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Save the Dates
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Grace at Noon:
Monday through Friday,
12:00 pm
Annual Meeting:
Sunday, February 23,
after church
Just for Fun:
Thursday, February 27, dinner and movie
Pancake Supper:
Tuesday, March 4
Ash Wednesday:
March 5 |
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The church is a lovely, quiet spot at midday--as you can see from the photo of Grace at Noon. Come for the quiet, come to rest in God, come to pray with sisters and brothers.
Bring a brown-bag lunch if you can, and stay and visit!
Our doors are open every day at noon--another way to share what we have with the neighborhood, and to welcome the presence and needs of our neighbors.
George R and Jeff R worked on printed doorhangers we can distribute throughout the neighborhood to publicize our daily prayer, and at least three folks have stepped up to do the walking-around effort. Let's see who else walks in at noon!
--Beth Reed, priest-in-charge
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Sunday, February 23, at Grace
| |  Eucharist, Annual Meeting, lunch
We celebrate the Eucharist at 10:00.
The scriptures are rich with the commands to love our neighbors and love our enemies. And the second reading asks: "Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"
Reading the scriptures before we come to church on Sunday can allow us to hear them more deeply when they are proclaimed in our assembly. To see this week's readings, click "Sunday Scripture texts," above left.
After the Eucharist, we will have our Annual Meeting. Please make every effort to be present. Pam A is arranging for sandwich trays so we can all have lunch. There will be a basket for donations ($5 per person would be helpful).
After the meeting and lunch, if you can stay to help clean up, please do so.
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Lent
| |  Pancakes, ashes, prayer, and studyThe church's "annual retreat" is one way to think of Lent. There are many others. The season is traditionally a time for intensified prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Our liturgy is pared down, our silences lengthened, our music more sober--all in preparation for our immersion in Christ's life, death, and resurrection that we celebrate in the Paschal (Easter) Triduum: April 17-20 this year. Please put all three nights of the Triduum (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) on your calendar and plan now to participate in these deeply moving and engaging liturgies. They are the center of our year. Before the austerity of the season, we feast! The Pancake Supper is Tuesday, March 4. This event is a fundraiser, and quite simply, fun! Ash Wednesday is March 5. We celebrate an evening Eucharist at 7:00, in which we hear the call to the observance of a holy Lent and participate in the sign of ashes. During the day, Beth Reed and others (including Pastor George from St. John's Lutheran) will be offering "Ashes to Go"--an invitation to repentance--on Hamilton Street. Intrigued? Visit this site and this one. Want to participate? Be in touch with Beth.The Book Group is organizing Sunday night study and conversation: we'll be reading Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination. More info to come. On five Wednesday evenings at 6:00, there will be Lent evening prayer, with chanted psalms, silence, and prayers, in the church. (March 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9) |
Just for Fun!
| | Next Thursday, dinner and a movie
There's a treat in Allentown next week, the live broadcast of War Horse, and a parishioner suggested an outing for anyone who wants to join in: Meet at Aci Halal (Turkish restaurant at 2nd and Linden) at 5:30 for dinner, and arrive at Miller Symphony Hall by 6:45 for the 7:00 show. For more information, contact Ellen R.Here's the description from the Symphony Hall website: "National Theatre Live will broadcast War Horse live from London's West End to cinemas around the world on February 27, 2014. Since its first performance at the National Theatre in 2007, War Horse has become an international smash hit.
"Based on Michael Morpurgo's novel and adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford, War Horse takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Filled with stirring music and songs, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing lifesized puppets by South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage."Watch an enchanting TED talk about the puppets here. |
Grace on Facebook
| |  Check it out and "like" our page
Our parish has a Facebook page (Grace Episcopal Church Allentown PA) and while it's not new, it's been a bit more active lately. We can all help our parish's communications efforts by visiting the page, liking it, commenting on posts, and sharing posts with your friends on Facebook.
Our presence in cyberspace is a big deal! Almost all visitors to our church on Sunday have first checked us out on the web somehow, so it really matters that Grace is present and active on the web.
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