Welcome to the weekly e-newsletter of Grace Episcopal Church. Read about what's happening at Grace, and use the quick links to the left to find other helps to our life with God. To share this news with a friend, click the "forward email" link at the bottom of the page. 

We celebrate the Eucharist at 10:00. 

"Ingathering" is a term we use for collecting the pledges of support, especially financial support, for the coming year. We put our envelopes in the plate as we approach the altar. 

The gospel this week tells of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar whose sight Jesus restores. Bartimaeus then follows Jesus in "the way." He stands in sharp contrast to the insider disciples mentioned last week, who wanted the positions of prestige in Jesus' Kingdom. Jesus couldn't grant their request. Bartimaeus, an outsider, asks for sight, receives it, and follows Jesus: he is a true disciple. The "blind" person on the outside of Jesus' circle could see more clearly than those on the inside. 

What questions does the story raise for you? Where are we insiders blind? In what situations are we outsiders, and what does our vision from that vantage point lead us to do?

Pledges are the main source of revenue for the work of Grace Church. The church operates on a very lean budget; in fact, for the current year, we adopted a deficit budget. That situation is not, of course, ideal or sustainable for very long. Every pledge is important, and every pledge will contribute to the witness and work we are able to do in downtown Allentown. 

The Episcopal Church encourages members to consider tithing (giving 10% of one's income) to the church. If 10% is not yet manageable, we are encouraged to work toward that goal, and to consider financial giving as a percentage of our income. 

Three sessions are scheduled in our neighborhood for residents to comment on the development projects that are underway in the downtown. For locations and dates, click here. 

If you would like to add your input but you cannot attend a meeting, there are surveys available in the hall outside the church, on the way to the gathering space. 

The next community-wide meeting of the Allentown Community Benefits Coalition will be Monday evening, Nov. 12. This group of organizations includes some downtown churches, artists' groups, the Lehigh County Conference of Churches, the NAACP, and others. 

This morning in the pantry, the numbers were so great that people had to stand outside on the steps for a while because there was no room inside. Patty had to tell several people to come back tomorrow. (The pantry is open every Friday and the third and fourth Saturday of each month.)

Here are the September statistics: 

Families served: 325

Adults: 601

Children: 475

Seniors: 28

About a dozen volunteers worked to clean the church interior last Saturday--many thanks!

Chuck Milostiz will organize folks to clean the floor sometime in November or early December. This involves moving all the chairs, doing the cleaning, and replacing all the chairs. 

Our church has no paid cleaning or maintenance staff, and caring for our building is one way we support all the other good work that happens here: the worship, the community life, and our mission among our neighbors.