The

Gregorian

Chant

Hello Beloveds!

A great big thank you to all of you who are remaining engaged with us as we seek to enhance service to God and with one another in worship! Y'all are troopers and we ask that you continue to approach our evolving worship ministry process with good humor and the virtue of patience. The eventual goal is that all worship ministers will, by and large, operate once or twice per month with the same 'team' of people, with scheduling happening through the Realm app. (For example, acolyte Sam, knows that she's always serving with Team 2, which always includes Harry, Sally, and Gwendolyn, and Team 2 always serves on the second Sunday of the month. And in the event Sam can't serve the Second Sunday one month, she's able to trade easily with another acolyte, using our church's Realm app.) 

The July 11th training was well attended and wonderful, even as the sky opened and the heavens decided that a 'Noah's Ark' reenactment was apparently in order. Thank you to all who attended and then 'swam' home in the deluge. And all those present received party favors in addition to a light continental breakfast: Acolyte, Lay Eucharistic Minister, and Lay Reader Customaries! Whoo hoo!

As you know, we Episcopalians love our ecclesial vocabulary, so that's our word for today! "Customary" is just a fancy word for a collection of instructions specific to a particular function in a specific church. Many churches have their own customaries for worship roles, and the customary for acolytes (and everything else) at one Episcopal Church will often look very different from the acolyte customary at another Episcopal Church. 

And yes, of course, many of you have been operating in worship ministry roles for years, and I promise, I know that you know what you're doing. But there are services where it's not too hard to see that while individuals may know what's to be done, we have a little bit of a struggle knowing how to function as a team. So one of the 'team education' things that happens at this (mandatory) training is that we're all hearing the same thing at the same time so we're all on the same page throughout the service. Who knew that was a possibility?

So if you are an acolyte or lem (or you want to be one or both) and you haven't yet signed up for training on August 15th, please call or email our parish administrator, Kendall, and let her know you want to attend. We'll see you there for breakfast, customaries, and fun!

Peace and joy,

Mo. Nikki+

HELP FOR OUR HOMELESS STUDENTS

For the last several years, the Clarke County School System has served its homeless students through the federally-funded McKinney-Vento Program. While these funds have helped ensure that homeless students receive the same school supplies and other services provided for all students, there are many needs unique to this population that federal dollars won’t fund. For example, homeless students and their families often need clothes, food, personal hygiene items and help with transportation that are difficult to anticipate and plan for and are not on the list of items approved for federal expenditures.

Last year, St. Gregory's Outreach Committee spearheaded a Gift Card Drive to help address these often unmet needs among Clarke County’s homeless students. Thanks to your never-failing generosity, last August, we contributed 230 Walmart gift cards, totaling $4,420 in value, to this program. According to Ms. Chrystal Gillis, Director of Social Work for the Clarke County School District, “These cards were instrumental in supporting 20 unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness by providing access to food, clothing, hygiene, and other necessities. This subgroup of youth is at greater risk because they are experiencing homelessness while not being in the physical custody of a parent/guardian.”

Not surprisingly, the School District has asked for our help again this year. Specifically, we are again seeking donations from our parishioners of $10 and $20 Walmart gift cards. In addition, this year, the Homeless Program has also identified the need for Uber and Lyft gift cards to help some of the students with transportation to and from work. We will collect all gift cards beginning July 19 through Friday, August 14. Please donate only $10 and $20 Walmart cards. Uber and Lyft cards in any denomination are welcome and may be purchased from Target, Best Buy, CVS and other stores that sell gift cards. IN ALL CASES, PLEASE CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE VALUE(S) OF THE CARDS YOU ARE DONATING.

You may hand your donations to Gail Eilers on Sunday mornings through August 9 or leave them with Kendall, our Parish Administrator, through Friday, August 14. If you have any questions, please contact Gail at eilersgail@gmail.com or 904-333-8996.

Thank you, in advance, for your amazing generosity.

St Greg's Youth (6th-12th Grades) have the following activities planned for the rest of the Summer:

• Sunday, July 26 - Youth Room Refresh/Decoration Day 🧹
• Saturday, August 8 - Diocese Tube the River Event/St. G's EYC End of Summer Bonfire 🔥 (RSVP to Jeff by Sunday August 2)

Our Fall Semester activities start August 9 with the resumption of Youth Sunday School and more, more information to come via our email list.

Adults: I am creating a list of adult parishioners that are interested and willing to serve our Youth Ministry as chaperones. Adults that stay engaged with the program will be expected to complete/renew as needed Safeguarding God's Children Training, but may start without it. Please let me know if you are interested.

Please reach out to Jeff Ballance (stgregathensyouth@gmail.com - 478.278.3628) for more details/questions and to be added to our email list.

ACOLYTE AND EUCHARISTIC MINISTER TRAINING

What's a Customary? Come Get One for Free and See! 

Sign up for Worship Role (Acolyte and Lay Eucharistic Minister) Training on

Saturday, August 15th at 10:30am in the sanctuary

Please email the church office to let us know if you will be attending. If you have any questions or need an alternate date please let us know as soon as possible. 



- The Worship Committee

The Worship Committee has decided to try a new way of signing up to serve.

Please select ALL THE SLOTS YOU ARE AVAILABLE for services for the next three months.

You will receive notification from the Worship Committee when you are selected to serve.

Please click below to access the sign-up lists.

ACOLYTES

READERS

EMs

Adult Sunday School

Adult Discussion Group: (Parish Hall)  The Adult Spiritual Formation Sunday morning Bible study is currently discussing of the book of Genesis. This class welcomes anyone seeking a thoughtful investigation of the book of Genesis and will include time for discussion of our personal responses to the Bible and how it applies to our life of faith. We will meet in the Parish Hall at 9:15am.

Lectionary Class: (Office #1) The lectionary class meets in Office #1 (next to Kendall's office) at 9:15AM. We study the assigned readings for each Sunday. Please contact Les House at 478-733-2939 or via email if you have any questions. 

Spiritual Self Discovery (Library) This discussion group focuses on lived experiences, exploration of faith, and theological fundamentals. The class aims to offer an accessible space for both new and longtime members that are seeking a space to explore personal faith and the stories and practices of others. Grab a warm beverage and a snack, get comfortable, share your story, and learn from someone else's. We will meet in the library.

weeds

when parks and lawns

were first a craze

for maintenance

some sheep would graze 

turf builder next

to grow and wean

suburban yards

for even green

then came the time

when most would spray

to keep wayward 

weed growth at bay

consequences

now haunt us still

for chemicals

once spread at will

alice mohor

Instructions for Live Streaming

• Just go to the St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church YouTube Homepage

• Near the time for service, underneath our channel logo, you will see our video for that day, with the word ‘live’ on it. The page will look like this:

• If you don’t immediately see the video that says ‘live’, (for instance, if you opened YouTube before the service begins) keep refreshing it.  

• When you see the video square that says ‘live’, click on it. 

Welcome to worship!