Bulletin Board

Sunday Services

and Week Day Services are listed in

Times of Services

RUMMAGE SALE

Friday & Saturday

May 16 & 17

May 16: in the evening

May 17 in the morning & early afternoon

Admission Fee on Friday

Free Admission on Saturday

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Congregational Meeting

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Noon

To Elect

Three Delegates and Two Alternates

From among these candidates:

Ann Dutton

Thomas Mitchell

Robert Petersen

Bill Roberts

David Smith

To be elected for the October 2008 Diocesan Convention

Candidates presented by the Nominating Committee:

Rob Petersen, Claudia Hawthorne, Kim Smith, Virginia Procter

 

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MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE

MONDAY

MAY 26, 2008

10:00 a.m.

Service in memory of American service men and women killed in wars. congregational singing, prayers, readings, solos, wreath decorating ceremony, and placing of wreath on war memorial on Bidwell Parkway (weather permitting).

 

All are welcome to join in this interdenominational memorial service

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Family Album Pictures

will be taken after church on Sundays

If your picture is not yet posted on the Family Album wall outside the Walter Lord Room - See Lynn Williams to get yours added there.

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Gentle Moves

a gentle dance, yoga and pilates class

taught by Suzanne Evans

Meets Wednesdays from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. 

In the Walter Lord Room  $5 per session.

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Walter Lord Room

Redecorating Group

New Date for meeting to be announced

10:30 a.m.

Watch for opportunity to come and join in planning and implementing

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Thursdays

Adult Bible Study

Thursday Mornings 10 a.m.

Walter Lord Room

(Lower level of Parish Hall)

 

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Sundays

Adult Bible Study

Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

Bishop Spong Classroom

(Parish Hall Lower Level seen sign on door next to Walter Lord Room)

Read and discuss lessons used at Sunday Services. This is a relatively informal group. You may join it any Sunday

Bring the Sunday Bulletin with you to this discussion group.

 

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Sunday Morning

Adult Education & Discussion

Sundays

12:00 noon to 12:45 p.m.

(Rooms on Parish Hall Lower Level: near Walter Lord Room: See Signs which identify classrooms)

 

Current Offerings

Adult Study Groups 12:00 noon to 12:45 p.m.

        Women of the Bible:  Listen to a story involving a significant female charater. Discuss the meaning in its original context and its application in our times. Facilitated by Ann Dutton and Deacon Cecily Whiteford.

        A New Christianity: Bishop John Shelby Spong is a best selling author and major spokesperson for reframing Christianity for the 21st Century. Discuss the challenging issues raised in Bishop Spong’s weekly internet question and answer series. Facilitated by Carol Brothers and Rob Petersen.

        Social Issues: 3rd Sunday of each Month facilitated by Bill Roberts. May 18, 2008 session will be at 9:45 a.m.

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ST. JOHN’S-GRACE ADULT BOOK DISCUSSION

 

·         First & Third Sundays of each month at 7:30 p.m. - Adult Discussion Group

the Sunday Night
ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
First and Third Sundays of each month
7:30 p.m.

Meeting dates in May are Sundays: May 4th and May 18th  


The next book for this Adult Discussion Group will be The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur

The Pagan Christ

by Tom Harpur

 

Starting on Sunday, April 6, the Sunday Night Adult Discussion Group at St. John’s-Grace will be starting a new book, The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur. Harpur is a former Anglican priest and professor of Greek and New Testament at the University of Toronto. Publisher’s Weekly says of this book, “A radical reinterpretation not just of the Bible but of the nature of the Christian faith and its links to the world’s great spiritual traditions.”

 

The Pagan Christ explores the origins of Christianity in a variety of faith traditions of the ancient world. Harpur highlights the following quotation from St. Augustine: “The very thing which is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients also, nor was it wanting from the inception of the human race until the coming of Christ in the flesh, at which point the true religion which was already in existence began to be called Christian.” (from Retractiones)

 

Come join us as we seek a deeper and more balanced understanding of our own faith tradition. Our first discussion session will be at 7:30 p.m. on April 6 downstairs in the Walter Lord Room. Then discussion continues at 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Sunday evenings of each month  –  approximately one chapter per session. Come to all or any of these discussions. We want to hear your views whether or not you agree with the author. The rules for discussion require that everyone’s ideas are their own, and no one’s ideas should be criticized or dismissed. So come and tell us yours!

 

Copies of the book are available from Rob Petersen for $12.00, or call the church office at 885-1112. Here’s the schedule for discussion..

 

 

4/6   Chapters 1 and 2: A Bible Story I’d Never Heard Before and Myths Aren’t Fairy Tales

4/20 Chapter 3: Christianity before Christianity

5/4   Chapter 4: How a Spiritual Christianity Become a Literalist Christianity

5/18 Chapter 5: It Was All Written Before -- in Egypt

6/1   Chapter 6: Convincing the Skeptics

6/15 Chapter 7: The Bible – History or Myth?

7/6   Chapter 8: Seeing the Gospels with New Eyes

7/20 Chapter 9: Was There a Jesus of History?

8/3   Chapter 10: The Only Way Ahead: Cosmic Christianity

Please read the portions of The Pagan Christ before the discussion session on Sunday evenings as listed above

 

The adult discussion group has also read

o        The Heart of Islam by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

o        The Kingdom of God Is within You by Leo Tolstoy

o        Living Buddha, Living Christ  by Thich Nhat Hanh

o        The Left Hand of God by Michael Learner

o        The I of the Storm by Gary Simmons

o        A People Called Episcopalians, A Brief Introduction to Our Peculiar Way of Life by The Rev. Dr. John H. Westerhoff

o        Original Blessing by Matthew Fox

o        The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg

o        A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born by Bishop John Shebly Spong

o        Beyond Belief: the Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels

o        Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon

o        Why Christianity Must Change or Die by Bishop John Shelby Spong


The conversation has been stimulating, revealing, wide-ranged, unorthodox, deeply personal, challenging, reassuring, and very rewarding.

The group will continue to meet on the first and third Sundays of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Walter Lord Room (downstairs in parish hall).

Please read at least the chapter(s) of the book according to the schedule above.

Come and join us for any or all of these sessions. The rules for discussion allow each to present her or his own ideas without criticism from the other participants. We crave a wide range of views, so come and tell us yours! For more information contact Carol Brothers (carolbros@adelphia.net) or John Schimminger (johnwschimminger@hotmail.com).

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WORLD REFUGEE DAY

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

JUNE 20 AND 21, 2008

FRIDAY EVENING

JUNE 20

INTERFAITH LITURGY

SATURDAY

JUNE 21

ENTERTAINMENT AND REFRESHMENTS

Deacon Tom Tripp is organizing a celebration for World Refugee Day co-sponsored by International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, and Vive LaCasa Refugee Shelter.  The two-day event will begin the evening of Friday, June 20 with an interfaith liturgy hosted here at St. John’s-Grace, with refugee speakers, choirs, and a candlelight vigil procession to Colonial Circle.  The celebration will continue the following afternoon adjacent to the church on Bidwell Parkway with live entertainment, organizational presentations and awards, films, refreshments, and other goodies.  Please bring personal care items as “admission.”

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CHOIR

REHEARSAL

Thursdays

7:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Talk to David Mathewson, Organist/Choir Director for more details

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Breakfast

Sunday

June TBA, 2008

After 8:30 and before 10:30 services

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DIOCESAN YOUTH CONFERENCES

Senior High: June 29 to July 5, 2008

Junior High: August 10 – August 16, 2008

Sleep Away Camp: August 20 – August 23, 2008

Contact: Jay Phillippi at

jayphillippi@episcopalwny.org

or call Saint John’s-Grace Office: 885 - 1112

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Stewardship Campaign

Pledges for 2008

Campaign in November and December 2007

Letters went out Monday, November 19, 2007

 

As of 3/16/08

59 pledges received pledging $94,807 for 2008

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