... the several people who have been visiting Jackie Lewis in the hospital, and to those who have been praying for her.

... to all that organized and contributed in any way to the  Blessed Grill. It was an awesome success. Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. Special thanks to Roger Perna, Judy Handy, J. White, Wanda Miller and Bob Jones for the prep.

... those who returned their Common Ministry surveys. This information will help Grace move forward.

... Roger Perna and Grace Staples for organizing this year's stewardship campaign.

... the six members who attended last weekend's Common Ministry meeting at Procter. (see below).

... Tony Denbo and Jeff Goddard for replanting the flower bed and planting new grass near the Lower Belmont entrance. And for the other things we haven't noticed yet.

 
Sunday worship moved outside on the fourth Sunday in August. The celebrative Eucharist  was followed by a "Holy Grille" featuring barbequed ribs and other goodies provided by members of the congregation. You can get a good idea of what went on by looking at the pictures here.

 

• Wednesday, September 15, 6pm: Mission Council
• Saturday, September 18, 10am: Communications Meeting.
• Sunday, September 19: Celebratin of Wholeness & Healing.
• Thursday, September 23, 9am to noon: Work day & lunch.
• Saturday, September 25, 9am to 10am: Clean the Church.
• Saturday, September 25, 10am to noon: All Parish Common Ministry Meeting.
• Sunday, October 3: Sharing Sunday, bring food for the College Hill pantry.

See the Grace Calendar Page for more information and more events.

We try to list every event at Grace in the online calendar to facilitate scheduling. If you know of any meeting that's not listed, please let us know at webmaster@gracecollegehill.org.

This past Sunday, we welcomed the Rev. Bob Hufford into our cycle of celebrants at Grace Church.   Fr. Hufford earned his bachelor's degree at Brown University, his Master's at McGill in Montreal and his Master's of Divinity at Nashotah House.  He was ordained deacon and priest in 1972 in the Diocese of Chicago and has served the parishes of St. Alban's in Chicago and St. Stephen's in Covington, KY, for several years each.  He also served as campus minister at Eastern Kentucky University.  For the past 17 years he has served as Chaplain of the Sisters of the Transfiguration in Glendale where he will still celebrate at 8 AM on the Sundays he leads our 10 AM service.  (So don't be surprised if he's a little breathless!)  Fr. Hufford says Grace Church reminds him very much of the parishes he has served in the past in its makeup and outlook and looks forward to worship and fellowship with the people of Grace. 

Several Grace people took Fr. Hufford to lunch at the Coffee Shop following Sunday's service.

Thanks to Grace Staples for putting together this bio.

This coming Sunday's regular worship service will be the Celebration of Wholeness and Healing service. We have done this service a couple of times in the recent past. 

In a recent sermon, Hawley Todd provided a rationale for why such a service has a place alongside the Eucharist as a principal Sunday Service. Summarizing:
Hawley's sermon did a far better job of explaining this than this editor's summary can do. See his sermon here.

Wondering what happens at a Sunday morning healing service? You can see the order used for a recent Celebration of Wholeness and Healing here. We understand that it's been shortened a bit for this coming Sunday.

There's new grass growing at Grace near the lower Belmont Door, thanks to Tony Denbo.  Tony's been working hard to get our grounds spruced up in time for a wedding in early October.

Six Grace people attended last weekend's overnight Common Ministry workshop at Procter Conference Center. In addition to learning more about Common Ministry during the formal sessions, they participated in a marathon open-bottle colloquium that went into the early morning hours on Friday evening.

In the picture to the right you can see Roger Perna and Marjorie Shadd listening to Canon Annne Reed.




In this picture, The three people on the right are Grace Staples, Wanda Miller and Hawley Todd listening to Fr. Derick Fetz's presentation on meeting facilitation. Not pictured is Ken Lyon, who was taking the pictures.

Over 25 members and friends have returned their Common Ministry Surveys (the Gifts, Passions and "What's Grace to You" questionaires). The responses have been tabulated and we're ready to begin using this information to guide planning for Grace's future as a Common Ministry church. 

The tabulations, along with plans for discerning their implications will be shared at Wednesday's Mission Council Meeting.

A joint meeting of Mission Council and  the Common Ministry Committee, to which all members and friends are urged to attend, will be held on Saturday, September 25 from 10 am to noon to discuss the implications of the surveys and what should we do differently.  This meeting will be led by Derrick Fetz, our representative from the Diocese on Common Ministry.

The theme of our 2011 stewardship campaign is "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow." We are reminding ourselves that everything we have has come from God, and we are asking each other to make our personal and financial resources available to thank and praise him by carrying on his work here at Grace Church. 

We will be having "Stewardship Moments" each Sunday between now and the end of our campaign.  Our estimated giving cards will be distributed on October 3, and we will conclude with our "Stewardship Celebration Sunday" with potluck luncheon on October 17. 

Our goal is 100% pledging participation from the congregation, with no pledge too small--or too large. We want everyone to come along with us on our stewardship journery.

Roger Perna.

We help host homeless families Friday night, September 24, at College Hill Presbyterian Church as part of the Interfaith Hospitality Network.   Please call the office or Grace Staples if you can help.  Thank you for blessing these families in distress.

Dear Family and friends.

The big day has finally arrived. We close on our house tomorrow, and move in Friday morning [9/10].  New address; 134 Begonia Court, Griffin GA 30223. Phone 770-228-1012.

Love to all.

Florence and Bob
 
P.S.  No computer yet.

All Grace leaders are invited to attend a meeting in the church office on Saturday, September 18 at 10 am to clarify responsibilities and other communication needs so all are aware of future events and are on the same page. 

Thanks to Grace Staples for seeing the need and doing something about it.

On the fourth Thursday of every month about ten parolees come to Grace to work with Grace volunteers to maintain our facility and make it more welcoming.

In August, they gathered limbs, brush and branches from all over our grounds and fed them into a chipper, creating a pile of mulch for use in our planting beds. 

The parolees come to put in their coummunity service time, but in the process they are certainly providing a service to Grace and to the community around us.

The next community service day is Thursday, September 23. Work starts at 9 am, following by a nice lunch provided by Grace volunteers at noon.

Join us! It's satisfying work.

Bishop Breidenthal himself is scheduled to visit Grace Church on Sunday, January 2, a great way to start off the new year.  Mark your calendars so you don't miss meeting this interesting man.

If you would like to participate in our Sunday worship in one of the following roles, please let the office know. People who do these things often report that they receive far more than they give.

If you would like to donate flowers to enhance the beauty of our worship, please sign the Flower Donation Sheet on the table by the Belmont Door or call the office with the name(s) of those you wish to honor or remember.   Normal donation is $35. There is a special flower box for smaller donations that can be combined to provide a Sunday arrangement.

Play bridge? If so, think about joining the Grace Church Bridge Group. For many years, members of Grace Church and others have been getting together on the third Friday of each month from September to May to snack and play Bridge. At the end of the year, the highest-scoring pair may win as much as $25! 

The first meeting of the 2010-2011 playing year will be a pot luck dinner at Hammond North at 7 pm this Friday, September 17. This is an organizational meeting so no bridge will be played.

Call Phillis Dietz at 513-541-8793 if you're interested.