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The Twenty-Second Sunday Of Ordinary Time

October 20, 2024


WEEKLY NEWS & UPDATES

IN THIS ISSUE


  • Fireside Chat Update
  • All Things Pumpkin Patch - Check Out The Calendar of Events
  • All Saints Day Baptisms And The Necrology - November 3
  • JDOK Is Collecting Items For The Hope Center Of Houston
  • From The Brothers At SSJE - Choose
  • Altar Flower Dedications - Heather McDonald's Grandmother - Jane Begy


Liturgy Of The Week


  • Holy Eucharist Rite I - Livestreaming Via YouTube
  • The Preaching Moment Podcast - Celebrating 2,078 Downloads
  • No Rector's Tuesday Bible Study - Mother Suzanne Will Be Attending Clergy Conference At Camp Allen
  • Wednesday Noonday Prayer Around The World
  • Wednesday Evening Sanctuary Choir Practice
  • The Mobile Food Pantry - Thursday, October 10
  • Friday Get Clean Mobile Shower Ministry
  • Friday Morning Panera Bread Doughnation Bagging By Waymakers
  • On Generosity...


  • Click Here For The Prayer List
  • Click Here For The Church Calendar
  • Click Here For The Server Schedule
  • Click Here For The A/V Guild Schedule
  • Click Here For Parish Directory


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.


Fireside Chat Update

Dear Grace,


Thank you for showing up last Sunday for the Fireside Chat. God's spirit moved and allowed for transparency and openness about the current financial state of Grace. Thank you for hearing this news in the way I intended for it to be heard...in an honest and forthright conversation--highlighting all The Good happening in this sacred space but also the real need for sustainability to continue the good work of ministry and mission.  

 

In an effort to journey together in regards to stewardship, please begin to ask God what you or your family's offering will be for the budget planning process for Stewardship 2025.  A more intentional focus on stewardship will begin November 3rd when pledge cards will be passed out.  Our Ingathering (when pledge card will be placed in offering plates and blessed at the altar) will be on Sunday, November 24th right before Thanksgiving. 

 

Please prayerfully consider how you will enter into a consistent way of giving to Grace by way of a pledge.  We build our budget based on pledges.  We are grateful for all gifts, but knowing what will come in by way of pledges allows for better budget planning.

 

Trusting our good God for provision and grace as we enter into this important time…and giving thanks to God for our Amazing Grace.  The vestry will be meeting on Sunday to review our September financial results and next week, Donna Tate, Grace Treasurer will have numbers prepared to share with the parish.


Gratefully,

Mother Suzanne+-- 


Dear Grace,


Believe it or not, we are halfway through our pumpkin season! Our total sales so far are $4,409.


Our pumpkins started life about 100 days ago on a farm on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Farmington, NM. Unlike many other produce growers they use no undocumented labor. Nearly 100% of their farm workforce is Native American. They believe it is very important to use domestic labor as the unemployment rate in this region is over 40%. 


This project and others like it create roughly 25 fulltime jobs and 550 seasonal jobs for Native Americans. Their pumpkins are non-GMO products. After ripening, they were hand loaded on a truck and traveled all the way to the pumpkin patch here at Grace to help raise money for our ministries and also for the Navajo Nation. Our pumpkins have helped a lot of folks on their way to us…lets treat them nice!


The Pumpkin Patch at Grace has been an annual community gift to our neighbors in Alvin for many years. This is our opportunity to extend Grace(ous) hospitality to our local families.


Aside from our Food and Shower Ministries, this is one of the cornerstone community events at Grace.


I'm glad so many of you are taking the time to be present to welcome our guests in person, rather than relying on self-serve check-out in the pumpkin patch. As I have said before, they come not just for pumpkins but for the family memories going back generations captured through all the photo ops we provide. We need to be present to welcome our guests when they visit the grounds of our church home. Grace, please continue to sign up for shifts!


I'm looking forward to seeing you in the Patch!


Mother Suzanne

Click Here To Sign Up For Your Pumpkin Patch Shifts
Click Here To Sign Up For Pumpkin Patch Facts

Ed and Becky Baldwin visited the patch with their new puppy!

All Saints Day, The Necrology & Baptisms

Sunday, November 3rd

Your copy shThe deadline for submitting names for the Necrology will be Monday, October 28th.  Please click on the button below to submit names in order to have them included.



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, 2023, through October 31, 2024). This list will be read aloud in our morning worship service on November 3. While we have the names of church members who have died in the last year, if you have a loved one you would like on the list, please contact us.

  • The second necrology lists all the names of deceased loved ones who died at any time in the past. These names will be listed in our worship bulletin on November 3.


To submit names for the necrology, please email edcarrette@gracechurchalvin.org WITH NECROLOGY IN THE SUBJECT LINE or call the church office by Monday, October 28th.ou

Please  Click Here To Submit Names For The Necrology

All Saints Day, which we will celebrate on November 3, will be the next offering for baptism.

Please Help The Junior Daughters Of The King Support The Hope Center Of Houston

We are collecting small size hand sanitizers and refillable/reusable water bottles. This is for all JDoK chapters in our diocese.


There will be a basket in the narthex to collect the items.

Click Here To Read About The Hope Center Of Houston

Upcoming JDOK Schedule

Choose



Quieting ourselves… paying attention… listening deeply… noticing the urgings which are drawing us towards God or away from God: this is the ongoing work of discernment in a Christian’s life. Every choice we make turns us either towards God or away from God. Every choice matters. Hence the need to be vigilant.

 

Br. David Vryhof, Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Clcik Here To Read More


Sunday's Altar Flowers Given To The Glory of God

In Memory Of Heather’s Grandmother

Jane Begy

By Heather and Tommy McDonald


The Altar Flower Dedications Book is located in the Narthex, for those of you who would like to make flower dedications. Once you sign up you can drop a check in the collection plate with "Altar Flowers" in the memo line, or in the blue mailbox to the left of the parish office entrance. The dedications will be $45.


The Altar Guild

Click Here For the Sunday Worship Bulletin
Please help us conserve resources by downloading to your mobile device or printing ahead of time and bringing it along with you to church
  • Holy Eucharist Rite I, Led by Mother Suzanne
  • The service will also be live-streamed via YouTube - 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
Click Here To View Service on YouTube
Click Here To Give Online
Click Here To Submit Your Pledge For 2024
Click Here To Download Vanco Mobile App From Google Play Store
Click Here To Download Vanco Mobile App From Apple App Store

The coffee hour hosts sign up sheet will be available in the parish hall kitchen every Sunday. You can also contact Anna Arendell at anamerican1@yahoo.com.

Click Here To Listen To The Podcast
Or you can find The Preaching Moment on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

Rector's Bible Study Pauses

Mother Suzanne Will Be Attending Clergy Conference

Mother Suzanne teaches an interactive and engaging class. We have just begun a study of the book of Revelation. All are welcome, regardless of your knowledge of the Bible.

Noonday Prayer Around the World

This Wednesday, let's pause together as we join our prayers with brothers and sisters around the world via Zoom and Facebook Live.



Beginning at 11:55 you can log in to Zoom here (passcode 032547) to join us as an active participant in the prayers. Or if you prefer, just follow along via Facebook Live beginning promptly at 12:00 PM this coming Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer beginning on page 103, which you can download ahead of time here. 

Sanctuary Choir Practice

Wednesdays, 7 PM

The Grace Sanctuary Choir rehearses Wednesdays 7:00–8:00 pm and sings each Sunday at the 9:00 am Sunday Worship Service and on some Holy Days (the choir meets 30 minutes before each of these services).


This group is open. Contact our Organist and Music Director, Paul Humphrey to meet and learn more about our choir - gphumphrey@yahoo.com

Church in the Streets

Mobile Food Pantry

Thursday, October 2

Click on the arrow above to watch our

Thursday Mobile Food Pantry story

Please consider volunteering, even if just for an hour - we could use your help. We begin setting up at 7:00 am and distribution ends at 12 Noon. Clean-up follows that. We especially need volunteers for deliveries to the homebound and to help with tear down and clean up starting at around 11:30.

Thursday Mobile Food Pantry Schedule


If its Thursday, we have a Mobile Food pantry, come rain or shine!


Your Food Ministry Statistics

From Harriet Sturgeon

Weekly Update

The week of October 3, 2024, we distributed 11,700 pounds (nearly 6 tons) of food to 284 families, including 68 homebound deliveries, totaling 799 people. This was all made possible by the 32 volunteers (including drivers) who showed up to make it happen.


Monthly Update - September

For the entire month of September, we distributed 57,248 pounds of food to 1,005 families, including 222 homebound deliveries, totaling 2,891 people. We welcomed 52 new families. This was all made possible by the 194 volunteers (including drivers) who showed up to make it happen.


Year-To-Date

As of the end of September, in 2024, we have distributed 545,657 pounds of food (nearly 273 tons) from the Houston Food Bank to 9,440 families, with 418 new families coming to us for food. We have made a total of 2,165 deliveries. The total number of individuals served is 25,702. It required 1,691 volunteers to pull this off!


The Catholic Daughters Have Cooked Up 7,055 Meals Year To Date

Volunteers Needed From 9 AM - 1 PM

Sunday Card Ministry
Have you noticed the cards on the table as you enter the church on Sunday? Well, one of our parishioners sets these cards out for us to sign and send a greeting to someone we may not have seen in a while, or someone who is ill.

Please take a minute as you come in, or before you leave to sign the cards and maybe write a brief note.

MISSION & OUTREACH AT GRACE

 

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you

all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us

to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick,

and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those

who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow

into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for

our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

BCP - Prayers and Thanksgivings #35


Grace is committed to helping those in need, including vulnerable children, the unhoused, and those experiencing food insecurity. To learn how you can get involved, check our website or send us an email edcarrette@gracechurchalvin.org

Generosity
1st Sunday

Did you know that the loose plate offering on the first Sunday of each month goes to the Rector’s Discretionary Fund? This fund is used, at the Rector’s discretion, to assist the poor and indigent and to further the ministries of the church, not covered in the church budget. One of the main uses of this fund, at Grace, is to fund our Blessing Box and Blessing Refrigerator.
Birthdays & Anniversaries

You are invited to make a financial offering in honor of your birthday or anniversary. These offerings go to the Herrington fund, which provides scholarships to church conferences and camps for members of our church.  Your offering may be placed in this little basket beside the piano as you approach the Chancel steps.


Kroger Community Rewards

You can help support Grace by simply linking your Kroger Rewards Customer number to Grace. You only need to sign up once and you will earn rewards for the church with every shopping trip! You can enroll at any time, so please try to get your family and friends to sign up as well! Every time you make a Kroger purchase, Kroger will make a donation to Grace. (And you still receive your reward points)
CLICK HERE - HOW TO SIGN UP

Match Your Gift

Matching your gift is a great way to make a bigger impact. Many companies match cash gifts from employees to qualified non-profits. Some even match gifts from retirees or spouses. To find out if your company will match gifts to Grace, visit your Human Resources Department. The Parish Office can provide you with a copy of our IRS Letter of Determination and W9 should you need it.

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