Let's Join a Parade--The Pride Parade
 Bob Laake, who leads the healing drumming at our Wednesday night Celebration of Wholeness and Healing, would like Grace Church to participate in the Pride parade. It's downtown on Sunday, July 10, starting at 1 pm. Grace has participated in previous parades, but wasn't able to participate last year because of an earlier Sunday starting time. Bob's thought is to have a flat bed truck or trailer with drummers on board, playing the whole time, advertising our Wednesday healing service. He says, "Drumming will excite and last in people's memories as well as plant the seed that they would like to come and participate." Time is short. Let Bob ( laakeb@cinci.rr.com, 859-240-3630) know if you'd like to participate. In particular, let him know if you have access to a flat bed truck or trailer!
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An Organist Changing of the Guard
 Jonathan Tan has left his position as Grace Church organist to take a teaching position in Australia.
Last Sunday after service, our parish family hosted a brunch to send him off with our many thanks, blessings and good wishes. We will miss him and look forward to his return in November to be with us for the Advent/Christmas season. Jonathan came to Grace Church in response to our call for an organist. He soon became our Minister of Music and much more. He immediately embraced our vision, becoming both partner and guide as we've worked to enhance our worship services in general, and our music program in particular. Jonathan has brought diversity and "freshness" to our music. Through his knowledge and experience, he has helped to make our services more meaningful as well. We very much appreciate all that he has shared with us, his flexibility, his caring and his commitment, as well as his amazing talent. ---000--- 
We are now happy to welcome Bill Jenne as our new organist. He begins his time with us this Sunday, July 3rd. Over the past 44 years, Bill has been Organist/Choir Master at Zion Lutheran Church, Hamilton; Trinity Episcopal Church, Hamilton; Ascension Episcopal Church, Middletown; and Organist at Zion Lutheran Church, Middletown. In those capacities, he has directed Senior, Children's and Bell choirs, reorganized a contemporary praise ensemble, and served as Cantor. Bill is also a past Dean of the American Guild of Organists' Cincinnati Chapter and an active organ recitalist. Thanks to Judy Handy for this article. |
Making Grace a "Destination Church"
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Mathew 28; 19a.
Before we can do this at Grace, people need to know to know we exist. One way to do this is to become a "destination." That's a place people come in addition to Sunday worship. We already do this to some extent with our healing services, and through use of our building by the Rainbow Band, Narcotics Anonymous and other groups.
 The Mission and Formation Team are looking for additional ways that Grace might become more of a "Destination Church." We have some ideas and some people to work on them but we would like your input.
For example, we could have live music performances. Roger Perna and J. White have agreed to work on the idea but they would like other people to help them.
We could augment our healing ministry by having more healing-related events: presentations by experts or by having healers' offices located in the building.
Or maybe a festival could become a major attraction. Peggy Jones is willing to work on that.
To see the full list of ideas, click here.
Then, let me know your thoughts. Do you have additional ideas to add to the list? Would you like to work with others on any of the listed items? You can contact me at spikelyon@gmail.com or you can phone me at 513-542-2941.
Article provided by Carol Lyon, Mission & Formation Teams co-Leader. |
What's Our "Claim to Fame?"
 Just when we started talking about Grace as a "destination church," an Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices article gives two examples of Episcopal churches that have a "claim to fame" in their community. It turns out that having a "claim to fame" and being a "destination church" are pretty much the same idea. The article starts: How or what is your congregation known for in your community? In my town, the two Episcopal Churches may be best known for their fundraisers. Both St. Michael's and St. Andrew's Episcopal churches in Marblehead, Mass have long established fundraisers that have become part of the fabric of the community. St. Michael's annual lobster luncheon is on many people's 'must do'... See the whole article here. And let's hope that we have a better claim to fame than Geraghty's shop! |
Grace's Links Page a Hit in Delaware
It's not often that we get feedback on the links page of Grace's website, but that's just what we heard yesterday morning, and it made your webmaster's day. Here's what Gen of Delaware (the state, not the city in Ohio) sent: I just wanted to drop you a quick note after I visited your website. This is probably way out of left field, but I am the proud mother of my wonderful gay son. He is the light in my life and a total inspiration to me. When he first came out to my husband and me, I was never ashamed of him, but I was torn between the love of my son and my Christian faith. I was lucky enough to meet someone who was able to help guide me find an affirming church where my whole family could worship and feel accepted. We also participate in a group that meets once a month to support each other and our gay loved ones in our spiritual journeys. I ran across you page while trying to find some helpful resources and reading for a new member in our group. It's so great that there are people on the net that are trying to pass along actual educational info instead of the usual useless drivel and ignorance that one finds on the net. The links on your page that I particularly enjoyed going to were gaychurch.com and the Queen City Rainbow Band. I have been using a webpage called Resources for Gay Christians with my son and our group It's a great resource page for gay Christians and I think it would make a really great link to add to your page. I'm no pro webmaster or anything, but I think it would be great supplemental info to what you already have. Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Needless to say, we did immediately drop Gen a line to let her know how much we appreciated hearing from her. We have already added her link suggestion to our links page.
The purpose of our links page is to help people find information that we think might be helpful. If you have suggestions to add to that page (or any other page on our website), do email webmaster@gracecollegehill.org.
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"Grace Center" Page Promotes Use of Grace's Building
 Grace Center is a new page on Grace's website that promotes the use of our building for weddings, banquets, and meetings of all kinds. If you know anyone who might use Grace as the site of a wedding, a reception, an organizational meeting, a concert, or for anything else our wonderful facility is suited for, contact the office (513-541-2415, office@gracecollegehill.org) to be referred to a person who can discuss details. More use of Grace's facility means more service to the community and more maintenance money in Grace's pocket. The page is a work in progress so if you have thoughts on how it might be improved, do let us know at webmaster@gracecollegehill.org. |
 Thanks to ...
- ... all who helped with the farewell brunch last Sunday for organist Jonathan Tan, who is off to a new post in Australia.
- ... Shirley Wang, who gave the altar flowers last Sunday in thanksgiving for the Education for Ministry Program at Grace, and in honor of the eight EfM graduates.
- ... to Wanda Miller who organized the reception for the EfM graduates.
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 ... the parolees and volunteers who worked here on June 23rd to clean the church and lay new sod near the Belmont entrance. - ... to Wanda Miller, who donated the sod.
- ... to the volunteers who provided lunch for the parolees and others.
- ... all the generous folks who have donated $10,000 + to our $15,000 roof repair. Bids are in and we hope to start work soon (when it stops raining).
We're sure that we've left out many of the people who deserve our thanks. Let us know who we've missed by clicking eGraceNotes@GraceCollegeHill.org. |
Prayer Requests
Please keep these people in your prayers for their special needs:
Lauren, Dr. Rehan, the Daniel family, the Cavalieri family, Virginia Chapel's family, Anne, Darryl, Caleb & Joshua, Brian, Kim & Robb, Lynda, Marty, Leroy, Erik, Alison, Alexis & Nathanael, Marie, Maureen Back, Irene Bryeans, Dean Bryeans, Diane, Barbara, Beverly, Jo, Bob and Rita..
Please let us know who should be included on our prayer list. You may use the Prayer Request Book at the rear of the nave to have persons included in the Sunday bulletin Prayer List and for prayers this week, or you can tell the office (513-541-2415, office@gracecollegehill.org). Make sure you have the person's permission to list him or her.
Pastoral Care
If you need pastoral care or know of someone who does, please call or email the office (513-541-2415, office@gracecollegehill.org). Keep us informed about about illness, hospital stays, requests for visits, communion, and prayers for special concerns. |
Pastoral Care at Grace
Marjorie Shadd, Pastoral Care team leader, reported at the last Mission and Formation team meeting that five hospital visits were done in May. These included taking flowers to one person, a Eucharistic visitor by another and three telephone contacts. She also pointed out that people in the congregation have been doing pastoral calling on their own which helps to expand the ministry. Marjorie would like two or three people to help her review the pastoral care program. That would involve meeting with her once a quarter to look over the program and to assess what is going well and what needs to change. If you are willing to help Marjorie make our pastoral ministry more effective you can e-mail her at shaddma@gmail.com. |
Common Ministry Review & Sharing Session at Procter July 9
The final meeting of the current Diocesan Common Ministry project will be held at Procter Conference Center on July 9 from 10 am to 2:45 pm. Each Common Ministry Church's church will share their experience with the program, which should make this a valuable learning time for us. All involved or interested people are invited. Free lunch will be served. Let the office ( office@gracecollegehill.org, 513-541-2415) know if you'd like to go. Ride pools will be organized if needed. |
Coming Events
- July's Wednesday night Celebration of Wholeness and Healing will be on July 6 this month only. Drumming starts at 6:30 pm; the service starts at 7 pm; and ends when all have left, usually around 10 pm. You may come and go as you wish.
- Mission & Formation Team Leaders meet in the office on July 7 at 6:30 pm.
- The final Common Ministry workshop at Procter is coming July 9. See separate article for details.
- The Worship Team meets in the office on July 10 following the service.
- Mission Council meets July 17 following the service.
To see everything that's coming up at Grace, click here. If you think you have an event scheduled at Grace, please check this calendar to make sure that it's listed. If it's not listed, or if you see errors, please email eGraceNotes@gracecollegehill.org. |
News Shorts
- This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, Food Pantry Sunday, when we gather donations for the pantry at Christ Community in College Hill. With school lunches over, there are lots more hungry people in our community.
- Sunday will be Bill Jenne's first official day with us as our new organist. He brings a wealth of experience to our worship experience. Say hello when you get a chance!
- Altar flowers are funded through your donations. The suggested amount is $35. You can donate for flowers on our Donation Page, or you can sign the Flower Donation Sheet on the table by the Belmont Door. There is a special flower box for smaller donations that can be combined to provide a Sunday arrangement.
- Congratulations to our former supply priest, The Rev. Kimberly Knight, who gave birth to twins (a boy and a girl) the week of June 19.
- The worship volunteer schedule for July has been posted here. Check now to see if you're scheduled. If you can't make it, find a replacement and let webmaster@gracecollegehill.org know. If you'd like to participate more actively in our worship in any way, let Judy Handy (513-681-5829, jhandy23@cinci.rr.com) know.
- A black walking cane with a lion head was found and left in the office. Claim it if it's yours.
- Zumba comes to Grace Church! Zumba is a latin-based fitness class. Leah Scott (513-200-8613, leah.scott@cincyballoons.com) leads a class at Grace every Wednesday night at 6:30 pm at a cost of $5. No reservation needed, just show up and give it a try.
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