Grace Church was beautiful for Christmas services this year. The new communion table location reveals the high altar in a way that hasn't been seen in a while, making for some great perspectives.

A family consisting of a hard-working single father, two daughters and a baby grandson had presents under their tree this Christmas, thanks to Grace members and friends who contributed a gift or gave money towards a DVD player,

A special thanks goes to Grace Staples, who asked Christ's Community in College Hill to select a family for us to assist with gifts for Christmas and then presented us with the opportunity to contribute to a family's happiness.

The new communion table was ready as planned for Christmas, thanks to the efforts of several members and friends. Special thanks go to Jim Edgy, here seen polishing one of the communion railings.

Thanks also to Louise Bower, here seen sewing the new frontal for the communion table.

And, have you noticed the glistening floors? That's due to to sexton Bob Jones' energetic polishing over the past several weeks.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make Grace Church beautiful for Christmas.

At its December meeting, Mission Council approved the addition of Ms. Sheila Jenkins Morgan to the parish staff as Christian Formation Coordinator. Ms. Morgan will begin working part time on January 5. She will work mostly in the evenings until June, when it is anticipated she will become full time.

This position is made possible by diocesan grants, and represents part of the diocesan interest in the developing ministry at Grace Church.

Sheila Morgan is a member of St. Simon of Cyrene Episcopal Church in Lincoln Heights and has extensive experience in youth work and Christian Education. She is also manager of a Head Start facility downtown.

Sheila will be working to involve students at Aiken High School, making contacts to attract young adults to the life of the Church, and directing our own internal Sunday School and Christian Education activities. She will also be working with other churches in the area to participate in interchurch ministries to youth and young adults.

We are excited about this opportunity to increase the exposure of Grace Church in the community and to contribute to ministry among the diverse peoples of the College Hill community.

You can email Ms. Jenkins-Morgan at formation@gracecollegehill.org.

On December 17, Jim Edgy and Patricia Wanner presented Steve Reynolds for the sacrament of Holy Baptism. After the congregation pledged to support him in his new life in Christ, Steve was baptized into the household of God by Fr. John Bower.

This was Grace's first baptism in many months.

A traditional location for a baptismal font is near the entrance to the church, symbolizing people's entrance into the life of the church family. Having the large wooden font near our front door makes for a dramatic entrance.

Pledges for the support of Grace Church in 2007 now total over $58,000 from 41 members and friends.

If you have not yet made a pledge of support to Grace for 2007, you should know that it is never too late to make a pledge. And it's easy. Simply tell the office (513-541-2415, office@gracecollegehill.org) how much you expect to contribute in 2007 and whether or not you want pledge envelopes. Or pick up a pledge card on the table at the back of the church, fill it out and put it in the offering plate.

No pledge is too small; what's important is knowing that we're all together in our commitment to support Grace Church.

To make it a little easier to communicate with Grace Church, we've created some new email addresses, as follows:

• office@gracecollegehill.org sends email to the office manager, Jim Edgy.
• vicar@gracecollegehill.org sends email to the Vicar, Fr. John Bower.
• formation@gracecollegehill.org sends email to the Christian Formation Coordinator, Sheila Jenkins-Morgan.
• and finally, egracenotes@gracecollegehill.org sends email to your editor.

If you'd like to be in the know about what's happening at Grace, one way to get the straight scoop is to read the minutes of the Mission Council Meetings.

December's meeting minutes are posted here. You can see minutes for previous meeting by clicking on "Minutes" under "Subject Index" on the left side of that page. There's also a complete index on the News page of the Grace Church web site here.