April Sunday Morning Preaching Schedule

April 1

This is Easter Sunday. We celebrate the resurrection and give thanks to God for the new life we know in Christ. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper at both services. Catherine Neelly Burton preaches, and our band and choir are joined by the Epic Brass. We witness to new life with our flower cross on the church lawn.

April 8

Geoff Snook preaches on this second Sunday of the Easter Season. At the 11am service we are led by the Grace Orchestra (Grace members and friends who play wind and string instruments), Bell Choir, and Chancel Choir.

April 15

Catherine Neelly Burton preaches on this day, and we look at one of the resurrection stories in Luke.

April 22

Scott Randle preaches at 9 am worship, and the Choir leads us at 11 am. The 11 am worship is the presentation of John Rutter’s “The Gift of Life.”  In addition to our choir we are led by paid instrumentalists.

April 29

Catherine Neelly Burton preaches at both services. This is part one of a two-week series, “Belong, Behave, Believe.” On this Sunday our scripture is Acts 8:26-40.

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Watermark Books Event: April 3

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We welcome our neighbors and friends from Watermark Books back to Grace. On Tuesday, April 3, at 6 pm, New York Times bestselling author Lisa See talks about her book The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. The event is free and open to the public.

Watermark events are great ways for us to offer hospitality, and we enjoy sharing cookies and drinks with our guests before the event. We need volunteers to greet and set out refreshments. Let Catherine Neelly Burton (catherine@mygpc.org) know if you are available to help. You are also welcome to come to the event!

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The Gift of Life by John Rutter – April 22

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Our choirs present John Rutter’s extended musical work, The Gift of Life, in the 11 am worship service on April 22, accompanied by instrumentalists from the community. Setting a variety of sacred texts and new words, this is a choral celebration of the living earth and its Creator. Our choirs have been working hard on this and invite all to join together in worship as we praise God and rejoice in our gift of life!

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Fair Trade

fair tradeThis winter we ended our Grace Fair Trade sales. The ministry never made a profit, and any money received went to buy more products to sell. After the final sales, we had $1665.21 in our account and no plans to buy more products.

Wanting to honor the spirit of Fair Trade the Mission Distribution Team gave the money to two organizations that work with Fair Trade farmers and products. The first is Just Coffee, or Café Justo.

Just Coffee is located in Chiapas, Mexico and is an outreach of the PCUSA and Presbyterian Church of Mexico. Just Coffee works to pay farmers fair wages to grow and harvest coffee beans and then employs workers to turn the beans into coffee. We sent Just Coffee $1000.

We sent $665.21 to Alternative Gifts International for their work with Sustainable Harvest International which empowers local farmers in rural Central America. We are grateful for the Grace Fair Trade ministry and the way it now lives on through these two organizations.

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Westminster Woods Women’s Retreat April 27-28

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Westminster Woods is holding a Women’s Retreat on April 27 and 28. Amy Baumgartner is the retreat speaker. She shares Biblical examples of how God has called people so that we can gain a better understanding of the ways God calls us. You may arrive Friday, April 27, and spend the night, or drive over for the day on Saturday, April 28. The cost is $75 for Friday and Saturday and $50 for Saturday only. Scholarships are available from Grace. Contact Laurie Mulford lmulford@cox.net or Catherine Neelly Burton Catherine@mygpc.org with questions. Registrations are due by April 2, 2018.

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