E-Blast for Friday, March 17th, 2023

The Fourth Sunday In Lent

March 19th, 2023

7:45 & 10:00 a.m. service

The Rev. Steve Keplinger Sermon:

Weeding out the heretics

Email Update!

Lynn Albright has a NEW email address.

[email protected]

Please update your records if you have not already.

Imago Dei openings

Imago Dei is an Episcopal Middle

school that serves children from

low-income families. All students receive full scholarships to attend. The Principal of the school is our own Kitt Bret Harte. Small classes, great teachers, a thoughtful curriculum and a caring staff make Imago Dei a top notch educational experience.

Imago Dei serves 5th to 8th grade students. They presently have openings, especially for fifth graders. If you or someone you know may be interested in this opportunity, please contact Jessica Swift or our office for more information or to get signed up.

Steve+

To: The People who are Grace St. Paul’s

From: The Rector

Subject: Yet another volunteer opportunity

John Banks has faithfully served as our webmaster, social media presence, and all around digital guru since before I arrived at Grace St. Paul’s. He has volunteered thousands of computer hours to GSP to keep us relevant and a very visible presence in cyberspace. I am so grateful to John for everything he has given us over the years. I cannot remember a time when John did not jump through any hoop necessary to make something digital happen for us or for me whenever I asked. I cannot possibly thank him enough for such monumental efforts over all these years. John has also been an ongoing member of our Giving and Receiving team over many years, providing them with all the computer assistance needed in our pledge campaigns.

John will finally be retiring from his webmaster and computer duties this August. That means we are looking for one very motivated person or several people to share in John’s computer activities. We are looking for folks who might consider volunteering five or more hours a week to web design and posting, along with our social media posts. John is willing to assist us by training anyone who might have an interest in serving GSP in this way. The person or persons involved in this could do almost all of these activities at home, with just occasional check ins with the office.

If you think this may be a way that you would like to contribute to assisting GSP in marketing our Earth Justice-Migrant Justice-Social Justice message to the community and the world, please let me know by text, email, call, or in person.

[email protected]

520-327-6857 Office

928-660-1101 Cell

Thanks for considering.

Steve+

To: The People who are Grace St. Paul’s

From: The Rector

Subject: Parish Administrator Maternity Leave

This morning our Parish administrator, Brooke Callaway, showed me an ultrasound. She referred to the image as the “Grace St. Paul’s baby.” It is a cute little being and we are all wishing Brooke an uneventful pregnancy, especially me.

To prepare for Brooke’s maternity leave, we are looking for someone to fill her position on a full-time temporary basis from around August 1, 2023 to November 1. There could

obviously be some flexibility in these dates, but this 90 day period should give us the opportunity for someone to be trained by Brooke and then solo for her while she is out. We would prefer filling this position with a candidate who is part of the Grace St. Paul’s community, so we are attempting that before going outside.

Approximately one-third of the P.A. position is spent on bulletin layout using a program called In-Design. Anyone who has had some computer design experience may apply. The other major portions of the Administrator position include communications in-person and online, representing GSP professionally and hospitably, managing and coordinating

day-to-day office activities, supervising non-program staff, calendaring church activities, coordinating rental of space, writing the email blast, and the all important, all other

duties as assigned. There is some flexibility in hours, but generally they are 9 AM to 4 PM Monday through Thursday and 9 AM to Noon on Friday.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. If you believe you can serve the GSP community in this way, please contact me by text, email, call, or in person.

[email protected]

520-327-6857 Office

928-660-1101 Cell

Thanks for considering.

Steve+

A CALL TO ALL MAKERS, CRAFTERS, ARTISTS AND CREATIVE SOULS!

We will be hosting a Grace St. Paul’s Raise The Roof Craft Fair this fall! All proceeds will be given to GSP to help fund needed roof repairs. Whether you sew, quilt, bake, can goods, knit, crochet, applique, paper craft (including card making, explosion boxes, etc.), do mixed media, paint, draw, needlework, work with wood, metal(s), clay, ceramics, make candles, soaps, jewelry or any other handmade item, we ask that as your creative spirit is unleashed and poured into whatever it is you love to make that you consider making a commitment to donate some of your gems to the fair. Ready to commit (no need to commit to a number of items only that you’d like to make a donation)? Have questions?

Please contact Anne Sunderland ([email protected]); Margie King ([email protected]); or Debbie Fricke ([email protected]).

The date of the fair will be announced at a later time.

We look forward with great excitement to hearing from you!

Centering Prayer has begun!

Every Friday at 12pm - 1pm in the Bloom Room.

Please be on time.

If you have any questions please contact Karen Hanson

via email [email protected]

Why I continue to call this class by the name shown above only God understands. Episcopal 101 is neither. It is not just Episcopal, because we cover the entire span of Christianity through the ages. And it is certainly not a 101 level class, because we would argue that you will learn more about Christianity and the church than you ever would in an entrance level study.

This six-week class is specifically designed for those who are relatively new to this tradition and also for folks considering being officially Received into the church. This year, Bishop Reddall will make her formal visit to GSP on April 30, and that is the day she will confirm, receive, and ceremonially welcome new members to the parish with the laying on of hands. If you have never had a Bishop lay hands on your head, this is for you. In addition, many folks at GSP and beyond take this class for various reasons. Some take it as a refresher, some want to increase their knowledge in specific areas, some come to hear the Rector’s own take on the history, liturgy, sacramental tradition and theology of the church, and many come to take part in the theological discussions that have become such an important part of the learning in this class. Others just want to mock the Rector. For all of these reasons, it remains one of the most popular classes we offer.

Our first class will be on the history of the church from Jesus to the Protestant Reformation. (All of that in an hour and a half.) The second class will be history, part II, a look at the church as it developed in America. Class three will be everything you always wanted to know about the Book of Common Prayer and our liturgy, but were afraid to ask. We will also talk about why GSP has a Season of Creation. Class four will be a discussion of Sacramental theology, and what we mean by Sacrament. Class five will be on Episcopal church polity, how we get things done and how we govern ourselves. This class is particularly important to us now as we consider American politics and also the fragile state of the Anglican Communion. The last class will be a comparison of the Episcopal tradition with other Christian denominations, a discussion of the issues facing the church today, and what it means to be an Episcopalian in what may be a post-religious age.

We are going to cover a bunch in a short time, but the classes will be informative for all and always fun, whether you have a doctorate in Anglican studies, or you think that Episcopalian is something that only appears on spelling tests. And did I mention that there will be no papers due!

Come join us every Sunday during Lent in the Sanctuary at High Noon. We will have drinks and snacks outside on the Labyrinth between the 10 AM service and the class. Each session is 90 minutes long. Each class will also be live streamed on our two platforms; tinyurl.com/gspvirtual and gsptucson.org/live.

EPISCOPAL 101 CLASS SCHEDULE

March 19 - (Lent 4) - The Sacramental Tradition

March 26 - (Lent 5) - American Church Polity and what else happened in Philadelphia in 1789

April 2 - (Palm Sunday) A comparison of Christian denominations, present day challenges in T.E.C. and the Anglican Communion. Come join the discussions and the fun.

Steve +