Grace Church continues the suspension of all in-person campus events, activities, and worship services for the time being.
My friends, I commend this web page to you as a resource during these days. Below you will find links and video resources for your worship, prayer, spiritual formation, and community development. It is my prayer that these resources help us all “chart the unknown and new-name the creatures.” (Amos Wilder, Theopoetic: Theology and the Religious Imagination)
– Stuart+
In all of this, I encourage you to be on high alert for the Spirit’s blessings in this disruption! The church cannot be cancelled, the church can only adapt! Press on, take care of one another, take care of yourself, God Is Trustworthy! “These present afflictions are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is being revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18
Blessings,
The Right Reverend Robert C. Wright
Bishop, The Diocese of Atlanta
Services will be held on Zoom at 9:00 AM and at 10:45 AM on Facebook Live on Sunday, July 5. Please make plans to join us!
Join us every Wednesday at 12:10 on our Facebook page for Noonday Prayer with Dr. Park. The Order of Service for Noonday begins on page 103 in the Book of Common Prayer and can be viewed online at the link below.
Join us weekdays at 8:00 PM for community prayers, “Zoompline” (Compline via Zoom*), and perhaps more. how to Zoom
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Even in these very unusual times, we would like to be able to greet newcomers and visitors to Grace Episcopal Church! If you have recently “visited” us through an online class or worship service, or even just by browsing around our website, we invite you to fill out an online welcome card so we may share additional information about who we are and what we have to offer. We are glad you are here!
In the coming weeks, we’ll be personalizing our Prayers of the People to reflect the joys and sorrows closest to our hearts. I hope you’ll add your voice to our common prayers by sharing your reflections with us. Here are some practices you might try! Contact Cheryl to learn more.
Patchwork Prayers
A cento (comes from the Latin word for ‘patchwork’) is a poem made up completely from the lines of other poems—a collage of sorts. To write one, you collect a number of poems, and highlight the line (or lines) that draw your attention in each poem. You then copy those lines onto a piece of paper, and cut them into separate strips. Rearrange them at will, until you’ve created a new poem that’s your response. As a poetry exercise, it encourages us to linger with images or phrases that resonate for us and let our imaginations make connections between them. It also gets us past the hurdle of ‘finding the right words.’ These same advantages make it a helpful prayer practice. Here is some more information and an example.
Prayers of Lament
The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us there is a time for everything… including things we think of as “unpleasant” or “unfaithful” like weeping, mourning, or breaking apart. (Eccl. 3:1-8) In these days of isolation, unrest, frustration, and loss, many of us are feeling lots of uncomfortable things. These uncomfortable feelings can lead us to feel separated from, angry at, or even abandoned by, God. Where do we go with that? Here’s a reflection that might help, along with an invitation to try your hand at writing your own lament.
Recent events in our community, our nation, and around the world have many of us asking lots of questions about race and racism and justice. Questions like:
These are important questions, and they don’t have easy, one-time answers. They require ongoing study, reflection, conversation, and prayer.
To help facilitate this work, we’re compiling a list of resources you might explore. There are resources for all ages, and in many different formats (books, movies, webinars, blogs, podcasts, websites, and more!), and we’ll update it periodically. Check it out! We’d love to hear what resonates for you, what you’d like to explore more, and, also, what additional resources you might add. Contact Cheryl with your suggestions.
Regular Sunday school classes have ended for the 2019-2020 academic year. Watch for information about summer formation opportunities for kids!
Links to Additional Resources
Our Youth have finished their Sunday School classes together for the 2019-2020 academic year. Watch for information about summer Zoom gatherings.
Movements of Faith with Bishop Wright
In life, we go through movements. These movements (reality, grief, hope, faith, and courage) change in each season, and during this season, these movements within ourselves may feel impossible to overcome. Join Bishop Wright in a 5 part video series that takes a deeper dive into what these movements look and feel like as people of faith.
The Heart of Things
The Heart of Things, a weekly online Zoom class for practicing prayer in times of pandemic, will meet on Tuesdays at 10:00 AM beginning June 2. These pandemic days of heightened anxiety and confusion-even anger and fear-call for a more intentional practice of our faith. How can we think theologically and respond prayerfully to the pressures we face as a spiritual community-even as the global community? How can we lean in, as it were, to the heart of the matter, to the core of things, so we can truly experience that “peace that passes all understanding?”
Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a contemplative method of prayer that facilitates opening the mind and heart to God. It includes a time of silent prayer followed by reflection and sharing. Our Centering Prayer group is sharing time together on Zoom on Mondays at 5:00 PM! All are welcome. The link is located in the ON THE CALENDAR section of the email newsletter.
Prayer Yoga
With many of us still “sheltering in” we will continue Zoom Yoga on Mondays throughout the summer! Classes are scheduled at the usual time: chair yoga at 2:45 and flow yoga at 3:45 PM. Please join the zoom meeting just prior to your class and mute your feed during class so all can hear the instructor. Link to yoga can be found in the the ON THE CALENDAR section of the email newsletter. New participants welcome and no experience is necessary.
Links to Additional Resources
To receive emails with Christian Education reflections at home, contact Cheryl Kelley, the Director of Formation, at ckelley@gracechurchgainesville.org. Some of our resources have licensing restrictions so we are unable to post them publicly.
An old-fashioned phone tree has been activated on a parish wide level. By now every household should have received a call, text, or email check in. Please let your contact person know if there is anything Grace can help you with at this time. You may also contact Brenda Morgan with pastoral concerns.
Cynthia and Stuart are available to you all during these days as well, so feel free to reach out. If you text, please include your name in case you are not already in their contact list.
Monetary giving to Grace is another way that we contribute to our shared ministry. It allows us to continue our online formation and worship, as well as pay special attention to our community ministry partnerships during these days. Please continue to send in your pledges, as you are able, in one of the three ways listed below. If you find yourself struggling–financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically–please let us know. Cynthia and Stuart are available to you.
If you have any questions or need help contact Reba Page for assistance. Thank you for continuing to support Grace Episcopal Church.