Dear Saints of Grace
Last Wednesday, we had our spiritual hike on the Chessie trail. I have never been on a group hike. We walked for an hour, taking in the scenery and enjoying each other's company. It was a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Listening to the conversation and the stories of those around you while relishing in the beauty of nature was a humble and refreshing experience.
It was my first time at the Chessie Trail. Walking close to the mountain and river reminds me of the stories in the Holy Bible. The Bible contains many stories of this kind. For instance, Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan and tempted by the devil on the mountaintop. You see divine presence everywhere you turn around—in the lush greenery, cascading waterfalls, towering mountain peaks, the blue cloudy skies, and the melodious chirps of birds.
There's nothing quite like nature to remind us of God's greatness. From the beautiful scenery to the majestic animals, nature shows us how powerful, creative, and loving God truly is. That's why many people find solace and comfort in spending time outdoors and bonding with animals. Whether taking a leisurely walk on a sunny day, playing with your furry friend in the grass, or snuggling with your beloved pet, you can't help but feel God's presence and love surrounding you. Nature is God's gift to us, and we should cherish it and all its wonders.
We invite you to join us for a spiritual hike next month to enjoy nature and fellowship. I want to thank everyone who participated—Lisa, Ruth, Mary, Margaret, Heidi, Drusie, Melissa, and Pat. Your participation made it all possible. I also want to thank Father Tuck and Nellie for supporting the hikers and sending them off peacefully during their first adventure.
Rev. Samson Mamour
Assistant Rector | Grace Episcopal Church
Worship Services | Fifth Sunday of Easter | Sunday, April 28
Holy Eucharist | 8 a.m.
In-Person & Zoom
Christianity and Culture This Week| 9:15 a.m.
In Person | Parish Hall
April 28th: James Keane: Beyond a Binary God – Transgenderism and the Bible
Summary: A discussion on transgenderism from the perspective of tradition, scripture, and reason.
Holy Eucharist | 10:30 a.m.
In-Person and Youtube
Please join us after each service for a Parish photo on the front steps of Grace with Nolan Zunk.
Dr. Robert Glidden Service and Evensong
In-Person and Youtube
On April 28 we will celebrate the life and ministry of Dr. Robert Glidden with a concert at 4 p.m. followed by Evensong at 5 p.m.. The concert will feature many local and out of town musicians, works by Haydn, Mozart, Copland, Puccini, as well as living composers who are friends of Bob and René’s. String quartet, choral works, and organ works will be part of the riches!
Stamp Out Hunger
Stamp Out Hunger, the nation's largest food drive, is back on May 11th! Postal workers from ten post offices throughout Rockbridge County will collect donated canned and dry food items from city and county residents and deliver them to RARA, as well as food pantries in Buena Vista and Glasgow. Stamp Out Hunger is sponsored by members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association, and the U.S. Postal Service. The last year's drive brought in almost 4,000 pounds of non-perishable food to Rockbridge County.
RARA needs your help on May 11th between 12-5pm to process thousands of pounds of Stamp Out Hunger donations. Shifts are two and a half hours long and are a great opportunity for community groups, coworkers, teams, and families to volunteer together!
If you cannot volunteer, please consider participating by leaving your donations by your mailbox on the morning of Saturday, May 11th. We greatly appreciate any and all donations. Please see our list of our most needed items (no glass please):
Marinades, sauces, & spices
Health & hygiene items
Canned meat
Soup
Canned fruit
Diced tomatoes
Dried fruit or nuts
Cereal
Baby food & diapers
Morning Prayer | Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.
In-Person & Zoom
Paws to Connect
Join us on April 30th and May 1st for our first Paws to Connect of Spring Term!
Men's Prayer Breakfast
Join us every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. for Men's Prayer Breakfast! Come get some delicious breakfast and wake up with us.
A Farewell for Samson
Samson Mamour, our Assistant Rector, will finish his two-year tenure at Grace Church at the end of May. To celebrate his ministry with us, there will be a unitive service at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 5 followed by a reception. There will be time to honor him with gifts and cards. If you would like to give him a cash gift, please write out a check to him. We invite you to participate as you wish and to attend if possible. Cards and notes of appreciation are welcomed and encouraged. There will be a basket to collect them on the day of his party, but if you won’t be able to attend and wish to write something, please send to Melissa Cox at 107 Lee Avenue in Lexington. Please include Samson on the back of the envelope. Please join us as we celebrate Samson’s time with us and wish him Godspeed.
Upcoming Labyrinth Events
May Labyrinth Walk: will be held on World Labyrinth Day
Saturday, May 4, 2024,12:30 - 1:30 p.m. at Boxerwood.
We will walk a temporary labyrinth to be constructed of natural materials from the gardens on The Boxerwood Meadow. On this day, participants will be walking labyrinths all over the world at 1pm local time, holding the intention of peace and planetary healing. I will be at Boxerwood Gardens leading a community walk on the Boxerwood Meadow.
We hope that someone will be walking the Grace Labyrinth at that time to celebrate this day.
If you don't plan to join us at Boxerwood, then perhaps one or more of you would walk the Grace Labyrinth at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4 to connect energetically with labyrinths and walkers all over the world.
Friday, May 3: The day prior to the World Labyrinth Day event, we will gather volunteers, and students from EarthSong Community School, to build the labyrinth by placing clipping from the gardens on the marked path lines of the labyrinth.
These events are free and open to the public. Please register on the Boxerwood website.
World Labyrinth Day Workshop: There is also a labyrinth workshop available on the morning of May 04. It will be led by a colleague of mine, Mary Ann Wamhoff, who is an Advance Labyrinth Facilitator from Crozet. The fee for her workshop is $75 and those interested can sign up on the Boxerwood website. Here's the flyer for World Labyrinth Day: Those interested may register through the Boxerwood website:
Boxerwood website: https://boxerwood.org/
CATE Group
The Children Aspiring To Education or CATE group of our Grace Church is thankful for the great response to the April 7th 9:15 a.m. presentation on the two schools, Saint Marc's in Haiti and Kelly Academy of Hope in South Sudan. So we want to share with all readers of Life with Grace the information in the 2-page handout below. We are so thankful that we were able to see and speak with the school directors last Sunday via Zoom. Let's continue the long standing connection to our brothers and sisters in these two not-so distant places as we renew our efforts to support Saint Marc's and initiate support for the new Kelly Academy which aims to offer South Sudanese youth the opportunity to learn in their homeland.
Backyard Compost Challenge with Boxerwood
Our Big Question: How much food waste could we keep out of the landfill if more of us used backyard composters instead? To answer that question we are enrolling 80 local households in a 10-week “citizen science” project, March 9 – May 18, 2024.
Each selected household will weigh and share data about its total food diversion weekly. Boxerwood will post this data anonymously on its project webpage. We will use this information to better understand the impact of diverting food waste with backyard composting. Your new compost kit (and our weekly tips) will also give you a way to start protecting the Earth right here at home.
Update on the Trex Challenge
Thank you for your tremendous contributions to this effort. Please keep up your collection of plastic film so we will meet our goal in October.
Please note that the plastic film collected is not only plastic bags but includes other plastic films that stretch; bread bags, bubble wrap, drycleaning bags, plastic shipping envelopes, Ziploc food storage bags, shrink wrap, salt bags, wood pellet bags, produce bags, etc... everything just must be clean before going into recycling. There is a blue collection bin for plastic film under the bridge between the Church and Parish Hall for your deposit of plastic films. Thanks again for your participation in this challenge.
Rockbridge Co. Cleanup
We are also trying to reschedule a date for our own cleanup of a road in Rockbridge Co. Unfortunately the dates for the community cleanup in March conflicted with other commitments. We are shooting for a Saturday in May and will see what works best in everyone's schedule.
Prayers for Peace in the Holy Land
A Note from Tuck:
I am writing to ask for your prayers for a de-escalation of violence between Israeli and Palestinian people and for return to the challenging work of building a sustainable and lasting peace.
I have reached out to the current student director of Hillel House, the Chaplain at VMI, and the director of Student Services at W&L to express our support of Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and Muslim students.
I encourage you to reach out to your Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish and Muslim friends in recognition that this crisis creates the conditions for increased anti-semitic and anti-muslim behavior, as well the strong likelihood that they or someone close to them has been impacted by this crisis.
Finally, please read the following statement by the Episcopal Church and the accompanying statement by Churches for Middle East Peace.
Pray for peace.
Boys Home of Virginia Wish List
Please help us support the Boys Home of Virginia by supplying any of items on their wishlist. There is a basket on the stair landing to the Parish Office for the Boys Home donations. Please drop off at church. Thank you!
Wanted: Sunday School Teachers
Grace is looking for youth, college students and adults willing to help provide Sunday School for a few children each Sunday from about 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. We are willing to pay a stipend. Please contact Tuck to find out more.
Prayer List
Please pray for the wider Church and intercessions requested by our Congregants: Prayers for continued healing forPresiding Bishop Curry. Pray for the candidates for Presiding Bishop: The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Barker, The Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright. The Diocese of SouthwesternVirginia, and our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Mark Bourlakas. Pray for the people of St. John’s, Lynchburg and their Rector, The Rev. Chris Roussell. Pray for Brendon, Michael Murphy, Timmy, Rick Alexander, Bradley Fairchild and Karen Junkin, John & Gloria June Perry, Glen Jones, Patricia Brown Boyer, Jack Hershbell, Laura Stearns, Worth & Katie Burnes & Family, Amelia Dull, Stephen deMaria, Polly Lawrence, Betty Cadden, Jeff Mason, Joe Irby, Kent Wilson, Don Ellis, Diana Kenney, Patrick Bowes, Ann Nay, Paula Cooper, Penny & Ned Henneman, Barbara Bova, Daniel Diener, Shelby, Clay Sadler, Sharon Humphreys, Eloise Adams, Nancy Mastin, Elizabeth Klein, Cullen Bahr (friend of Drusie Milford), Mary Etta Randolph, Amaree Cluff, Jeff Patnaude, Blake, Liz & Cameron (friends of Chris Young), Carl & Rachel Pattison, Wayne Fitzgerald (husband of Anna-Lisa Nay Fitzgerald), Brian Powers, Jane Drewry (sister-in-law of Ruth Smith), Barb Ostrander (cousin of John Milford), Nancy Walker, Carolyn Williams, Jennifer Humphrey, Linda Lanford, Elizabeth Jones (Martha’s mom), and those we name aloud or in our hearts. Pray for the graduates of colleges, universities and high schools, especially Colleen Curto, Lucy Eagleson, AnnieThomas, Jackson Hotchkiss, Joe Condie and Rowan Moles. (Please let us know of students we should add.) Pray for those who have died.
In Thanksgiving for April and May Birthdays
4/26 Chuck Smith
4/27 Nancy Walker
4/28 Sharon Humphreys, Abby Moles, Madison Brown
4/29 David Hansen
5/2 Elizabeth Harralson, Ruth Smith
5/6 Peter Bowerfind
5/8 Kate Holston
5/12 Anne Hershbell
5/15 Jenny Mastin
5/16 Ren Price, Elaine Price
5/17 John Dickerson, Cynthia Robertson
5/20 Joan Crawford
5/22 Garrett Frascati
5/26 Raeanna Simcoe
5/30 Lyle McClung
5/31 Anne Tyler McCabe, Ellie Mastin
We're so glad you're here! If you or someone you know is new to Grace and would like more information about Parish life, follow the link below.
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