GREGORIAN CHANT St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church | Athens, GA

SEPTEMBER 2017

NOVEMBER 2017

We Sing a Song of the Saints of God | Nov. 5 All Saints’ Sunday Please plan to join us for our celebration of the Saints – the Great Cloud of Witnesses – at St. Gregory’s on Sunday, November 5 at 8:00 and 10:30 on All Saints’ Sunday. The Festival of All the Saints is one of the 7 major Festivals of the Church.

If you would like prayers offered in the context of the Eucharist for particular loved ones who have gone before, please send their names to Kendall by Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 4PM. Please indicate the person’s relationship to you and the year your loved one died.

We will also receive new saints through the sacrament of Holy Baptism at 10:30 worship followed by a reception after the service.

Outreach Workshop: Organizing Our Compassion Sunday Nov. 12, 12-2PM"Organizing Our Compassion" through outreach will be the theme of our Outreach Workshop on Sunday, November 12.  All parishioners are invited to a light lunch of a light lunch of rice, beans, and toppings in the fellowship hall provided by our youth and others. We will also be collecting art supplies (markers, watercolors, colored paper, etc.) for the after-school program that is held at Pinewoods Library.  

Following lunch is an outreach workshop for youth and adults who are interested in getting involved, "hands on" in some specific areas outreach at St. Gregory's.  There will be an opportunity to connect with and join small work-groups in specific ministries focused on homelessness and hunger, education and immigrant rights and possibly others. Childcare will be provided.  

Ingathering and Blessing of Pledges | Nov. 5 All Saints’ Sunday Please return your 2018 pledge card “Grateful Hearts, Generous Lives” on or before Sunday, November 5. All pledges will be blessed on this Sunday. Your pledge, given with gladness, sustains the vital ministries of St. Gregory’s.

Please be generous as St. Gregory’s enters new avenues of mission and ministry and prepares for the next rector. Your vestry has made a commitment to the future of St. Gregory’s with their financial pledges for 2018. As a whole, the vestry has an increased pledge amount of 21%.

Thank you to Ron Balthazor, Annette Bates, Alice Mohor, and Missy Martin, our Stewardship speakers during the month of October. You were eloquent and inspiring for all of us!

Dear Friends in Christ, Sunday, November 12 at both services of worship we will offer something a bit out of the ordinary, called an “Instructed Eucharist”. As we gather and worship together, we will pause at certain points in the liturgy to explain what we are doing and why we do it the way we do. The word “liturgy” means “the work of the people,” and my hope is that this will help us all better to understand just what it is that we are doing as we work and pray here week by week. Even more I hope that this experience will increase our joy in worshiping together.

Whether you are a “cradle” Episcopalian, new to the Episcopal Church, or a brand new Christian, I think you will find this event enlightening and helpful in your journey of faith.

Of course, this teaching may also prompt as many questions as it answers and I am delighted to be around afterwards to answer them as I can! Peace,Laura

November 1 Ellen GibsonAllison Weaver

November 2 David Lowe

November 3 Steve Phillips

November 4 Peggy Herrman

November 5 John GranroseDiane BarretGrace Huang

November 6 Julia Marlowe Myers Temple-Roberts Graham Temple-Roberts

November 7 John CurtisFred Denson

November 8 Joan CurtisElise CamostonCharlie Ingle

November 10 Mark Hein

November 11 Cole Byers

November 12 Mariel Sanford

November 13 Vicky TavernierClare Boyle

November 15 Mary Laing

November 16 Lydia Peck

November 17 Jeff WelchMax Tavernier

November 18 Sue AlfordHayes PhillipsIsaiah Camoston

November 19 Jordan Vail

November 20 Kathy Hale

November 22 Hank HodgesBrady Knowlton

November 27 Laura RuffinRebecca Baggett

November 28 Annette Bates

November 30 Jeff RappConoly Hester

Happy Birthday!

Adult Sunday School Parenting Spirituality (Parish Hall)October 29, November 5, November 12Come and mingle with other parents who face the same joys, concerns and challenges as you. Our goal is to build community through listening and sharing parenting experiences with one another.  Parenting is wonderful, and at times can be the most difficult thing you’ve ever done. Working together in community will keep you motivated and encouraged while you make your way towards less reactive and more intentional parenting. Facilitated by Missy Hamlin.

Lectionary (Library): The more one studies the Bible, the more one realizes that it is a proverbial bottomless pit of meanings and nuances.  Exploring those depths can be a rewarding experience.  Ken Taylor leads a discussion of the assigned readings almost every Sunday (except for a parish breakfast and a visit by a bishop, mainly) in the library, starting at 9:15AM.  This class will meet every Sunday in November.

Children’s Sunday School Meet at 9:15 IN THE PARISH HALL on November 5 so we can practice our All Saints’ Prayer, banner-carrying, and singing we will do in the 10:30am service that morning!

We’ll be back to our usual meeting place, All Saints Chapel in the Christian Ed building for the remainder of November. Great music time with Ms. Anna, then cooking, making art, and playing games in our Fruits of the Spirit workshops with a focus on Thanksgiving. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 26th, we will make lunches for the Homeless Day Center.

CHRISTIANFORMATION

Rhythms of Grace Families looking for a different worship experience are invited to Rhythms of Grace, on Sunday, November 12 at 3PM at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church. This adaptive service is designed to be welcoming to those for whom conventional worship may be difficult, including those sensitive to loud music or crowds, those on the Autism spectrum, and wiggly children who just want to move! The service features scripture and storytelling, therapeutic play, and a simplified prayer for Holy Communion. Gathering and dismissal

rituals and visual and auditory cues help with transitioning. St. Gregory's hosts Rhythms of Grace on the second Sunday of each month in our sanctuary. All are welcome at every service at St. Gregory’s. Please invite your friends!

Wednesday Transitions/Meditation Group Wednesdays at 4PM in the libraryWhile many of us find these to be challenging times, there is also a great opportunity for those of us who wish to train ourselves to seek truth, feel connection and hope. We are currently reading the book My Song by the Linn family. We are discussing and exploring who we are and how we are being used in the world by God. Laughter, tears, and deep discussion.... come join in the fun!

Youth • Keep joining us for Sunday school on Sunday mornings at 9:15 as we study the J2A/Rite13

curriculum!• Bonfire at the Somerville's Farm, Nov. 5, 12:30-2:30 PM.  There will be a parent meeting after

lunch at the bonfire! Come join us for hot dogs (veggie dogs too!), S'mores, and fun!• Coming up:  Diocesan Lock-In (see information on page 3) at diocesan Council, Nov. 10-11.• "Happening" at Camp Mikell, Nov. 17-18, for high school students.

Spirituality and Aging Registration is now open for the Nov. 11 workshop, "Spirituality and Aging: Looking Backward, Looking Forward." Brochures are in the narthex, parish hall, and the CE bldg. You can also register online: http://www.stgregoryathens.org/stgrsvp.html . Cost is $10 to be mailed to St. Gregory’s. The workshop will be from 10AM-3PM.

This is an ecumenical event, and many other churches in town have been invited. Seating will be limited to 112. Your registration and check must be received no later than noon, Monday, Nov. 6, but please don't wait that long!

ADVENT RETREAT | DECEMBER 1 & 2 (Sympathetic) Joy to the World: Preparing to Welcome God and One Another in Advent

Preparing for Christmas entails more than buying gifts, planning worship, and baking fruit cake--it's about making space for joy. Ryan Kuratko will be leading an Advent Quiet Day on this topic with reflections that emerge from his work in comparative theology. The event will be spiritual, practical, and at least a bit joyful.

The retreat begins Friday evening (6-8:45PM) with a light supper, reflection by Ryan, and shared prayer and practice. Saturday begins at 9AM and continues until 3PM, closing with a Eucharist. Reflections, prayers, quiet, and friendly conversation will focus on God as the source of joy, the joy we find in others and in ourselves, and living joyfully in a time of anxiety. Come enjoy some time set aside for you.

The retreat will be held at David and Becky Lockman’s house, 1241 Brittain Estates Drive, Watkinsville 30677. Cost is $15, which includes 2 meals as well as childcare on Saturday (at St. G’s) only, if needed. If childcare is needed, contact Karen Kassinger no later than Saturday, November 25.

Click here for online registration! For our non-digital readers, registration can be found at http://www.stgregoryathens.org/advent-retreat-registration.html. Registration deadline is Saturday, November 25. Registration fee is due at time of registration. Please make check payable to St. Gregory’s with “Advent Retreat” in the memo and mail to St. Gregory’s at 3195 Barnett Shoals Rd., Athens, GA 30605.

Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship All are invited to join our Athens friends and neighbors in the Grand Hall of the Tate Center on the UGA campus on Sunday, November 19 at 4:30PM for a worship experience for all faith groups (Christians, Jews, Muslims, et al.), followed by the Holiday Benevolence Market. Parking will be free. More than 600 people attended last year’s innaugural Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship. The sponsor, Interfaith Clergy Partnership of Greater Athens, includes representatives of more than 50 congregations in the Athens area. In a time when there is so much division, let’s unite in Thanksgiving.

Office Closures During November Kendall will be out of the office on the following dates: Thursday and Friday, November 3 & 4 and the week of November 20-24.

CHRISTIAN FORMATIONEVENTS

Youth Lock-In @ Annual Council | November 10-11 Every November, we gather at Annual Council as an entire Diocese. The youth segment is no different. We start our night be feeding 10,000 with Rise Against Hunger. After packaging the meals, we get “locked in” at Council where we play games, sing songs, have midnight mass, and end the night with a movie on our big screen. The next morning, we lead worship for over 500 folks!

Movie Night - January The parish movie series will resume in January 2018. I have endeavored to maintain the quality of the films and the spiritual lessons therein for this series.  Consistent with this goal, I have designated Bicycle Thieves (1948), a masterpiece of Italian neorealism and one of the greatest movies of all time, as the film for January. — Ken Taylor

Christ the King Sunday Pope Pius XI created the Feast of Christ the King in 1925, when dictators governed much of Europe, interwar tensions were rising, and the Holy Father perceived the need to issue a reminder that God is in control, despite appearances to the contrary.  The original date was the last Sunday in October, opposite Reformation Sunday in many Protestant churches, but the Roman Catholic Church moved the date to the Sunday before Advent in 1969.  In the middle of the twentieth century many U.S. Protestants observed Christ the King Sunday on the last Sunday in August, immediately prior to the beginning of the old season of Kingdomtime.  I have found evidence of this in the official materials of the reunited Methodist Church (1939-1968).  Today observance of Christ the King Sunday (on the Sunday before Advent) has become common in many non-Roman Catholic communions.  I have detected it in the Revised Common Lectionary and the Common Lectionary before that, as well as in official materials of Anglican/Episcopal, Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ, Cooperative Baptist, Evangelical Covenant, and other denominations.   — Ken Taylor

Camp Mikell - New Beginnings New Beginnings is a unique weekend designed to address concerns and needs of youth in grades 6-8th. Every October and February, no less than 100 youth and adults come together for this spiritual retreat. The weekend includes music, talks given by high school team, small groups, skits, and plenty of fellowship.

This weekend was the best anyone could ask for. I made new friends and caught up with old ones. I was part of PSC, which meant that I prayed for, shared with, and cared for the participants of new beginnings. We worked behind the scenes and made everything run as smoothly as possible. The most powerful part of the weekend, in my opinion, is when we partake in an activity known as prayer circles. Praying for others, and having others pray for me is a very profound experience. I just want to thank you and everyone who made this amazing experience possible for me.

— Dakota Hamlin

Nativity According to St. Luke The St. Gregory Choir, soloists, and orchestra will present Randall Thompson's The Nativity According to Saint Luke, a seven-scene opera, Friday and Saturday evenings, December 15 and 16, at 7:30 pm.  This will be a wonderful production with beautiful music, staging by Terry Powell of Athens Creative Theater, costumes, and lots of action.  Please mark your calendars and invite others to attend with you to see and hear this beautiful music and the nativity story portrayed before you. 

LOOKINGAHEAD

Advent Wreath Making Make an Advent wreath for your home after the 10:30 service, Sunday December 3! Lunch provided (with many dietary options). This is a fun activity for adults, youth, and children. Bring clippers if you have them! $20 per wreath includes all materials needed and lunch. Look for the sign-up sheet in the Christian Education building soon! or email Catherine Drewry (cbdrewry@gmail.com) to sign up!

Community Christmas Want to help a child living in poverty this Christmas? Please consider “adopting” a child and buying warm clothes and fun items from his or her own wish list, or donating funds, new items, or your time to Community Christmas. Contact Catherine Drewry at OglethorpeCommunityChristmas@gmail.com or 706-201-7241:• Shop for the children with money donated by others Nov. 20- Dec. 9• Help sort gifts and check each child’s bag Dec. 8- 13 at Crawford Baptist Church• Help with distribution on Thursday, Dec. 14 or deliver gifts to those unable to pick up

St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church3195 Barnett Shoals RoadAthens, GA 30605

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