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Save the Dates
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Vestry Meeting:
Sunday, August 11,
after refreshments
Pride in the Park:
Sunday, August 18
Parish Picnic:
Sunday, August 18,
in the evening
Book Group:
Sundays in August
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Sunday, July 14, at Grace
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Eucharist, refreshments 
We celebrate the Eucharist at 10:00. The gospel story is the "good Samaritan," with its opportunities to consider who is our neighbor and what loving our neighbors entails.
After the Eucharist, we gather for refreshments.
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Literacy Center
| |  Plans are in place for next yearFor many years, students and teachers from the Literacy Center have been using our multipurpose room downstairs to deepen their knowledge and skills. Literacy Center staff recently have been in touch with Grace to ensure that they can continue to use our space. Of course, the answer is yes! Classes will begin September 9 and run through June 11 on most Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays-- a total of 109 meetings. The parish donates this use of space for this amazing community endeavor. The classes are free for the students. The Literacy Center welcomes tutors and teachers and financial support; if you would like more information about volunteering or other ways to support the organization, click here. |
| Parish Picnic | |  Plan on having fun!
The Denton-Borhaugs have offered their house and yard (and pool and croquet court!) for a parish picnic again this summer, on August 18. There was a great turnout last year--we enjoyed the pool, the food, the socializing, the kids and adults together, etc. This is a social event with no other agenda than enjoying each other's company and the summer. Later in the summer there will be sign up sheets to bring food and drinks, but save the date now, if you can! |
Pride in the Park
| |  It's August 18 this year
Grace has participated in the Pride in the Park festival for many years, and this year we will again join with other Episcopal parishes to sponsor and staff a booth there. The festival is Sunday, August 18, at Cedar Beach.
Showing up every year is a consistent witness to our Christian commitment to treat each person as our neighbor, especially people who have been discriminated against and demeaned or worse.
If you would like to volunteer for a shift in the booth (12:00-2:00), please be in touch with Beth Reed. (We can take the earlier time slot so we can attend the parish picnic later in the day.) Volunteers greet festival goers, engage them in conversation as they are willing, and distribute literature. We try to embody what the banner over the booth proclaims: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!
Other parishioners (especially David M, Will K) will be active at the festival as part of the FACT (Fighting AIDS Continuously Together) organization, an effort they have helped lead for more than twenty years.
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Book Group
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The next topic is pilgrimage 
Some parishioners have been gathering in the summer for at least eight years to enjoy reading a book together and talking about it, and eating and drinking while we do those things. Anybody and everybody is welcome to participate. The atmosphere is easy and comfortable. We meet in each others' homes, usually on Sunday evenings. The host provides beverages and other participants bring appetizers and snacks. Pilgrim Stories: On and Off the Road to Santiago, by Nancy Louise Frey, is the next book we will read together. Parishioner and professor Kelly Denton-Borhaug has just spent a month on the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago (in northwest Spain); she also recently taught a course at Moravian College about pilgrimage. With the book and Kelly's experience, the group will have great resources to explore the many dimensions of pilgrimage. Here are some questions to get us thinking: what's the difference between a pilgrim and a traveler or tourist? What is it like to walk for a month with your gear? What has drawn people to this experience for centuries? What happens when you reach your destination? Do we think of our lives with each other and God as a journey or a pilgrimage? What's it like to be on the pilgrim path with other pilgrims we don't know? We will meet on August 4, 11, and 25 (at least). For more information, contact Mary Louise B.
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| Diocesan Ordinations | | Blessings to Andrew and Kim
Andrew Reinholz and his wife, Kim, were ordained as priests on June 30 by Bishop Paul Marshall. Eight parishioners attended the event, and one of them, Bob H., also participated in the first Eucharist Andrew led as a priest, on Sunday, July 7, at St. Margaret's in Emmaus.
We wish Andrew and Kim all the best in their ministries! |
| Midday Quiet Prayer | |  We'll start later in the summer
The vestry and other parishioners plan to begin hosting a daily midday quiet service later in the summer.
The plan is to have the church open every day at lunch time and welcome downtown neighbors and workers to a place and time of quiet prayer. Some parishioners are working on avenues for publicity, and plans will be tested and refined so this practice can begin as soon as is reasonably possible. Stay tuned! |
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