Red Bags

Our next Outreach Red Bag endeavor will be to support

Galena's Women and Friends Making a Difference in their drive to provide feminine products for the women in our community in need. On Sunday, May 5th, the bags were distributed at church. A suggestion list of what items are wanted are in each bag. Please return the filled bags  on Sunday, May 19th. Thank you for your generosity.

   

Rockford Deanery Mtg. Grace Church will host the May meeting on Thursday morning, May 16, at 10am in the Parish House.

Canapes & Conversations Larry & Carol Poston will be hosting at their home at 25 Shorewood in the Galena Territory on Friday, May 17th from 5-7pm. Bring a friend, a nibble and a beverage to share. All are welcome!

What a joy it is to be able to reach out to the surrounding community to share our Parish House and/or Church for various events. This is not new, of course, we have long done so with concerts in our Nave, French classes in our old Parish House, and, ongoing 12-Step programs at various times through the week. And we have recently experienced the versatility of our new space and how lovely and elegant it can be for special things like our Holy Week Agape Dinner.

     Just this past Saturday, a small group of Galena High School couples enjoyed a pre-Prom dinner at Grace, with mothers serving the catered meal. This was a wonderful way to connect with the youth in the community, and from all reports, the space worked well for them. Here are some photos: (don't worry, those bottles are sparkling grape juice!):

Parish House ready for pre-Prom dinner

	Dinner in progress.

   

A special bonus was our own Henry Anderson being crowned Prom King!      

     Next week, the Chicago Athaneum will use our nave for part of its Poetry Festival. In June once again there will be a performance of this year's Cemetery Walk. And discussions have begun about the possibility of a return of Riversong next year.

     There are a number of legal, insurance, and tax issues that we need to be mindful of when outside groups use our facilities. For this reason, the Vestry is in the process of developing a policy, guidelines, and a reservation process. These will outline the kinds of groups that will be considered, what expectations such groups will need to meet, such as insurance certificates and, if children are part of a program, evidence of safe church training (or its equivalent), and other terms of use.  

     This will probably take some time as we will need to be thorough and fair, and to comply with our Episcopal Church guidelines as well as applicable laws and ordinances.  

     Meanwhile, all requests for church and Parish House use must be submitted to the Church Office for review so that they can be placed on a central calendar to avoid conflicts with our ministry programming and church sponsored events. This includes community groups as well as Grace member requests for holding private gatherings like family celebrations or meetings of other organizations.  

      I would love to see our space bustling with activity throughout the week and providing a safe and attractive environment for a variety of offerings.  

 

See you in church for the rest of the 50 days of Easter,

In the midst of all of the bad news that the world brings us of war, violence, crime, climate change, and death, the message of resurrection is both a comfort and a call to remain strong and courageous in working for a more just and peaceful world. In addition, this week's readings speak a prophetic message to those in any kind of leadership, challenging them to be true, life-giving shepherds, and calling us to hold them accountable, while retaining our primary allegiance to Jesus as the one true Shepherd. On a global level this means that we must actively oppose unjust laws and structures that rob people of life. Wherever there is poverty and need, we can oppose international debt structures and unjust trade practices that make such poverty worse. Wherever power is abused and there is corruption, we can support organisations and initiatives that call for transparency and we can blow the whistle on those who are corrupt whenever we encounter them. Wherever there is war and violence, we can work for peace and support any initiatives that contribute to peaceful resolution of conflict and to regulation on the trade and ownership of firearms. In any way that we oppose the forces of death in our world, we contribute to the growth and celebration of life. In addition, in whatever situations we exercise leadership, we can follow in the serving and sacrificial footsteps of Jesus, seeking to be good shepherds in bringing life to those for whom we care. In all of these ways we embrace the resurrection as a daily, lived and life-giving reality.

The thumbnails and reflections excerpted from sacredise.com