Rev. Edgar Otero Ruiz will be ordained to the Sacred Order of the Priesthood on Wednesday, January 26 at 6:30 PM at Grace Episcopal Church. Please offer your prayers and support by attending the service in person or joining the livestream on our website.
Registration for the 2022-2023 academic year at COG opens to Episcopal families on Sunday, January 23. In an effort to streamline our processes and prioritize ease for families, we have moved registration online. There is a $75 non-refundable registration fee per child. Payment may be made online or with a check made payable to COG. If you are interested, but would prefer a paper registration form or have any questions, please contact the COG office at 770.536.9088 or email Meg McPeek.
Both the registration application form and the $75 registration fee must be processed through the COG office in order for a child to be placed in a classroom. Openings will be made available to the general public on Thursday, January 27 starting at 9:30 AM.
Liz and I believe deeply that kindness matters and part of what we both love about COG is that through our actions as a staff and our social/emotional curriculum, we can share with our students how to lead with a servant’s heart. Kindness matters and we want to empower COG to continue to build upon a culture of kindness. We are joining more than 17 million students and over 33 thousand schools in over 110 countries in the Great Kindness Challenge. January 24-28, 2022, we will be working with our staff, students, and families to complete as many acts of kindness as we can. We’ll be sharing our week on our Facebook and Instagram accounts if you’d like to follow along!
Meg McPeek, COG Director
Liz Katz, COG Assistant Director
When we die, do we die alone? Even when surrounded by loved ones, the dying person enters into an aloneness, a realm where the living cannot reach. But is it possible that other beings surround us as we enter and then depart the final earthly stage? In this breathtaking book, Author Mary Demmler, an Episcopal priest, allows us to hear the voice of such a being, a companion and guide during the very last stage of life in a variety of human beings undergoing the ultimate separation.
Phe and the Work of Death is a book like no other. In this story, you will hear Phe’s voice, as you visit the dying with her, feeling the hope of the presences, and knowing their compassion and awareness of centuries-long experience with dying. In the process we witness changes even in the beings themselves. This is a comforting book, filled with love and with hope. Death, after all, is not the end.
Rev. Demmler’s book is available for purchase now at Bookbaby.com and for preorder at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Forward Day by Day is a booklet of daily inspirational meditations reflecting on a specific Bible passage, chosen from the daily lectionary readings as listed in the Revised Common Lectionary or the Daily Office from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. Copies (limited quantity) of the booklet for February/March/April are now available and can be picked up in the parish office or at the information station. If you would like a copy mailed to you, email your address to Jess Voyles. Please specify if you would like a regular or large print edition.
The meditation is also posted online every day of the year for you to consider and discuss, and available as a daily email, podcast, or via smartphone app at the Forward Movement website.
Fourth quarter statements and charitable contribution statements have been mailed. Please check your statements to make sure your records agree with the church. Call Reba Page at 770-536-0126 with questions or to make corrections if necessary.
Voting for the 2022 vestry election is underway and all ballots must be returned by Wednesday, February 2. We will announce the four new vestry members at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 6. The eight nominees are: Nate Early, Julia Greene, Rob Jaeger, Beth Neidenbach, Sally Pittman, Nancy Richardson, Frank Rinker, and Stephanie Wells. You can learn more about them in the parish newsletter.
As for voting, we trust the community to adhere to the parish bylaws (section 3.4.5), which state that “All members who are confirmed communicants not less than sixteen (16) years of age shall be qualified to vote. It shall be acceptable to publish this qualification requirement and ask each participant to self-certify entitlement to vote.” Each member of Grace Church who meets those qualifications is entitled to return one ballot.
Ballots will be available at church on Sunday mornings, January 23, and 30, or in the parish office Monday through Thursday from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM. An online ballot is also available, see your newsletter for details.
Look ahead to upcoming opportunities for prayer, worship, and community!
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