I want to share with you something about my praying-for-Grace experience during these last three weeks.

 

As we started talking about doing this as a Lenten focus--praying specifically to discern God's will for Grace Church--my first thought was, "Well, I've been asking the same thing for myself for a few years now."  Actually, it's been close to six years--since,  after discovery of a tumor on my pancreas,

 

I thought, "Grace Church has come through some life-threatening periods, as well."

 

In both cases, the way I see it is that we're still here, so God must have more things for us to do.

We certainly are doing things today, but we're asking for continued guidance and support to keep us on His path.  We want to use our God-given gifts and all our other resources as effectively as possible.

 

I've been somewhat uncomfortable with sharing this prayer experience because of the trouble I've had coming up with a cohesive way to do it. It all seems so fragmented. The best I could do was to put the bits and pieces of my "mosaic" into two groups:  What I've done and What I've received so far.

 

What I've done ("the Process")

 

Being still (..the first of several hard things)

• find a time and place apart for a while
• foggy vision behind closed lids

Listening

• keep pushing away the external and internal noise

 Waiting

• I'm not hearing anything, Lord... Am I not doing this right? Am I just too distracted?

Then, I wrote two Prayers-for-Grace (which I put on the Grace FaceBook page--the first time I ever even signed in to FaceBook!).

 

Here we are, Lord.

Show us the path to do your will and even if it's not as clear as we might prefer, help us to step out on Faith and follow it anyway.

Continue to support us with the confidence and endurance we need to fulfill your purpose.

We thank and praise you, Lord.

 

Lord, help us to ask, listen, wait and be ever more open to what you're calling us to do.

                     

What I've received so far (things that came to my mind, or that I found myself reading):

 

1. The words "Blessed Assurance," over and over.

2. Being pointed specifically to Psalm 118:14..

The LORD is my strength and my song, *

and he has become my salvation.

3. Awareness that being faithful and having trust  brings much joy and excitement!

4. Isaiah's saying, "Here I am! Send me."

5. A Forward Day by Day meditation about Mary's ready acceptance of God's will for her, the suggestion (the challenge?) to be ever more "open to the possibilities of God working through us."

 

So, let us remember to regularly ask, listen, wait, pay attention and be ready!

 

Thanks to Judy Handy for sharing her story.

 

The Pray for Grace Committee asks everyone associated with Grace to pray daily, then quietly wait and listen for God's answers--and jot these down and place them in the purple shoe boxes provided for this purpose around the church.  As a reminder--there are Pray for Grace magnets and 3x5 cards next to the purple boxes. Take some home!

John Thayer has presented Grace Church with a detailed record of every use of handbells at Grace Church since the first handbell performance on Christmas Eve, 1981. You can see the book on a table near the upper Belmont entrance in the church. 

In addition to recording every handbell performance at Grace Church--the music, the performers and comments on the performance--the record contains clippings from many of the service bulletins, pictures of the members of the bell choir, and clippings mentioning the bells from Grace Notes, the Interchange and other publications.  It also records performances in other places. 

John Thayer started Grace Church's use of handbells with four bells.  Since then, he has continued to add bells, to the point where he now has over five octaves of bells (it we calculate rightly, that's over 60 bells) ranging from the very very large to the very very small.  

In recent years, John Thayer has performed as a handbell soloist, using arrangements he composed to make it possible for pieces to be performed by one person.  However, in past years, Grace members have joined John to form a handbell choir. In 1986, for example, 11 people are pictured in the choir, in addition to John. 

What an amazing record of John's service to Grace Church over the years!

We'll be trying some new things this coming Holy Week.

On Palm Sunday, after the 10 am worship service, we'll be doing "Palms to Go," meaning we'll be passing out palms to people passing through the Hamilton-Belmont intersection. 

On Maundy Thursday, we'll be having our commemoration of the Last Supper in a simple meal in the Small Assembly Room, catered by Susan Lehman and John Dalzell.

On Good Friday, we'll have two services:

• Meditations on the Stations of the Cross from 11am to noon in the choir.
• The Community Good Friday service will be held from 7 to 9 pm this year to allow working people to attend.  It'll be followed by a reception.  

... Rhonda Sharp for her continual efforts to keep our prayer list uptodate, and for some major updating this week.

... Ken Lyon cleaning up our Belmont entrance bulletin boards and for the signs he created for outside many of our rooms to make it easier for our visitors to find their way. Also, thanks to Ken for updating our website to include the new Spirituality and Healing Center..

... Ruth for all of the work she has done to close out 2013, get tax statements out, etc. The first quarter of the year is a tough one for the Treasurer, and we think Ruth for all she has done.

... Carol Lyon for being there for anyone who has any ideas for the future of Grace Church.

... all who prayed for Rhonda Sharp's mother-in-law, Marilyn, in January. She was admitted to the hospital with symptoms that made them think she had ovarian cancer. It turned out that she had an infected cyst and will be alright. Rhonda asks: please continue to pray for my step-mother-in-law, Jan, who we thought was healthy in January only to find out that she is the one who two months later was diagnosed with malignant cancer. You just never know how things are going to turn out. We are very grateful that Marilyn will be alright.

Even though everyone who does something special may not be recognized each week (although we do try), we are aware of how hard members of this congregation work together to keep this church going.  Most of the work done in this church is by volunteers, so thank you to every one in this congregation for keeping our dream of Grace Church alive by your consistent contributions.  None of us could do it without all of us working together.

Here is the service schedule as of today. If you're scheduled and can't make it, find a substitute and let Ken Lyon (webmaster@gracecollegehill.org, 513-542-2941) know so the schedule can be updated. 

Sunday Service Participants are needed in all volunteer positions. We will provide training as needed. We are a Common Ministry Parish--everyone is encouraged to serve. Contact Ken Lyon (webmaster@gracecollegehill.org ) if you'd like to participate in any of these positions.  

The up-to-date schedule is available on our website (gracecollegehill.org).

Sunday, March 30: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer
• Crucifer:  Mathias Mukasa
• Server: Mariah Mukasa
• Gospel Bearer: Mariah Mukasa
• Healing Ministers (leads): J White & Hawley Todd
• Chalice: John Thayer
• Lector: Maria Mukasa
• Offering Counters: Carol Lyon, John Thayer
• Usher: Phyllis Mukasa
• Altar Guild: Carol Lyon
• Flower Guild: Carol Lyon
• 9am Adult Bible Study: Ken Lyon

Sunday, April 6: Celebration of Wholeness and Healing

• Officiant: Hawley Todd, TSSF
• Lead Drummers:    Bob Laake, Rich Spirit
• Ministers of Healing:     Hawley Todd TSSF, J White, Gwynne Gabbard, Amy Wehr, Sam Spade, Bill Jenne, Colleen Kerns, Fran Malone, Jackie Millay, Matt Peffly, Sherri Elmore, Tammy Robertson, Teri Dettone, Tina Todd, Laurie LeClaire
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, April 13, Palm Sunday: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. David Howard
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Thursday, April 17, Maundy Thursday Common Meal with Eucharist.

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman

Good Friday, April 18: Meditations on the Stations of the Cross, 11am to noon.

Good Friday, April 18: Community Service with Meditations on the Seven Last Words, 7pm to 9pm with Reception Following.

Sunday, April 20, Easter Sunday: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, April 27: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. David Howard
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, May 4: Eucharist II

• The Rev. Bob Hufford
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne

Sunday, May 11: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne

Sunday, May 18: Celebration of Wholeness and Healing

• Officiant: Hawley Todd, TSSF Lead Drummers:    Bob Laake, Rich Spirit
• Ministers of Healing:     Hawley Todd TSSF, J White, Gwynne Gabbard, Amy Wehr, Sam Spade, Bill Jenne, Colleen Kerns, Fran Malone, Jackie Millay, Matt Peffly, Sherri Elmore, Tammy Robertson, Teri Dettone, Tina Todd, Laurie LeClaire
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, May 25: Eucharist II

• The Rev. Bob Hufford
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, June 1: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne
• Handbells: John Thayer

Sunday, June 8, Pentecost: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. Susan Lehman

Sunday, June 15: Celebration of Wholeness and Healing

• Officiant: Hawley Todd, TSSF
• Lead Drummers:    Bob Laake, Rich Spirit
• Ministers of Healing:     Hawley Todd TSSF, J White, Gwynne Gabbard, Amy Wehr, Sam Spade, Bill Jenne, Colleen Kerns, Fran Malone, Jackie Millay, Matt Peffly, Sherri Elmore, Tammy Robertson, Teri Dettone, Tina Todd, Laurie LeClaire

Sunday, June 22: Eucharist II

• The Rev. Bob Hufford
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne

Sunday, June 29: Eucharist II

• Celebrant: The Rev. David Howard
• Keyboards: Bill Jenne