This Sunday, May 5, is our last regularly scheduled CE hour of the 2023-2024 academic year!
Children
older 3s – K: room 109
1st, 2nd & 3rd grade: room 111
4th & 5th grade: room 126
Youth
6th – 12th grade: room 115
Adults
Forum: Life Together parish hall
Parenting with Grace conference room
We’ll occasionally gather for special events on Sundays from 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM over the summer, such as the poetry reading and reception on May 19. Watch this newsletter for details. Regular classes will begin again on September 8.
You may remember that, in those crazy early days of Covid, we shifted to our hybrid platform that enabled us to stream services while we could not attend in person. We continued the current framework for the past four years, even after returning to in-person worship. The key staff person who managed this was Jeremy, since his awareness of the technical details enabled him to cover those responsibilities. Jeremy has worked diligently to build a team of volunteers who now cover two services on a Sunday morning. It has been clear for a while that Jeremy’s portfolio, and that of other staff, cannot sustain this indefinitely.
To that end, I have asked Mike McPeek, who is both a parishioner and the Director of Digital Marketing at Brenau, to serve in a part-time role on staff as Worship Technology Assistant. Mike has met with Jeremy, and he is putting together a plan for an even more enhanced digital platform that will enable parishioners and community members to share in worship and formation opportunities even more widely. Mike will continue to utilize the dedicated team of volunteers that assist with livestreaming our service.
As part of this digital platform development, we need to focus our attention on the 10:45 service and pause the Zoom streaming for the 8:15 service. There are a few people who have used the platform for the early service, so I want to give plenty of time to encourage you to share in the ongoing 10:45 service. The Sunday, May 12 service will be the last to use zoom at the 8:15 service. In consulting with colleagues from around the diocese, the vast majority are focusing on one key worship service for their hybrid/digital offerings.
As part of this shift, we will be developing a digital podcast from the 10:45 service that will be even more widely available for your use! I am thrilled that Mike, Jennifer, and I can work on developing a new podcast for Grace that will feature sermons and key content and make that more accessible from phones—rather than being laptop-bound. I know the added flexibility around content can help us all further engage our worship life.
These changes in staffing and worship platforms will enable us to remain intently focused on the worship life of this community, which is the heart of our life as a parish. I am so very proud of the staff and all those who continue to work to make sure that our common life is supported and enriched by the many gifts God has given us.
Blessings,
Stuart
Grace Church will honor graduates during the 10:45 AM service on Sunday, May 19!
If you (or your child) graduated in fall/winter 2023 or will graduate spring/summer 2024, please submit the online information form before 9:00 AM on Monday, May 13 to be included in the recognition slideshow.
Graduate Information FormWe have gathered together a collection of links to specific webpages, forms, and documents that members of Grace may find particularly helpful and created a new Member Resources page of our website. If you can’t locate something (i.e. prayer request or altar flower form, member directory, vestry minutes, link to our Instagram, etc.) from the top navigation bar, try looking there. You can find the member resources page under the Connect tab and there will be a link to the page in the links section of every newsletter. Let us know if you have a suggested link to add!
Look ahead to upcoming opportunities for prayer, worship, and community!
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