Pancake Breakfast on Mardi Gras Sunday, March 2

How much do you love pancakes (gluten free and otherwise)? Bacon?  Breakfast?

The traditional Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras Day will be transferred to Sunday, March 2 to help increase the number of participants.

Come to Grace on March 2 anytime between 9:30 AM and 12:15 PM for a delicious pancake breakfast!  We are trying out our idea of an ongoing coffee hour on Sunday mornings.

Heading to the Handel Week Concert that afternoon and afraid after the 10:30 service is too late for you?  Come at 9:30 and join the fun.  

The breakfast will end by 12:30 so that we can have the Parish Hall and kitchen cleaned up by 1PM for the Handel Week pre-concert lecture and concert.  We will need a few volunteers to help with the resetting of space from 12:30-1.

Food will be provided.  You are also free to bring a breakfast dish to share. You can also give a small donation towards the cost.

Want to help cook?  Contact Shawn.

This event is being sponsored by the vestry.

-Shawn and the vestry

P.S. Bring your palms so we can get them ready for Ash Wednesday.

P.P.S. Does this make you still hungry for the chili supper on Tuesday?  If someone wants to organize one we can still have it or we can sponsor one later in Lent.   

Are you a young person or adult interested in exploring your faith life, learning more about the Episcopal Church, or even taking the next step of your spiritual journey? Or do you know someone who is? On Sunday, February 23rd, Grace will begin "Finding God, Finding Grace," a faith formation series open to all. We'll meet after the 10:30 service in the small groups meeting room next to the Parish Hall.  Throughout this series we will explore our place in our scriptures, traditions, and the life of the church. Those who choose may conclude the series in confirmation, reception, or reaffirmation of faith by the Bishop, but all are welcome. Interested people should speak to Shawn, Nick, or Eric.

7AM

12:15PM (brief service without Eucharist) 

6PM (Ash Wednesday for kids)

7:30PM

"Ashes to Go" is a somewhat irreverent title for a very serious attempt to make use of our rich liturgical tradition in a day of public witness and evangelization. In the last few years, various congregations throughout the diocese have made use of Ash Wednesday to offer the prayer of the church to commuters and others, engaging them with a brief and invitational encounter with one of the most evocative symbolic gestures of the season.

The origins of our liturgical tradition include ritual observances and prayer in the public square. I believe it is appropriate for us to rediscover the potential power of some of these elements for own time and cultural context. There is a vast hunger in our world for the presence of the Lord Jesus and for a declaration of the truth that we are finite and human creatures, dependent on a loving and merciful God. The rites of Ash Wednesday can be a powerful tool to offer just this message to folks who would never walk through the doors of our churches to experience it. I hope many of you will join in offering this ministry to people outside the walls of our churches. Christ is there.

Please email me for more information. Feel free to chat with Nadia Stefko, Bill Voss, John Seaton, Flora Green, Barbara Larsen, Weeks Ringle or Walter Thorne about their experiences with this ministry.

Ash Wednesday is March 5th this year.  Suggested coverage times for volunteers:

Alexander Crummell

Born March 3, 1819, in New York City, Alexander Crummell struggled against racism all his life. As a young man, he was driven out of an academy in New Hampshire, dismissed as a candidate for Holy Orders in New York, and rejected for admittance to General Seminary. Ordained in 1844 as a priest in the Diocese of Massachusetts, he left for England after being excluded from participating in diocesan convention. After receiving a degree from Cambridge, he went to Liberia as a missionary. The African race, Crummell believed, possessed a "warm, emotional and impulsive energy," which in America had been corrupted by oppression. The Episcopal Church, with its emphasis on rational and moral discipline, was especially fitted for the moral and spiritual regeneration of Afro-Americans. A model Christian republic seemed possible in Liberia. European education and technology, combined with traditional African communal culture, and undergirded by a national Episcopal Church headed by a black bishop, was the vision espoused by Crummell. He traveled extensively in the United States urging blacks to immigrate to Liberia and support the work of the Church there.

On returning to Liberia, he worked to establish a national Episcopal Church. Political opposition and a loss of funding finally forced him to return to the United States. He concentrated his efforts on establishing a strong urban presence of independent black congregations that would be centers of worship, education and social service. When southern bishops proposed that a separate missionary district be created for black congregations, Crummell created a national convocation to fight the proposal. The Union of Black Episcopalians is an outgrowth of that organization.

Crummell's ministry spanned more than half a century and three continents. Everywhere, at all times, he labored to prepare his people and to build institutions that would serve them and provide scope for the exercises of their gifts in leadership and creativity. His faith in God, his perseverance in spite of repeated discouragement, his perception that the Church transcended the racism and limited vision of its rulers, and his unfailing belief in the goodness and greatness of black people are the legacy of this Afro-American pioneer.

There will be a vigil to pray for the people of South Sudan at All Saints' Church, 4550 North Hermitage, Chicago next Thursday, February 20th at 7:30 pm.  Even though there has been little news about the situation in South Sudan, there is still conflict and a growing number of internal refugees.  The Diocese of Chicago is planning this vigil and if you are interested there will be a planning meeting, Sunday, February 16th at 2:30 pm held at All Saints' in Chicago.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has made the week of February 16th a time to pray for South Sudan.  Bishop Joseph in the Diocese of Renk asks that you pray for the 800,000 people that have been displaced due to this internal conflict.

Bishop Joseph says prayers matter.  We can pray.  Bishop Joseph says money matters.  We can give.

-Susan Hickey

The book study group organizes itself around authors who focus on living more fully from one's soul in the second half of life. The life of Christ is often used by such authors as a paradigm for this.

Next book announced!  We will be learning about Tibetan Buddhism and the psychology of Carl Jung. The book we chose describes the basics of each and compares the two.

The Essence of Jung's Psychology and Tibetan Buddhism: Western and Eastern Paths to the Heart by Radmila Moacanin. The text of the book is only 107 pages, so we should be able to complete our discussion of it in three or four sessions.

Our next discussion will be Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 PM at the home of Bets Howland and Dennis Zavac.

In preparation, please read chapter 1 - "Buddhism." We recommend also reading the conclusion and coda at the end of the book, which gives a good overview.

It is said by students of Jung's psychology that Jung brings added life to Christianity. We hope that will be your experience as well.

Radmila has a solid grounding in both Tibetan Buddhism and Jung's psychology. She has a PhD in Psychology and practices in Southern California. She knows the Dalai Lama personally and was with him when he learned he was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Please email Bets & Dennis with any questions, or to join the group.

NOTE: If you click on the image below, or the link above to order the book, Grace will receive a portion of the sale price.

Faithful Citizenship Workshop - This Saturday, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. at Unity Temple

Faith In Place is an interfaith community organization that works with people of faith to integrate ecological advocacy into social justice initiatives. The workshop on Saturday is meant to equip individuals and communities of faith to advocate for local ecological concerns.  

Registration and more information may be found here.

Ursa Ensemble - a mixed chamber music group of young people from Chicago

Program: Britten's Phantasy Quartet, Brahms' Horn Trio, A selection of Bach Chorales arranged by several of the Ursa members.

When: Saturday, March 1st, 7 pm

Where: Grace Episcopal Church

Cost: Free will donation

Why go: A lovely complement to all that Handel music!

For more information, please visit their website ursaensemble.com.

February 23rd 10:30am Service:
ACOLYTES: Joe Ratz, Tim Edwards, Natalia Reniszewski
MC/LEMS:  Mark Woodworth; Barbara Larsen, Sam Love, Charlie MacDougall, Karen-Jo Mensch, Natalie Ratz
LECTORS: Sam Love, Ade Onayemi
INTERCESSORS: Lascelles Anderson, Grace Coberly
ALTAR GUILD: Joan Anderson, Heather Bovell, Scott Garman, Flora Green, Hansi Kess, Kathy Onayemi, Al Papillon, Willie Polite, Sally Prescott, Natalie Ratz, Marie Rock, Jane Shirley, Chuck Tupta; Mary Ann Urbashich
BREAD BAKER: The Lucé family
USHERS: Laura Morgan Day, Sam Love, Alan Harvey, Donna Anderson
GREETERS: Ade Onayemi, Gloria Rayburn, Jane Shirley
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS AFTER 9:00 SERVICE: The Bailey/Short family
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS AFTER 10:30 SERVICE: Volunteer(s) needed

March 2nd 10:30am Service:
ACOLYTES: Tim Edwards, Joe Ratz
MC/LEMS:  Eric Biddy; Jim Redden, Helen Thomason, Bob Vogler, Sue Wells, Lascelles Anderson
LECTORS: TBA
INTERCESSORS: TBA
ALTAR GUILD: Joan Anderson, Heather Bovell, Scott Garman, Flora Green, Hansi Kess, Kathy Onayemi, Al Papillon, Willie Polite, Sally Prescott, Natalie Ratz, Marie Rock, Jane Shirley, Chuck Tupta; Mary Ann Urbashich
BREAD BAKER: Jill Gimesky
USHERS: James Redden, Flemming Bovell, Linda Reynes, Jim Groll
GREETERS: Stephanie Bailey, Heather Bovell, Paul & Cathy O'Kelly
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS AFTER 9:00 SERVICE: The Ratz family
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS AFTER 10:30 SERVICE: Pancake breakfast