SUNDAY, November 6th, 2022

All Saints Sunday

Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost

IN THIS ISSUE

• Click Here For The Prayer List
• Click Here for Church Calendar
• First Sunday Of The Month - Loose Plate
• All Saints Day and The Necrology
• Children's All Saints Parade
• Stewardship Season Is Underway
• Meet Craig Harland
• Advent Book Study Begins Sunday, November 27th
• Thanksgiving Food Drive
• Words of Gratitude From Mother Suzanne
• Link To Fireside Chat
• Sunday, November 6th, Mother Suzanne Leads Rite II Worship & Holy Baptism

Liturgy Of The Week

• The Preaching Moment Podcast
• A Holy Pause Resumes
• Rector's Tuesday Bible Study
• Wednesday Noonday Prayer Around The World
• The Mobile Food Pantry - Thursday, November 10th
• Food Ministry Statistics Update
• Share Your Holidays, Saturday, December 10th
• Christmas Walk-A-Mile - Monday, December 12th
• Sunday Card Ministry
• On Generosity...

Keep Scrolling to Learn More...

If you know of a brother or sister with no computer or internet access - would you please print off this email and drop it off to that person? We don't have many, but there are some. Let's help all of our Grace Family stay connected.

All Saints Day & The Necrology

In the Nicene Creed, Christians affirm their belief in “the communion of saints.” All of us who are in Christ and belong to him are bound together in him, whether we are in our earthly life or our heavenly one. This great theological truth is celebrated every year on All Saints’ Day, which is always on November 1.

One of the ways we observe this day is by listing the deceased in a list called the Necrology. We will have two necrologies.

• The first will list all the names of all our loved ones (church members or not) who have died in the year since the last All Saints’ Day (November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022).
• The second necrology lists all the names of deceased loved ones who died at any time in the past. 

These lists will be read aloud in our morning worship service on November 6.

Children's All Saint's Parade

Nov. 6th during worship

Here it is! The one day of the year you get to come to church in a costume! Sunday, Nov. 6th will be All Saint's Sunday, so come to church dressed as your favorite saint (examples: St. Florian, patron saint of firefighters; St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals). 

Don't know what to wear? Come dressed as something you like to do or want to be. There's a patron saint for just about anything! Don't want to dress in a costume? That's ok, too! Come dressed as yourself, because you are a saint, too! 

Meet Aubrey in the narthex between 8:30 and 8:45 am, because we are going to parade in with the procession at the beginning of worship.

Stewardship Season

Is Underway At Grace

Donna Tate, our treasurer, shares some thoughts...

Why Pledge?

At this time of the year, Episcopal churches emphasize stewardship in the form of planned, budgeted giving. We read and hear about giving God the first fruits of our lives and about a tithe (giving God 10% of our harvests). God in turn blesses this generosity of our lives into a bounty for the work of His kingdom. 

If you attended the Fireside Chat, either in person or online, you heard Mother Suzanne speak about how generous God has been with Grace and how, through us, the hungry are fed, and our community is blessed.  The rebirth and new life Grace continues to experience under Mother Suzanne’s leadership shows us how pledging and the church budget can experience rebirth and new life, too. 

Pledging is a sign of relationship; you are entering into a relationship with others in the church to help build and maintain Grace and her ministries. 

The vestry of Grace carefully builds a budget based on the pledges you and your family turn in. The vestry wants you to know that your pledge is private. We don’t know who pledges and how much. We get the number of pledges and total pledged, but no identifying information is shared with the vestry. 

The church will provide envelopes in the narthex for you to put your pledge card in to help ensure your privacy. Your pledge is between you and God, and a few carefully trained people who manage the giving software. 

I hope you will prayerfully consider your pledge to Grace. And then embrace God’s call for us to live generously. 

-Donna Tate

Paper copy pledge cards will be available this coming Sunday as your enter the church

Meet Craig Harland

Craig Harland is Grace's youth minister. Craig also teaches during the week. Kids and youth are very much a part of Craig's life. Every summer, he and Mother Suzanne lead a week of junior high camp at camp allen together. Craig enjoys watching and talking about films. He also enjoys playing board games. Grace, when you see Craig, please tell him how grateful you are

that he is at Grace leading our young folks.

Advent Book Study

Begins Sunday, November 27th

With Mother Suzanne

Journey through Advent and Christmas with the women of Jesus’ family line.

Christmas is about so much more than twinkle lights, sugar cookies, and perfect family photos. It’s about the world-changing, transforming, and sometimes messy reality of “God with us.” As we dive deep into the biblical accounts of Jesus’ female ancestors and reflect on God’s presence in their complicated lives, we can begin to release our expectations of a “perfect Christmas” and instead seek the experience of a holy season.

Through invitational spiritual practices and reflections, this daily devotional centers the stories of five women in Jesus’ genealogy—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary—plus three additional female figures connected to Jesus’ early life in the days leading up to Epiphany. You will also find resources for exploring the lives of these women in worship, small group, and retreat settings. This Advent and Christmas season, step into the true power of the Incarnation as we journey together to the manger and encounter the omnipotent God who has come to us in the vulnerable Christ-child.

Thanksgiving Food Drive Continues

From now through Thanksgiving, please help us fill our Blessing Box and Blessing Fridge.  Your donations can be dropped off on Sunday mornings in the Narthex as you enter.

From Susie Credeur and Stephanie Cowles:

We are in need of pancake mix, syrup, jelly or jams, oatmeal, and canned goods.  Please help us keep the Blessing Box filled.

We also accept donations via check - just note "Blessing Box" in the memo field.

Gratitude

From Mother Suzanne

Dear Grace,



Thank you for your sweet surprise party for me after church on Sunday. I was reminded of what a special place Grace is. I'm grateful that I have you all in my life. This new year of life feels big for me. I've come through a difficult season and you all have been with me each step of the way. Thank you for loving me, my precious boys, my Dad, and my brothers. Cheers to a new year and new beginnings.



All my love and a heart full of gratitude,

Mother Suzanne+ 

In Case You Missed The Fireside Chat -

Here Is Your Chance To Get Caught Up!

Sunday, November 6th

Sunday's Schedule



• Holy Eucharist Rite II and Holy Baptism - led by Mother Suzanne
• The services will also be live-streamed via Facebook Live - a musical prelude will begin at 8:50 a.m.
• 3 ways to Give today: Text the word ¨Fund¨ to 844-943-0932 to give via text, download and use the Vanco Mobile* app from the Google or Apple App Store, or visit the link below. Alternatively, you can mail a check to the church office at 112 W. Lang, Alvin TX 77511

*If you previously used the Give+ app, your Vanco Mobile login credentials will be the same

Or you can find The Preaching Moment on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

A Holy Pause

From Mother Suzanne:

This time together will be between 2-5 minutes. A small touch-point throughout the week to remind Grace and others to whom you belong and that we are together walking the road of faith. 

As well, I think it's a good practice to pause during the day and "look up". 

Please join if you are able on Grace's Facebook or Instagram pages....no particular time...

If you subscribe/like/follow our Instagram and Facebook you'll receive a notification when we go live.

As Mary Oliver reminds us - "pay attention, be astonished and go tell someone"

The Rectors Tuesday Bible Study

Mobile Food Pantry on

Thursday, November 10th

Please consider volunteering to extend our

"Grace-ous Hospitality" to our volunteers and the guests who come to receive food. We could use your help. We begin setting up at 7:00 am and distribution ends at 12 Noon.

Here is the schedule through April 20th, 2023:

Your Food Ministry Statistics

Weekly Update

The week of October 27th, 2022, we distributed 9,851 pounds of food to 261 families, including 81 homebound deliveries, totaling 822 people. We welcomed 17 new families. This was all made possible by the 58 volunteers (including drivers) who showed up to make it happen.



Monthly Update - October

For the entire month of October, we distributed 49,225 pounds of food to 1,013 families, including 257f homebound deliveries, totaling 3,183 people. We welcomed 94 new families. This was all made possible by the 249 volunteers (including drivers) who showed up to make it happen.

Year-To-Date

As of October 31st, in 2022, we have distributed 467,842 pounds of Houston Food Bank food to 8,646 families, with 814 new families coming to us for food. We have made a total of 2,775 deliveries. The total number of individuals served is 25,832. It required 2,234 volunteers to pull this off.

Community Thanksgiving Meal

Alvin Senior Center

Thanksgiving Day 11-1

Kidz Harbor Angel Tree

Begins Sunday, November 27th

Kelley Krenek will have the Angel Tree up for November 27 and December 4, with gift returns to her on December 11^th and no later than the 18^th. Gifts should be turned in unwrapped using the angel ornament as the name tag. Please consider sharing your Christmas with one of these children. If you have any questions, please contact Kelley at [email protected] 

Kidz Harbor is a beautiful facility located on six acres in Liverpool, just a stone's throw away from Alvin. The facility serves abused and abandoned children in Texas.  

Saturday, December 10th

10 AM - 1PM

More information coming soon!

Christmas Walk-A-Mile

Monday, December 12th, 2022