Living the Word

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does." ~ Ephesians 6:7—8 **

Some energetic members of the Grace Church family took this verse to heart when they met last Saturday to work on repairing and refreshing the rectory in preparation for Father David and Elizabeth's arrival. Thank you to our Junior Warden and coordinator of this event, Steve Duerst, and to everyone who helped out. Each of you - and the members of our search committee - are truly a blessing to Grace Church.

March 2 - What a Day!

Why does a Bishop come to install our Rector?

The website of Diocese of Chicago says that it “…traces its formation to the first apostles, and retains this connection through its bishops, the episcopoi which in the early church exercised oversight of the church’s faith and order.” In other words, this installation will be another connection in a very long line connecting our priest (and us) to the apostles! Wow!

What does it mean to Fr. Rude?

I can’t speak for his personal feelings, of course, but it means his official recognition as a rector of a church in the diocese. It means he’s really ours. He belongs. In the letter of institution, Fr. Rude will be called to “Care alike for young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor.” The Bishop will charge him, “By your words, and in your life, proclaim the Gospel. Love and serve Christ’s people. Nourish them, and strengthen them to glorify God in this life and in the life to come.” He may be a half-time rector, but there’s nothing at all half-time about his charge and what the Bishop is asking him to do for us.

What does this mean for us?

There can be nothing half-time about our commitment to support and uphold Fr. Rude in his ministry. This is a two way charge. This installation means we have a serious responsibility. We’re going to give him symbolically:

• A Bible – from which he proclaims the word
• Water – with which to baptize
• A stole – representing his role as pastor amongst us
• A prayer book – setting him as a man of prayer
• Oil – with which to heal and reconcile
• Keys – to keep our church open to all
• Canons – the book of rules for the Diocese so that he can share in the councils of the Church
• Bread and wine – so that he can celebrate the Eucharist

So it means we are fully accepting him into Grace Church. There’s no half-way about that, either.

Action required?

Be there. It’s a great service, and a wonderful celebration for our parish family. Let’s do it up right!

                                   ~ Peg Williams, Senior Warden

Workings of Our Awesome Church

Last night, the vestry reviewed progress that Grace Church has made toward our plans for the year. The list of everything going on in the parish turned out to be absolutely fantastic. Every member of the vestry is working hard in a variety of ways to carry out our mission, and the events and activities to come are even better. Please know that we appreciate your prayers every week that support both of your wardens and the whole vestry. They all take their work very seriously, and know that leadership is just one of the ministries needed by the church. When you see one of the vestry members, please help me to thank them!

As a matter of fact, though, all of you are responsible for the successes we can celebrate. The Grace Church family is thriving. Sometimes we look around at the challenges we face, and think that times are so tough that we can’t survive. We know we’re small and somehow “on the edge” in need of money, more people and even more singers on Sunday morning. Worry, worry, worry…

However, last weekend a group of us attended the Diocese Ministry Fair. One of the sessions that several of us attended was called “Small, Strong Churches.” It helped me to turn around and look at the “facts” from a different direction. Here’s what I saw.

We have a nice small parish where everyone knows everyone else. We care about every individual. We know when folks are missing, and most times we already know what’s going on. We know when newcomers come into the church and we welcome them and hope that they find a home with us. We’re a family. We have people teaching and learning from each other. Thanks to Father David, we’re sharing our stories with each other on Grace radio, and discovering the deep faith foundations in all of us.

We study together, worship together, eat together, pray together, have fun together, sing together and help each other celebrate milestones in our lives. We are a family. We also work together. We have Roger working all over the church grounds. We have people turning out with rakes and other garden tools to clean up the yards. We have people in the kitchen preparing food for us and cleaning up when we’re through eating. We are a family.

In more worldly terms, we may be a bit poor, but we all chip in everything that we can. And when the need arises, we all dig a bit deeper and come up with a little more. Because we’re family.

I heard about “Small, Strong Churches” on Saturday. And on Sunday morning as we sang the Doxology, I vividly remembered my Grandmother Shafer who always led the Doxology before every major family meal. She had a nice old quavering voice that inspired us to just sing our hearts out. Just like at Grace last Sunday. What a gift from God this family is.

                                   ~ Peg Williams, Senior Warden