Sunday should be a joyous occasion as Grace Episcopal Church and Next Dimension Family Worship Center get together for an exciting worship service of song and Holy Communion.

Pastor Will Hagans, Jr, and the Rev. Susan Lehman will lead the service.   

After the service,  we want to have an abundant Snack 'n Chat.  Please plan to bring something to share. We're looking forward to good food, good service and good fellowship.

Does it go without saying that this joint service replaces the regular Sunday worship services of Grace and Next Dimension this Sunday only?    

  What a successful Interfaith Hospitality Network hosting evening Grace Church had at College Hill Presbyterian Church last Friday night! Our guests were four wonderful families of five adults and eight children. All were cheerful and helpful which reflects the leadership of the CHPC IHN director, Eileen Boyle.  

We began with everyone joining a circle and stating what they were thankful for that day.

A delicious home-made meat loaf dinner with mashed potatoes, green beans, salads and cupcakes was prepared by Mary McLain, Roger and Belinda Perna, Virginia Chapel, Grace Staples and Maria Mukasa.   Our guests and volunteers ate every morsel going back for second and third helpings! Including volunteers, I figure we fed about 22 people.

Table hosts included Eileen Boyle, Grace Staples, Camille Boykins, David and Mathias Mukasa and our newest volunteers, Charlene Miller and Bruce Harris. After guests had packed lunches, all but Grace Staples headed downstairs to engage the children in activities. It was the best night we've had so far. When Grace went down after helping to clean up the dining room and food containers, she saw Charlene cuddling a two year old who was loving every bit of it, Camille playing the puppet monster to delighted squeals, and several children making balloon animals and hats after Bruce's tutelage and with his hand-pumped air compressor. One middle school age lad was glad to have Mathias join him in playing video games. Camille and David made popcorn for all and, later, Camille led a group in a game of Twister provided by Charlene.

At 8:30, we were glad to see Grace's Jackie McCray arrive along with Pastor Smith's family from CHPC to take over the overnight duties. (We didn't know their whole family was coming, but with all these children, we never have too many volunteers.)

Thanks to all our old and new helpers. We hope to see you all on September 19 to do it again! (I'll be in touch with a reminder.)

Interfaith Hospitality Network in College Hill is a collaborative effort of several College Hill churches.  

Thanks to Grace Staples for this good news. 

job this month with cleaning the church and trimming outside.   Steve, a long-time friend of Grace Chuch, also came to adjust the stair climber chairs and to add a safer foot rest which he made. Thanks also to Patrick Meade and Roger Perna for supervising the work and Mary McLain and Grace Staples for providing a home-made lunch to all including the bus driver.

• A mustard seed,
• Yeast,
• Hidden treasure,
• A pearl of great value,
• A net full of fish. 

During her sermon, the Rev. Anne Warrington Wilson handed out index cards and asked everyone to complete the sentence, "For me, the Kingdom of Heaven is like..."  Several people responded with insightful and revealing images.   

Then, this week, Charlie Parker send us an article by Richard L. Floyd called "Glimpses of the Kingdom," which contained the following:

• Marian Anderson singing and Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial
• Pope John Paul II forgiving the man who tried to assassinate him
• The Berlin Wall coming down
• The end of apartheid in South Africa and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• The beginning of peace in Northern Ireland
• The baptism of my children and the ordination of my daughter
• Sitting at table with my extended family around a roast leg of lamb on Easter Sunday
• Receiving the bread and the cup in the presence of the Risen Christ
• Singing "Come, thou font of every blessing" with our congregation