Grace Episcopal Church 

Weekly Update

March 6, 2014

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Grace at Noon: 
Monday through Friday, 
12:00 pm

Vestry Meeting:
Sunday, March 9,
after church

Book Group:
Sunday, March 9,
at the Bross home,
6:00 pm

Lent Evening Prayer:
Wednesdays,
March 12, 19, 26;
April 2 and 9,
6:00 pm

Paschal (Easter) Triduum:
Thursday, April 17;
Friday, April 18;
Saturday, April 19;
Sunday, April 20 

We enter the holy season of Lent.

The prayers, scriptures, and songs of the season invite us to deeper life with God. The six weeks before Easter allow us time to adopt a new habit that may help us grow closer to God and our neighbors. Or perhaps it's time to discard a habit that hinders us from closeness with God and our neighbors. Here's a link to 40 ways to keep a joyful, thankful, holy Lent.

Cultivating closeness with God and our neighbors prepares us to celebrate the center of our Christian life: our participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He immersed himself in our life, suffering, and death; and he rose.  Our three-day Easter celebration (Paschal or Easter Triduum--Triduum means three days) plunges us deeply in these mysteries.

Please mark your calendar and plan to participate in the liturgies of the Triduum: Maundy Thursday, April 17, at 7:30; Good Friday, April 18, at 7:30; and the Easter Vigil, Saturday, April 19, at 8:00. We also celebrate an Easter Eucharist on Sunday morning, April 20, at 10:00.

Whatever practice you may take up or set aside this Lent, I hope it brings you closer to God's love and mercy as they are revealed in Jesus.

--Beth Reed, priest-in-charge
Bishop Sean's visit
Thanks to all, on behalf of all! 

When Bishop Sean visited last weekend, the parish provided beautiful hospitality to him and to his wife, Carly. Everybody enjoyed the prayer together, Bishop Sean's preaching, and the communion at God's Table and at the reception afterward! The vestry and the bishop had a fruitful conversation, and we are honored that Grace was the first parish he visited as our new bishop.
Sunday, March 9, at Grace
Eucharist, coffee, vestry meeting

Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend. We celebrate the Eucharist for the First Sunday of Lent at 10:00.

Each year on this day we hear how Jesus spent 40 days in the desert after his baptism, and his allegiance to God alone was sorely tested by "the devil." What temptations come our way? What does it take to resist as Jesus did?

After the service, we enjoy coffee and conversation with each other and our visitors. During Lent, we refrain from the usual treats at coffee hour: they will taste all the sweeter at Easter!

The vestry will meet in the downstairs conference room; all parishioners are welcome to attend.

Image: JESUS MAFA. Jesus is tempted - Matthew 4:1-11, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48312 [retrieved March 4, 2014].
Book Group in Lent 
Walter Brueggemann
What were the prophets doing, 
and what could it mean for us?

The Book Group is organizing Sunday night study and conversation for Lent: we'll be reading Walter Brueggemann's
The Prophetic Imagination.

Everyone is welcome; especially if you've not participated in this activity before, consider yourself invited!

The first Lenten gathering is in Bethlehem at the home of Mary Louise and Addison B, on Sunday, March 9, at 6:00 pm. They will provide beverages, and other participants can bring appetizers to share. We'll be discussing the first 30 pages of the book.

Librarian Kelly C has copies of the book; see him on Sunday or contact him by email to get one. For reviews of the book,
Grace Community Foundation
Food and help with health insurance

We all know our pantry is a source for emergency food for our neighbors in the 18102 zip code. Last week it was also a place for information about the Affordable Care Act. Lydia, a student of parishioner Kelly D-B, had information for pantry visitors about signing up for health insurance (the deadline is March 31). She has been sharing such information in several venues as part of her work for the peace and justice minor at Moravian College.

Lydia (on left), a Moravian peace and justice student, visits with a pantry client last Friday.

Vounteers are key to how the pantry functions. Flo has been working at the welcome table for years, and she speaks both Spanish and English, which is a great help to the clients. She needs to be away for several weeks to care for her daughter-in-law, and thankfully, Kate, the niece of another faithful volunteer, Ann, is able to step in to help.
Ann, Kate, and Patty get ready to assist neighbors last Friday.
Pancake Supper Pictures

Special thanks to David M, Kathy Y, Lori M, and Hillie C for their work organizing and preparing and cleaning up from the Pancake Supper! And to all who participated and donated.


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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 have first checked us out on the web somehow, so it really matters that Grace is present and active on the web.