2025 Weekly News

Date Posted: September 12, 2025

Parish Feast Day

We will celebrate our annual parish feast day: the Feast of the Holy Cross on Sunday, September 14. There will be one combined service that day, at 10:00 AM followed by a pasta lunch and fellowship in the parish hall. Parish feast days give a community a focus point in the year to pay closer attention to a key facet and teaching from Jesus’s own life.

As usual, we will offer the opportunity for folks to walk onto the chancel and view the stone embedded in our altar. The stone, carved in the shape of the cross, is from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, a site that for over 1,500 years has been the focus of veneration for Christ’s crucifixion and burial. This relic embedded in our altar helps us have a physical grounding for our prayers. It is a sacramental experience for us to come forward and offer a prayer and remember.

For lunch following the combined 10 AM service on September 14, Grace will provide a pasta station which includes 2 pastas (a gluten free choice will also be available), 3 sauces: alfredo, meat sauce (beef and sausage), or marinara, and 3 toppings: chicken, meatballs, or italian sausage. Salad and breadsticks will also be provided.

Please bring a dessert, vegetable side dish, or beverage to share according to the assignment below based on the first letter of your last name so we have a nice variety of extra items to enjoy!

• A-J dessert
• K-R vegetable side
• S-Z beverage

To commemorate this feast day, we’ll also have a station for you to take home your own basil seed starter kit. Legend says Saint Helena, while searching for the True Cross, discovered it under a patch of basil!

We hope you plan to be here Sunday, September 14 to celebrate our parish feast day and spend time together as we step more fully into the fall season at Grace.

Stewardship 2026: A Practice of Gratitude

Each year, the parish community makes a commitment to live into God’s call for our lives, and we embody this participation in our operating budget.

This year’s stewardship focus is on gratitude. Honestly, each year’s focus is grounded in gratitude, but for these next couple years, we thought it made sense to be intentional about how we orient ourselves as the Body of Christ in this particular part of the world. God calls us to offer ourselves, “our souls and our bodies” as the Eucharistic Prayer says, and our offering nurtures our awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Our stewardship campaign for 2026 begins Sunday, September 14, our parish feast day, and will conclude on November 2, which is All Saints Sunday. A pledge form will be mailed to member households and extra copies made available at the church. You also have the option to submit your pledge for 2026 electronically below. Thank you for your presence here—and thanks be to God for the blessings of our lives.

• Make Your Pledge

EYC Gathering

Our Episcopal Youth Community will gather for fun and fellowship on Sunday, September 14 from 5-7 PM in room 115 of the Grace Center.

Rosary Lesson on September 14

This Sunday, September 14th at 9:00 AM, join Sr. Genevieve Lynn for a time of prayer using the Anglican Rosary.

The Anglican Rosary serves as an aid for praying in Stillness. Created in the 1980’s, it is a type of prayer rope that forms a loop using thirty-three beads, one bead for each year of Jesus’ life on Earth. It is perfect for those who prefer to hold something while they pray and especially for those who struggle to focus while praying.

This time of prayer will be a lovely way to start our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Cross. Meet Sr. Genevieve Lynn and your fellow seekers in the Chapel at 9:00.

Rosaries will be provided. No experience necessary. All are welcome.

Women’s Book Study

The summer book study sponsored by The Daughters of the King was so fun we decided to continue our evening meetings. We will gather in the youth room at 5:30 and will start at 6 PM the third Thursday every month. Our next gathering being on September 18. All women of Grace are invited!

If you liked Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz Weber, you will enjoy our next book: Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. Traveling Mercies is a chronicle of faith and spirituality that is at once tough, personal, affectionate, wise and very funny. Anne Lamott takes us on a journey through her often troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith. Please read The Overture: Lilly pads and all of Part One before this month’s meeting.

Friends of Music 2025-2026 Season

Each year, Friends of Music hosts top-tiered soloists and ensembles while supporting special liturgies to help enrich the musical life of our parish and our community.

Please make plans to join us for the following events of the 2025-2026 season.

October 26 • 4 pm
Coronation Mass, Mozart

November 2 • 10:45 am
All Saint’s Day with Midtown Brass

November 23 • 10:45 am
Georgia Boy Choir leads music at worship

December 14 • 3 pm
5th Annual Messiah Sing Along

January 25, 2026 • 4 pm
University of North Georgia Faculty Recital

March 15 • 4 pm
Will Buthod Organ Recital + Choral Evensong

April 26 • 4 pm
Lanier Chamber Singers 35th Anniversary Concert

Christian Education

Christian Education classes will NOT meet on September 14.

Dates for Your Calendar

Look ahead to upcoming opportunities for prayer, worship, and community!

• September 28 Blessing of Animals
• October 26 Mozart’s Coronation Mass
• November 2 All Saints’ Day with Midtown Brass
• November 12 Sound Bath
• November 18 Thanksgiving Potluck
• November 23 Georgia Boy Choir leads music at worship
• November 30 Advent Wreath Making
• December 14 5th Annual Messiah Sing Along

The Glimpses of Grace Podcast

We invite you to explore the podcast on Spotify (or your podcast app of choice) or here on this website!