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July & August 2010
Ann-Marie Aymer, Editor
Welcome to the Grace
Online Newsletter! We hope you enjoy
it.
Table of
Contents
A
Message from our Rector
Lectionary Readings and Service Schedule
July Birthdays & Anniversaries
August Birthdays & Anniversaries
Spanish Language Mass Offered at Grace
Every Saturday
Revive Justice Celebration
Carillon Concert & Peach Festival
Plainfield Community Outreach Forms
Collaboration for Youth Summer Arts
Conservatory
Local
News You Can Use
Grace Church Yard Sale and Health Fair
Grace Newsletter - September 2010
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A
Message from our Rector
Rev. Carolyn Ecklund
Visit the
Pastor's Page for Mother Carolyn's
message.
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Lectionary Readings and Service
Schedule
Click on the date to open a new window with
the lectionary readings.
July 4, 2010
2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
or
Isaiah 66:10-14
Psalm 66:1-8
Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
July 11, 2010
Amos 7:7-17
Psalm 82
or
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25:1-9
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
July 18, 2010
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
or
Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42
July 25, 2010
Hosea 1:2-10
Psalm 85
or
Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13
August 1, 2010
Hosea 11:1-11
Psalm 107:1-9, 43
or
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23
Psalm 49:1-11
Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 12:13-21
August 8
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24
or
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40
August 15
Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18
or
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
August 22
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
or
Isaiah 58:9b-14
Psalm 103:1-8
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17
August 29, 2010
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
or
Sirach 10:12-18
or
Proverbs 25:6-7
Psalm 112
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14
Click
here
for the July & August Worship
Schedule.
The schedule lists the
worship facilitators including ushers,
readers, alter guild, etc. The
free Adobe reader is required to view
the link.

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July
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays
Laurie Smith
Angie Pinto
Conrad Maynard
Eugene Parker, Esq.
Eleanor Forbes
Kenneth Blenman
Gloria King
Reanna Woodall-MacQuaide
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Anniversaries
George & Victoria Green
Robert & Norma Mayers
Peter & Eleanor Forbes
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August
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Birthdays
Rev. Carolyn Eklund
Stephen Hart
Robert Gangewere
Robert Hart
Jalise DeVenuto
Agnes Intsiful
Geoffrey Dunham, Esq.
Karen Moore
Jane Parker
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Anniversaries
Lawrence & Mary Testori
William & Eleanor Weston
Gary & Muriel Lewis
Errol & Marjorie Bailey |
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Spanish Language Mass Offered at Grace Every
Saturday
Rev. Carolyn H. Eklund
In
the fall of 2006 and winter of 2007 a
handful of Grace Church members gathered
weekly around the table in the library of
the rectory with Gorqui Chica, a teacher
from our after school program. A friend, a
top-notch teacher and a bi-lingual speaker,
Gorqui set out to teach us basic Spanish.
The course included conversation with his
family members when they visited from
Ecuador. And it included movies in Spanish
which Carrie Hayes dubbed, “Club Pelicula.”
The summer of 2007 I departed from
Plainfield for my sabbatical. Supported by
generous contributions of Grace Church
members, I immersed myself in a Spanish
language course and Mexican culture for two
months in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Until
our classes with Gorqui, I didn’t know any
Spanish beyond the word, “Gracias.”
Long before Gorqui’s course and my
sabbatical, it was clear that Grace Church
wasn’t going to pull out of a long decline
anytime soon. The Vestry of Grace set goals
for growth, but for decades we knew we had
not been changing to reflect the surrounding
neighborhood. We made small changes in
worship, but we knew we needed much more
than that to turn around our decline.
As we looked around our neighborhood we
realized we needed to somehow be a parish
that welcomes Spanish-speakers since almost
half of Plainfield is Latino.
Last summer, my colleague, Rev. Matt Engleby
came to me asking if we could collaborate
and offered to celebrate the Eucharist in
Spanish on Saturdays. How grateful we are
that Father Matt offered his priestly
services to help us found this new
congregation! We launched our fist Mass in
Spanish on Halloween of 2009.
Our seminarian at the time, Edwin Chinery
was part of the founding committee and,
after he was ordained deacon, served at the
altar. Grace Church has been Ed’s field
placement parish and Ed has become a
familiar, pastoral presence to the people
attending the Spanish Mass. While currently
Father Matt Engleby has full-time duties at
another parish, we are hopeful that he will
be able to serve at Grace from time to time.
Your leadership, the Vestry, at the June
Vestry meeting voted to support this
ministry with a part-time, paid staff
person. After months of review of the
financials and the blessed addition of a new
congregation leasing our church space, City
on the Hill Church of God, the Vestry is
taking a step of faith to give our
Spanish-speaking congregation the chance to
grow.
I
am calling Rev. Edwin Chinery to serve as
our quarter-time clergy person to celebrate
the Mass in Spanish weekly and to help build
up this congregation. I have been working
with Rev. Canon Lee Powers, Canon to the
Ordinary at the diocesan level to offer this
position to Ed.
Ed grew up in Plainfield and has two
brothers, Peter and Paul, the latter
sometimes attending Grace. He also has four
sisters, all sharing the name Mary (first or
middle name), two of whom live in Metuchen
NJ and two in the state of Georgia. They
grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and
went to St. Mary’s here in town. Ed worked
as a Benefits Administrator for Middlesex
County in New Brunswick for almost 30 years
until he retired to go to seminary.
After spending a year in seminary field
placement at St-Luke-in-the-Field (Greenwich
Village NYC), Ed chose to return to the
Diocese of New Jersey in order to better
discern its characteristics and needs;
feeling called, ultimately to his hometown
for a second year of seminary field
placement here at Grace.
His work with us has included helping to
build up the Spanish language congregation,
serving at Family Friendly Communion and
supporting Christian Education. He assisted
Kristen Claire Foley in teaching the
Inquirer’s Class. Ed is a very good preacher
and was chosen by his school, The General
Theological Seminary to participate in the
Episcopal Preaching Conference after he
graduated this spring from seminary. Ed will
start his work with us on July 1.
Grace Church is growing. We desire to
reflect the demographics of our neighborhood
and be more and more relevant to those who
don’t know the love of Jesus. We have
committed a small investment in expanding
our ministries more broadly. We are
definitely meeting a deep, spiritual need of
some neighbors.
For example, just Saturday, as I was setting
up the altar for the Spanish Mass in the
Chapel, I heard someone say in Spanish, “I
was waiting all week to come.” La iglesia
Grace está aqui por todos. (Grace Church is
here for everyone.)
Please welcome Father Edwin Chinery to our
staff and our neighbors to Grace Church!
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Revive
Justice Celebration
Kristen Claire Foley
Over
the course of three days, Christians from
across New Jersey gathered at Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral in Trenton for powerful
speeches, moving worship, and informative
workshops. The "Revive Justice" celebration
included Christians from a variety of
denominations seeking to address concerns
around immigration and incarceration. There
were workshops on community organizing as
well as on ways to address the injustices of
the prison system.
Initially, I had planned to attend for the
opportunity to hear the brilliant American
scholar Cornel West address the gathering.
His plans changed at the last minute and he
was unable to come, but I am still glad that
I chose to spend two days in Trenton. The
workshops presented useful and interesting
information.
Almost as importantly, though, the worship
and music were inspiring. Powerful sermons
were delivered during a variety of worship
services. I was especially excited to hear
Shane Claiborne, a founder of a local
Christian community called "The Simple Way,"
committed to simplicity of living and
adherence to their conviction about the
Gospel.
It was great to see connections being
created between Christians united in
concerns for justice. Lines of denomination
and politics became secondary to concerns of
compassion for God's people. I believe the
organizers of the Revive Justice celebration
met their goal of bearing "fruit befitting
members of the Beloved Community - by
inspiring and equipping folks to seek and to
do justice everywhere."
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Carillon Concert & Peach Festival
Sunday, August 29, 2010 - 12:00 PM
Come
and enjoy delicious peach desserts and a
carillon concert by carillonneur Wesley
Arai.
The event is free so invite all your friends
and neighbors.
Weather permitting we will block off
Cleveland Avenue and set up on the street.
Please bring a blanket or a lawn chair,
and a peach dessert to share.
Wesley
Arai began studying carillon with Jeff
Davis in 2004 at the University of
California, Berkeley, where he received B.A.
degrees in Mathematics and Statistics with a
minor in Music. Originally from Los Angeles,
Wesley returned to his hometown to pursue
graduate studies at the University of
California, Los Angeles, earning an M.A.
degree in Mathematics. During his time in
Southern California, he played the carillon
at the University of California, Santa
Barbara regularly.
Wesley passed the advancement examination of
the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America
in 2008. In addition to the carillon, he has
studied piano, trombone, and voice, and has
performed in a number of different concert
bands, marching bands, jazz bands,
orchestras, and choral groups. He enjoys
arranging music, and occasionally performs
some of his own arrangements on the
carillon. Wesley currently works as an
actuary for an insurance company in the San
Francisco Bay Area and serves as Associate
Carillonist at the University of California,
Berkeley.
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Plainfield Community Outreach Forms
Collaboration for Youth Summer Arts
Conservatory
Antu Yacob
Plainfield
Community Outreach, in collaboration with
Shaggae's Song Performing Arts Collective is
presending the first ever Plainfield Summer
Performing Arts Conservatory from July 6
through August 13, 2010, weekdays From 9 AM
to 5 PM.
Open to grades 4-12, this six-week intensive
camp will include training in acting, dance,
singing, speech, music production, scene
writing and poetry. Classes in costume, set
design and stage make-up will also be
offered to give students a complete
understanding of what it takes to truly
produce and present a performing arts piece.
All classes will be taught by working
theatre professionals.
Additionally, students will be introduced to
other professional artists through workshops
in Hip-Hop Poetics with New Jersey's own New
Street Poets, Stage Combat and Fight
Choreography with Brazilian training group
Capoieras Guerreros. Also students will have
the opportunity to watch a live theatrical
performance of The Lion King on Broadway.
This Conservatory will serve as a
springboard for its participants to revive
the strong performing arts presence that
once existed in the Historic City of
Plainfield. The skills attained by the
students are interchangeable with those
necessary for speech, communications, and
literary studies leaving the youth better
equipped to face academic, environmental and
personal challenges with a fuller
understanding of themselves and their
connection to others. The five days a week,
eight hours a day rigorous training they
receive will instill self-discipline,
accountability and commitment, all qualities
that make not only remarkable individuals,
but superb leaders.
For more information about The Plainfield
Summer Arts Conservatory, please contact
(908) 756-7897 ext. 17, or
shaggaesong@gmail.com.
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Local News
You Can Use
Mary Testori
The deadline to file PTR (property tax
reimbursement) forms has been extended to
August 2, 2010. Public inqueries should call
1-800-882-6599 or email the division at
nj.taxation@treas.state.nj.us
Property taxes are due 8/1/10. Check with
your local tax collector's office and verify
last day to pay August tax payment and not
be charged interest.
Continue to read your local newspaper for
updates. Enjoy your Summer!!
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Grace Church Yard Sale and Health Fair
July 24, 2010 - 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
The third annual Grace Church Yard Sale will
be held this year on Saturday, July 24 from
10 AM until 3 PM. It will be held along
Cleveland Avenue.
To be successful, we need you to please
donate your unwanted treasures to be sold at
the Yard Sale. Please bring them between 8
a.m. and 10 a.m., clean and tagged with the
suggested sale price. We only have very
limited space to store items brought in
before Saturday morning.
So, in the next couple of weeks, please go
through your closets, cabinets and drawers
and set aside all your old junque to donate
to Grace. That item that you don’t really
want anymore but you hate to throw away just
may be exactly the thing that someone else
has been looking for – so please donate it
to be sold at the Yard Sale.
We will accept new items or gently used
attic treasures, DVDs, CDs, kitchenware,
electronics in working condition, toys,
jewelry, small furniture items, and the
like. We will not accept shoes or clothing –
with the exception of gently used children
clothes that are clean and delivered on
hangers.
In addition, the Grace Church Health
Ministry will hold a Community Health Fair
on July 24 at the same time and place as the
Yard Sale. And Blackberry’s Restaurant will
be on location with a delicious and
nutritious lunch. So don’t miss this great
opportunity to buy a treasure at a bargain,
get valuable information to safeguard your
health, and enjoy mouth-watering food – all
at the same time.
For more information, please contact Deacon
Ted Moore or Karen Moore at (908)322-1754;
or call the Church Office at (908)756-1520.

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Grace Newsletter - September 2010
Ann-Marie Aymer
Last
summer, a group of people met with Mother
Carolyn to decide how to better publicize
upcoming parish events. That discussion
evolved into the creation of of the monthly
newsletter in print and online.
We always welcome information from our
parish family and friends. For more
information, or to submit an article, please
contact Ann-Marie Aymer at
amaymer@gmail.com.
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