This is the Fourth Sunday of the month. Our Outreach Collection will go to the Center for New Americans (CNA), a community-based education and resource center for immigrants and refugees in Western Massachusetts. CNA provides immigrants with education and resources to learn English, to become involved community members, and to obtain the tools needed to maintain economic independence and stability. CNA offers several levels of classes to learn English, classes for citizenship preparation and Career Pathway classes. Referrals to healthcare, housing and other community resources are also part of the programs offered in Northampton, Greenfield, Turners Falls, and Amherst. Please consider a generous gift to support these important programs. If you write a check, please make it payable to Grace Church and add “outreach” on the memo line. Thank you for any gift you are able to give.
Poem and Prayer – Over Zoom on Mondays, 12:15 p.m., Through Summer Season Start off your week with a poem by a contemporary poet and an invitation into prayer! Each week will feature a different poem that invites us into meditation together. Megan will offer a short reflection on the poem and spiritual questions it might open for us, before ushering us into a time of silent prayer and then shared conversation on the poem. This will be a 15-20 minute spiritual practice to add to your week over the summer months, from wherever you might be spending them! Zoom link will be sent out by email. Please email Megan at mmcdermott@gracechurchamherst.org with any questions. If you cannot make this time but would like recordings of the poems and reflections, please let her know.
Collecting diaper donations for youth service trip On Saturday August 20th, youth from Grace will be joining youth from St. James and St. Andrew’s in Greenfield for a service and activity day to Worcester. In the morning, we’ll be assisting at Marie’s Mission, a diaper distribution program located at St. Michael’s-on-the-Heights. Free diaper distribution is especially important for parents facing financial challenges, since government assistance typically does not cover diapers. We hope to bring with us donations of diapers, pull-ups, and wipes! The ministry is particularly in need of diapers in larger sizes. Leading up to the trip, you can drop your donations off in a box marked DIAPERS at the back of the church. Thank you!
July Community Conversation Board: Rest & Restoration All of our summer schedules look different, but for many of us, it’s a time we try to carve out opportunities for rest and restoration! This month’s community conversation board, located in The Connector, invites you to share your thoughts on rest and restoration. How does your faith provide rest or restoration? What kinds of things help you feel rested and restored – especially over the summer months? And what are the challenges to accessing rest? Stop by the conversation board to provide your own answers or see the insights of fellow parishioners!
Haiti Ministry: Honey for Haiti: Beautiful homegrown honey will be available for purchase on August 7, after the service, to benefit L’Ecole St. Matthieu. Lisa and Tilman Lukas are generously donating honey from their own beehives. A 12-ounce honey bear will be $6; two for $10. All proceeds will go to the school. Enjoy your morning tea as you remember our partners. Visit our table on Saturday morning! The Haiti Ministry will be hosting a fundraising and information table near the Amherst Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings July 23 and August 13, and possibly more. Stop by and bring your friends. Visit our Facebook page: Haiti Ministry at Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, MA. We’d appreciate your “likes”! Outfit a child for school: The annual school uniform campaign to prepare 250 students of the St. Matthew’s School in Haiti for the academic year is underway. So far, we have raised $4,320 of our $15,000 goal which means 58 children now will have uniforms and school supplies. Thank you to those of you have donated. You are truly a blessing. Won’t you please be a blessing to a child in Haiti too? A donation of $50 would cover the cost of a school uniform, $25 will cover the cost of a child’s school supplies, and a $100 donation will provide a uniform and supplies for one child as well as a bit more for books for the new library and operating expenses. But whatever you can contribute – any amount at all – will be very helpful to the children and the school. If you can help again this year, please make checks payable to “Grace Church” and write “Haiti School Uniforms” on the memo line. You may also give via the church website by clicking the “Give” button and then selecting “Haiti Ministry” in the “To” drop down box.
Over60s Gathering will be meeting only once a month through the summer. For information and dates, please contact Rev. Adrian Stair (revadrian@comcast.net).
Evensong Services will be held in the Chapel downstairs through the summer. It is much cooler there.
St. Nicholas Bazaar Are you interested in antiques and/or collectibles? We need you to help with sorting and pricing bazaar donations. Some knowledge of antiques and collectibles desired. Contact Joan (jobrien82@gmail.com) with any questions or to volunteer. Donations are being accepted for the bazaar. Please remember that items should be in good condition and clean. We accept many kinds of items, but please no textbooks, binders, VCR tapes, cassettes, clothing, or mildewed items. Thank you!