The Vestry is moving forward with a number of urgent capital projects for the church: boiler replacement, asbestos abatement, and stained glass window repairs. These are part of the ongoing maintenance of our lovely worship space that will later include repairs to the parish hall roof and chapel roof, which is causing leaks over the chapel and could require structural repairs.

The immediate capital needs are a bit over $105,000 (the exact bids will be in soon). We are excited to say that generous giving by parishioners has already raised $51,000. This leaves $54,000 as the amount that we still need to raise now.

We as a vestry and finance committee are also committed to adding a small amount from this fundraising into our Outreach Endowment.  

Please know that any funds that are not used for this project will be placed into a Building Fund for some of the other ongoing projects that are listed above.

We ask you to join the parishioners past and present that have given us this cherished space. In thanksgiving, in remembrance, for the joy of participating in the ongoing co-creation of beauty in the world, join us and make a gift to the legacy of Grace.

-Grace Church Wardens and Vestry 

The next meeting of Uncorking Theology will be held on Wednesday Oct. 24 at 7PM at the home of Dennis Zavac and Bets Howland. The reading for our meeting is from a paper (available at this link) entitled "Theology and Economics: Two Different Worlds?" prepared by our own Archbishop Rowan Williams for a conference on Building An Ethical Economy, and published in The Anglican Theological Review, Fall 2010. The following questions should help in focusing our discussion:

1)    What to you are the fundamental differences between theology and economics coming out of the Williams discussion? Are these differences surprising to you, or are they fairly commonplace?

2)    How do our current modes of what should be thought of as economic exchanges violate deep understandings of Christian ethical behavior? Is there an easy way to resolving these violations?

3)    Williams uses the term "mutuality" to identify what is central to Christian theology. What does mutuality mean to Rowan Williams? Do the accepted norms of economic performance that guide our life in "near" and "far" communities militate against the achievement of mutuality as you now understand that term? How can we respond to Williams' core message?

4)    At a very practical level, when we decide to "go out into the world," how can/do we do that adhering to what Williams calls necessary "self scrutiny"?

For the meeting address and directions, please email Dennis & Bets.

Sincerely,

Lascelles Anderson

Have you always wanted to see our fine tuned Grace PADS crew in action? Had a desire to help with PADS but didn't know where you could fit in? 

We have the perfect opportunity for you!

Next Wednesday, October 24th the PADS Grace Crew will be performing their usual dinner and set-up service but we are adding another duty! (THIS is where YOU come in!) We need workers to help sort clothing that is brought up from our basement to determine what is salvageable, and items that we can keep for our PADS guests, as well as items that can be donated or tossed. YOU will not be transporting or doing any heavy lifting. YOUR help comes into play in sorting and interacting with the PADS guests as we determine what clothing can stay, what needs to GO!

We have shifts available from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. THIS IS A BIG JOB and we can use all the help we can get! Only have an hour? We will take all donations of time!

It's a great chance to see what we do on our PADS night and see if you might be interested in helping out sometime during the year.

Questions? Please call Sally Prescott for more information or reply to her via email @ sprescott@prescottgroupllc.com.

THANKS for your consideration!

Grace Church will present David accompanying the movie during the Halloween Party extravaganza at Grace Church on October 31, 2012 beginning at 7:30 p.m.  Admission (pay at the door) is $20 for the movie, but is reduced to just $10 if you come in costume!  Spread the word!   Join the event on our Facebook page. 

Companionship Dinner with Bishop Joseph Atem

Grace has teamed up with Saint Christopher's to work with our sister parish, Saint Luke's in Renk, South Sudan. Our first joint venture will be Saturday, November 3rd, 6PM at Saint Christopher's - 545 South East Avenue, Oak Park. It will be a talk with Bishop Joseph about the latest events in Renk and also a report on how Mother Alice and Saint Luke's have been doing over this past year.

There will be a dinner and we are asked to bring either an appetizer or a dessert. Laura Kliewer is in charge of setting up the event and is asking that she be told about how many of us will be attending. We are looking for volunteers to help set up or help make the dinner. Please contact either Susan Hickey (zuzka48@aol.com or 708-387-2370) or Laura (laura_kk@sbcglobal,net or 708-837-9614) by October 28.