Life With Grace | February 13

Grace Episcopal Church
3 hours ago
8 min read

Five women stand close together outdoors in front of a stone church with arched windows and a circular stained-glass feature. Each has an ash cross marked on her forehead, suggesting Ash Wednesday. The woman in the center holds a small brown dachshund wearing a green jacket. They are dressed in winter clothing—sweaters, jackets, leggings, and sweatpants—and smiling at the camera. A large tree and adjacent church buildings are visible in the background under a partly cloudy blue sky. — Worship with us this weekend, and come back next week for Ash Wednesday services and our first Paws to Connect of the year.

Dear Friend,

On the Sunday just before Ash Wednesday the church always focuses on the Transfiguration. This year we read Matthew's version, 17:1-9, which emphasizes some of the ways the event is similar to God's appearance on Mount Sinai in Exodus - the voice and the fiery cloud, the shining face of Jesus, the terror of the disciples, but adds something new, the reassuring touch of Jesus and his words - Get up, don't be afraid.

Get up, don't be afraid. I know that many of us are afraid of how fragmented and frayed the fabric of our body politic is becoming. It is important to take time to breath, to sit with what is worrying you long enough to try to uncover it. And then to go deeper, to the place where we all remain anchored in the unconditional goodness and love of God. To, if possible, feel that touch, and to listen to those words - Get up, don't be afraid. But this time to get up in the knowledge of the presence of God and to pass that touch on, to pass those words on, to be that presence for others.

This week I was reassured by an amazing event - look it up Monks Walk for Peace. People from all over our country and the world have been lifted up by this profound witness of monks simply walking to Washington for Peace. You walk for peace too. In the name and strength and spirit of the one God tells us to listen too. Get up. Don't be afraid. Proclaim the good news by feeding the hungry, housing the unhoused, releasing the prisoner, giving refuge to the alien, binding up the wounded, loving your enemy. Together.

With Gratitude,

Tuck Bowerfind (he/him)

Rector | Grace Episcopal Church

Worship Services | The Last Sunday after the Epiphany | Sunday, February 15th

Holy Eucharist Rt I | 8 a.m. | Zoom and In-Person

Christianity and Culture | 9:15 a.m. | Zoom and In-Person

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th - Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander - Katharine Brown - Cecil Francis Humphreys Alexander, wife of William Alexander, Bishop of Derry and Archbishop of Armagh, was one of the leading hymn writers in the Anglican Church in the 19th century, several of whose hymns are familiar to every Episcopalian as well as to most Protestants and even some Roman Catholics. The opening line of her best-known hymn, "All Things Bright and Beautiful," has become a commonplace phrase in our language. A Dublin-born member of the Anglo-Irish gentry, she was raised in a strongly evangelical family with a service ethos, yet married an Oxford-educated clergyman influenced by Keble and Newman and the Tractarian Movement. Fanny, as she was called, founded a school for deaf children, was involved in relief efforts in the Great Famine era, and was a pioneer in the religious education of children with her book "Hymns for Little Children" that teaches the Christian year through some classics such as the Christmas hymn "Once in Royal David's City." There is much more to this interesting woman, whose life in her beloved Ireland mirrored the movements and passions of a tumultuous century in that divided land.

Upcoming Christianity and Culture Session

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd - 1st Sunday of Lent - Focus on Faust - Roger Crockett - Roger will speak about the Faust legend in German literature from the middle ages to the nineteenth century with most of the emphasis on Goethe's monumental two-part drama completed in 1831. Goethe uses a primarily Christian framework for the pact Faust makes with the devil, but the work transcends the boundaries of any one religion, or even religion at all. Its surprising ending mixes the Christian reliance on God's love with humanistic ideals and a heavy dose of mysticism.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1st - 2nd Sunday of Lent - Sermon on the Mount - Anne Hansen

SUNDAY, MARCH 8th - 3rd Sunday of Lent - Sermon on the Mount - Anne Hansen

SUNDAY, MARCH 15th - 4th Sunday of Lent - Christianity & Roots of Common Law - David Partlett

SUNDAY, MARCH 22nd - 5th Sunday of Lent - American Church/Changing Beliefs, Practices and Affiliations - Jon Eastwood

Holy Eucharist Rt II | 10:30 a.m. | YouTube and In-Person

The nursery is available during our services.

Adults and older Youth trained in Safe Church are needed to assist in the nursery from 9-noon. We can pay $15/hour. Volunteers also welcome. Please contact James Keane for more information and to offer assistance.

Pancake Brunch

February 15 following the 10:30 a.m. service in the Parish Hall. The Men's Breakfast Group will be serving a pancake brunch with all the fixins! This is our lead up to Lent which starts on Ash Wednesday, February 18.

SVU, Grace Episcopal Church Choirs Offer Evensong on First Sunday in Lent

Two choirs will combine their voices to observe the First Sunday in Lent this Sunday, February 22 at 5 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington. The Chamber Singers, the premier choral ensemble of Southern Virginia University, joinswith the choir of Grace Church in the service of Choral Evensong, and all in the community are most welcome to attend.

The two choirs will sing various parts of the service, such as two venerable works from the English tradition: an evening hymn by the sixteenth century Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis (with the congregation joining in); and canticles of Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from the Victorian era by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Various other compositions, offered by the Chamber Singers, come from living composers.

Leading the choral music will be SVU’s new director of choral activities, Dr. Benjamin Gaughran, with Grace Church’s director of music, Martha Burford, at the organ. Other instrumentalists include Kamryn Bradshaw-Meyer, pianist, and Christy Schucker, horn.

The Reverend David Cox, who is affiliated with Grace Church and also as a professor of history at SVU, will officiate and preach.

Many traditions observe Lent as a time of solemn reflection and of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus, figuratively walking “the way of the cross” to Good Friday and Easter.

The choir of Grace Church includes not only parishioners but also students from Washington and Lee and from Southern Virginia.

SVU’s Chamber Singers have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2019, at the Virginia Music Education Association in 2022, and on a regular basis at the visitors’ center of the temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington.

Lenten Programming & Easter Services

Wednesday Evenings in the Parish Hall - 6 p.m. Supper prepared and served by Anne Sauder, 6:30 p.m. presentation, Concluding prayer 7:25 p.m.

Ash Wednesday February 18 - 8 a.m., Noon, 6:30 p.m. Ashes and Eucharist

Wednesday, February 25 - Alex Brown - Matthew's theology of the Kingdom of Heaven

Wednesday, March 4 - James Keane The Beatitudes

Wednesday, March 11 - Tuck Bowerfind Parables of the Kingdom Ch 13

Wednesday, March 18 - Anne Hansen Parables of the Kingdom

Wednesday, March 25 - Alex Brown Parables of the Kingdom Ch 25

Wednesday, April 1 - No program

Thursday, April 2 - 6:30 p.m. Maundy Thursday Eucharist

Friday, April 3 - Noon & 6:30 p.m. Good Friday Liturgy

Saturday, April 4 - 6:30 p.m. Easter Vigil followed by Lamb Supper

Sunday, April 5 - Easter Services 8 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Baptism, Confirmation, or Reaffirmation of Faith

Lent is a traditional time to prepare for Baptism, Confirmation, or Reaffirmation of Faith. Tuck is happy to meet with anyone who wants to prepare on each of the Sundays of Lent from noon to 1p.m., or as otherwise scheduled.

Typically this preparation includes a close reading of the service of Baptism with time for questions and discussion. We use the Outline of the Faith found in the Book of Common Prayer pages 843-862 as a resource for basic questions about the faith. I encourage participants to make regular church attendance during Lent and Holy Week part of their preparation.

Donate to The Bishop’s Dollar Fund

The holy season of Lent invites each one of us to reflect on our discipleship in Jesus' name. As we walk the way of the cross through the forty days of Lent, I pray that you might consider a donation to Bishop's Dollar. Your faithful contribution to The Bishop’s Dollar Fund supports a variety of needs around the diocese that are not available through our annual budget. These funds can provide assistance to clergy, their families, and other individuals; additional mission support to parishes; honoraria and gifts to institutions connected to our diocesan ministry and mission. Your generosity will help our Bishop-Elect meet needs across the Diocese when she starts her ministry with us. You may send donations to the Diocesan Office made payable to The Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia with "Bishop’s Dollar" in the memo line. Mail to: Attn: Bishop’s Dollar Fund, PO Box 2279, Roanoke, VA 24009. Or, donate online. https://dioswva.wufoo.com/forms/z1n9844e09kftji/

Six smiling adults pose inside a church with arched stained glass windows; one person holds a tablet displaying a group video call with additional participants.

Morning Prayer | Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.

In-Person & Zoom

Paws to Connect

Paws to Connect will resume this week! Join us on Tuesday and Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. on the steps of Grace. We'll see you soon!

Spaghetti Dinner With Bingo and Silent Auction!

To benefit CATE - Children Aspiring To Education, Our ministries in Haiti and South Sudan

Join your friends for a great evening in the parish hall

February 17, Shrove Tuesday

5:00 cocktails and silent auction

6:00 dinner with bingo to follow

Suggested donation, $50 per person

Tickets available: sign up in the narthex or by email with Anne Hansen.

Connections Plus

Connections Plus is now offering three 6-session educational groups in which the participants learn about and organize important documents; such as medical, property, finances, final wishes, and executor information, in order to make things easier for those who must settle our affairs after we are gone.

Cost: $30.00 for materials. Space is limited.

Class #1: 9:30-11:00 a.m., Thursdays at Sunnyside House at Kendal, 160 Kendal Drive, Lexington

March 12 & 26; April 16 & 30; May 14 & 28.

Class #2: 5:30-7:00 p.m., Tuesdays at Manly Memorial Baptist Church, 202 S. Main St., Lexington

March 17; April 7 & 21; May 5 & 19; June 2

Class #3: 9:30 - 11:00 a.m., Wednesdays at Maury River Senior Center (VPAS) 2137 Magnolia Avenue, Buena Vista

March 18; April 8 & 22; May 6 & 20; June 3

For more information or to register, please contact Connections Plus at 540-463-1848 or info@connectionsplus.care

Prayer List

Please pray for the wider Church and intercessions requested by our Congregants: Pray for Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Sean Rowe. Pray for the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia and our Bishop-Elect The Rev. Karin MacPhail. Pray today for the people of St. Elizabeth’s, Roanoke. Pray for Brendon, Timmy, Laura Stearns, Lynda deMaria, Betty Cadden, Jeff Mason, Joe Irby, Kent Wilson, Jerry & Ann Nay, Paula Cooper, Ned Henneman, Sharon Humphreys, Elizabeth Klein, Dot Fogo, Buddy Atkins, Dennis Coughlin, Rob Fleming, Patty Irving Sensabaugh, Richard Partlett, Gerry Locher, Doug Ayer, Mo Littlefield, and those we name aloud or in our hearts. Pray for the people of Israel, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, and pray for cessation of violence, and for reconciliation, and peace. Pray for those who have died.