Due to the snowstorm last Sunday, we have rescheduled the Annual Meeting to 9:40AM this Sunday, February 8, 2015.  Feel free to arrive by 9:30 so that we may spend time in fellowship together. Consider bringing

You may be wondering who is eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting. 

To be eligible to vote in parish elections at Grace Church, Oak Park, a person must:

●Be baptized

●Be age sixteen years or older

●Regularly attend worship

●Be recognized by the Rector and at least one Warden

●Be a member of a household which has contributed financially (in a traceable manner) to the parish at least six months immediately prior to the vote

●Be willing to conform to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of the Church

We invite everyone to bring a treat this Sunday to share at our Annual Meeting. We'd also welcome a few people arriving early (by 9:15) to setup and a few remaining after to help with cleanup. Thank you! 

For the next several weeks, we will be commemorating a holy woman or man in the Prayers of the People at the 10:30 liturgy. Since some of these saints are not well known, we'll be including brief biographies of them in e-Items. This week we will be remembering Anna Julia Haywood Cooper:

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper was born about 1859 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to an enslaved woman and a white man, presumably her mother's master. She attended St. Augustine Normal School and Collegiate Institute, founded by the Episcopal Church to educate African American teachers and clergy. There she became an Episcopalian and married George Cooper, one of her instructors, who was the second African American ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in North Carolina.

Widowed in 1879, Cooper received degrees from Oberlin College, and was made principal of the African American high school in Washington, D.C. Denied reappointment in 1906 because she refused to lower her educational standards. Cooper emphasized the importance of equal education for African Americans. An advocate for African American women, Cooper assisted in organizing the Colored Women's League and the first Colored Settlement House in Washington, D.C.

At the age of 65, in 1925, Cooper became the fourth African American woman to complete a doctorate, granted by the Sorbonne in Paris. From 1930-1942, she served as President of Freylinghuysen University. She died at the age of 104.

We have all passed through - and indeed still are feeling the tremors of - almost unimaginable moments of miscarriages of justice: in Ferguson, in New York, not so long ago in Florida. In partial response, we have dialogued, we have marched, and we have listened to public officials renew their commitment to correcting long-standing inequalities experienced by black youth and men in general in criminal justice systems all across this country. We now want to entertain a sustained discussion here in our church community about how we go forward in addressing these issues as an intentional Christian community in the light of that experience. To that end, we are creating an opportunity for all in our church to share their thoughts on these events by depositing your written thoughts in a box that will be placed in a very accessible location at Grace. We are doing this during Black History Month, and will use these thoughts to open a series of discussions in the months following Black History Month. Please note that names are not required, but if individuals wish to sign those statements, they should feel free to do so.

The Black History Luncheon is our gift to our church community to celebrate and bring to remembrance our history.

Please join us on Sunday, February 22 at 12:00 Noon in the Parish Hall. 

Donations are welcomed and will, this year, go to Mother Alice of Renk, Sudan, who lost her home in the fighting last year and, who is still without housing.

A veritable feast of African American, African and Caribbean dishes awaits you.

Have you thought about when you might host coffee hour?

Beginning March 1, two families will partner each Sunday to provide small snacks, serve and clean up. A sign up sheet for 2015 will be available this coming Sunday. Plan to sign up for two dates of your choice. Why not think about partnering with someone you don't know very well. If you are a choir member, think about partnering with someone who does not sing in the choir to make the job go more smoothly.

If you have not signed up by February 8 the committee will place your family in a slot as needed.

THANK YOU to everyone in advance for your part in making this work. With all of us participating, our usual Grace Church hospitality will be in evidence each week. And no stress!

Call or email Sarah Hunt with questions.