nicholas Hayes

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

Annabell Dow (5/25); Daniel Nwachukwu and Jane Scherban (5/26); Larry Rogers (5/27) and Oscar Greene (5/28).

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 on Sunday at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  Sunday School begins promptly at 9:45 AM.  Nursery care is available during the 10:00 AM service.  

This Sunday, May 22 is our last 5 PM service for the season.  The 5 PM service will resume after Labor Day.  
by Mia Benjamin 

On Saturday, May 7th, nine young adults from Grace Church joined with the St. Andrew's Framingham 20s/30s fellowship to lend a hand for Habitat for Humanity. We assisted in constructing a duplex home for two families in Wayland, MA. read more
Dear Friends,
 
Over the past two years Grace Church has been blessed with Mia Benjamin's ministry and presence as she served as our intern. On May 18th, Mia gave an amazing "Last Lecture" where she shared a few learnings from her time with us. It was a wonderful parting gift, and I can only imagine how she'll soar as she continues on in this next chapter in her life.
 
Mia is now headed to seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA, where rigorous studies and books, books, books await her arrival! Grace Church would like thank and acknowledge Mia for her hard work by sending her off to seminary with a nice gift to help cover the cost of all of those books.
 
Please see me if you'd like to join me in contributing to her gift. You can write a check to Grace Church (note "Mia gift" in the memo section) or give cash (placed in an envelope and titled, "Mia gift"). We'll thank her for her ministry with us and present her with her gift on Sunday, June 12th.
 
Lucia Page, Jr. Warden
Outreach Corner 
The next opportunity to help at St. Luke's Community Dining in Chelsea is May 28.  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 May 22 are peanut butter, sunflower seed butter or jelly. The items for May 29 are cereal or rice.
Wednesdays @ Grace
Our last Wednesdays at Grace of the school year will be on May 25--join us for a wonderful POT-LUCK dinner, with games and activities for the whole family, as we celebrate the close of a wonderful program year. Dinner is at 6 PM. Please note that there will not be regular classes for kids or adults that night.
Barbara C. Harris Summer Camp

Grace Church is a stop on the chartered bus route to camp all summer, and we need volunteers to supervise the camper drop-offs (on Sunday afternoons) and pick-ups (Friday afternoons) from the last weekend in June through the last weekend in July. Are you interested? Contact Rev. Maggie at maggie@gracemedford.org.

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 
Green banner GreenUp CleanUp 2016
Grace Church's ministry to engage the community in park cleanups is back for its 6th year!

Clean Up Leaders and partners are needed to coordinate other clean ups this year. We're also looking for a volunteer or two to help with media and outreach by taking photos and sending short write-ups  to the local papers before and after events. Anyone interested in learning more and getting more involved with this ministry should speak with Alicia Hunt,
GreenUpCleanUp@gracemedford.org
Other Announcements


The Rev. Dr. Cameron Elliot Partridge will be our guest preacher at the 10 AM service, Sunday, May 22nd.
 
City Reach presentation on May 22 
My name is Jaeda Hamel and next Sunday, May 22nd, I will be talking about my experience at City Reach. City Reach helps the homeless in the Boston area. I had an amazing time. It helped me understand the drawbacks of being homeless. If you would like to know more about my experience, I will be in the Common Room after Church. It will be for about 10 minutes and there will be another person who went with me. Thank-you! 

Last 5:00PM Service May 22nd
The last Eucharist at 5:00 pm will be held on Sunday, May 22nd. The evening service will start back up again after Labor Day!

Community Life and Fellowship Committee 
will meet on Sunday, May 22 following the 5PM service.  Contact Hallie Lee for more information.

Healthy Returns @ Grace
Parental Caregivers Support Group
Do you take care of your parents? Are you making decisions for them? Isn't this hard? If you would like to commiserate, share your situation and experiences, and learn from others similar experiences, join us once a month for a Parental Caregivers Support Group. We will use the bookThe 36 hour day: a Family Guide to Caring for People who have Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementias and Memory Loss by N. Mace and P Rabins as a third party reference. This is part of the new Healthy Returns @ Grace. We will meet on Tuesday nights from 7-8pm (-8:30 for private discussions) in the Common Room at Grace Church. The dates are May 24 and June 14 with more scheduled later. For more information, email Day Farenga at dyf4@comcast.net or Hallie Lee at hallies.lee@gmail.com.

Cooking Class with Esther Brownsmith
To Everything a Season: Cooking Spring's Bounty
Learn how to use New England's spring produce to create healthful, delicious meals in this interactive cooking class.  Parishioner Esther Brownsmith will demonstrate cooking techniques using the ingredients in season at the farmer's market: pea shoots, radishes, June strawberries, and more.  After we prepare a meal from scratch, including a simple whole grain bread, we will have a chance to eat together and discuss the impact of food on our physical, spiritual, and emotional health.  Participants will go home with a packet of recipes and seeds to grow their own windowsill harvest.  (Advance registration is required; please mention any food restrictions at time of registration. Must be 18+ to attend this event.)
Date:    Friday, June 10
Time:    6:30 to 9pm
Place:  Grace Church
Cost:     $15.00 per person
To register, email Esther Brownsmith at esther.brownsmith@gmail.com or Nanci Palladino at nanci.palladino57@comcast.net.

Grace Women's Lunch
The Grace Women's Lunch group has decided it will no longer meet on Mondays, beginning in June, 2016.  The June lunch is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, and future lunches will be on the first Wednesday of each month.  The group will continue to meet at noon at John Brewer's Tavern in Malden until further notice and, as we did last year, we will continue to meet during the summer months.

Welcome Lunch
There will be a welcome lunch following the 10AM service on Sunday, June 5th for those who are new(er) to Grace Church. This is a time for you and your family to share a light lunch with Grace Church staff, other newcomer's and some long-time parishioners. Contact Margaret Smist if you would like more information.
 
"Breaking the Fast" Community Iftar Dinner
Join the Medford Human Rights Commission, the Medford Interfaith Clergy Association, and the Mystic Valley NAACP for a Community Iftar Dinner this June 9! "Iftar" is the traditional communal breaking of the fast at sunset during "Ramadan," the Muslim holy month of fasting and spiritual contemplation from June 6-July 5. We will gather at City Hall on Thursday, June 9th at 7:00 pm for prayer and dinner in support of our Muslim neighbors and the interfaith communities of Medford.  

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 June 11 at 4 p.m.  Light refreshments will be served.  The cost is $40 and all supplies and refreshments are included. 

Join Episcopal City Mission for a Night of Witness, Worship and Celebration - 5:30 pm, June 14, 2016 @ The Cathedral - Join us in honoring the work of social justice leaders this year and welcoming our new Executive Director, The Rev. Arrington Chambliss. The Rev. Mariama White-Hammond organizer, activist, minister at Bethel AME, and formerly Executive Director of Project HIP-HOP, will be our preacher. SCHEDULE: 5:30 pm Grantee Gallery and Refreshments; 6:30 pm Service of Witness; 8:00 pm Reception with Robust Appetizers. Please register to attend this free event:  www.EpiscopalCityMission.org.

Youth Leadership Academy Project
A YLA "YO Tea" will be held on Saturday, June 18 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 Wiles Hall.