2020 Lenten Services

Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020
Ash Wednesday Services, 7 AM (Chapel) and 5:30 PM (Sanctuary). Rev. Bob Boutwell officiating. Mark the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday Worship Service as we enter the Lenten discipline through a Service of Prayer and Ashes.

Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Women’s Ministries Breakfast and Service of Prayer and Reflection, 8:30 – 10AM, Parlor. Join us as we gather for a time of fellowship and an opportunity for silence, prayer, and preparation as we begin the season of Lent. Breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the service to follow. Rev. Linda Kulas will lead us in this service.

Thursday, April 9, 2020
Maundy Thursday Service, 7-8PM

Friday, April 10, 2020
Good Friday Service, 7-8PM, In the early first century Christian church, every Friday was a special day of prayer and fasting. Not until the fourth century did the Friday before Easter become a special observance originally called ‘Great Friday’ or ‘Holy Friday’. But why would this sad day on which Jesus was crucified ever be called ‘Good Friday’. In the early church, the Friday before Easter was referred to as ‘God’s Friday’, and over the years, ‘God’s’ was replaced with ‘Good’. But to this day, many Christians do find a transcendent good in the awful realities of Jesus’ crucifixion. His sacrifice on the cross highlights humanity’s inhumanity to each other. The horror of the crucifixion, in grim juxtaposition to Jesus’ innocence and martyrdom, only serves to magnify that inhumanity. This year, we will explore the dramatic themes of Good Friday through poetry and reflection in the candle-lit beauty of Grace Church Sanctuary. Our hope is that the collective conscience of the human race is inspired to never repeat the cruelty, but increase in justice and love. Thus we are redeemed.

Sunday, April 5, 2020
Palm Sunday, 8:30AM & 10AM

Sunday, April 12, 2020
Easter, 10AM

Mar. 1 ~ Frostiana, Benefit Concert

Help us add to over $10,000 already raised for local charities by the Grace Music Department and Friends!

When: March 1, 2020 at 4 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About: The choirs of Grace Church, as well as singers and instrumentalists from the region, offer an afternoon of music to raise money for a local charity. Included in the concert will be a special performance of Frostiana by Randall Thompson. Help us add to over $10,000 already raised for local charities by the Grace Music Department and Friends!

SHREK THE MUSICAL – July 2020

JUL 16 2020 – JUL 18 2020

Tickets on-sale May 1, 2020

A Co-Production of The Paramount Players and Grace Congregational Church

July 16 & 17 @ 7:30PM, July 18 @ 2PM

Director: Eric Mallette
Music Director: Alastair Stout
Shrek Cast List

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks Animation film, Shrek The Musical is a Tony Award-winning fairy tale adventure, featuring all new songs from Jeanine Tesori (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Change) and a sidesplitting book by David Lindsay-Abaire. Shrek brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage and proves there’s more to the story than meets the ears.

“Once upon a time, there was a little ogre named Shrek….” And thus begins the tale of an unlikely hero who finds himself on a life-changing journey alongside a wisecracking Donkey and a feisty princess who resists her rescue. Throw in a short-tempered bad guy, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand… and his name is Shrek.

Shrek presents a treasure trove of creative opportunities, including costumes, sets, puppets (there is a fire-breathing dragon after all) and more! Irreverently fun for the whole family, Shrek proves that beauty is truly in the eye of the ogre.

————————————

Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Music by Jeanine Tesori. Originally produced on Broadway by DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions.

Original production directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford.

Shrek The Musical is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.MTIShows.com.

Purchase tickets here

Feb. 22 ~ Shetland Night

When: February 22, 2020 at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Grace Fellowship Hall
(8 Court St., Rutland, VT) We are located on the corner of Court and West. For parking, enter our lot from West Street. Street parking is also available on Court Street.

The handicap entrance may be accessed through the north side portico of Grace Church via the parking lot. The elevator is located in the central part of the building.

About: Join us at 5:30 p.m. for a baked potato dinner with all of the toppings followed by a short presentation of pictures and stories from Shetland. Shetland is the UK’s most remote inhabited group of islands, located 200 miles off the North East of Scotland in the stormy North Atlantic, and is famous for its bird watching, knitting, and rich history of ship wrecks. Following dinner and pictures, international folk music stars, John Kirk and Trish Miller, will lead us in traditional Scottish dancing.

Mar. 8 ~ Joyful Noise Showcase

Come One, Come All! This year Joyful Noise presents Aladdin!

When: March 8, 2020 at 6 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About: Joyful Noise Showcase of Talent

Our youth choir, Joyful Noise, will offer a medley of choruses and solos from Aladdin. The singers will be accompanied by a band of local musicians, and also be joined by choirs from local schools. Please come and support our talented youth, who will be raising money for the HEAL foundation. Refreshments will be available to purchase before and during the performance, which begins at 6 PM.

Support HEAL: Raising Our World One Child at a Time

Auditions for Shrek the Musical

Paramount Players and Grace Congregational Church present Shrek the Musical

When:
Principal Role auditions are by appointment only.

*To express interest in auditioning (and to schedule your principal role audition time) please email Eric at Eric@ParamountVT.org. Time slots (20-minutes) will be made available on a first-come-first-served basis for the following dates:
– Jan. 5, 2-5p.m.
– Jan. 7, 5-7 p.m.
– Jan. 9, 5-7p.m.
– Call backs, Jan. 11, 3-5p.m.

Ensemble Auditions:
– Jan. 11, 2p.m.

Where: Grace Church

About: We are excited to announce the first Paramount Theatre and Grace Congregational Church collaboration! The Paramount Theatre’s Paramount Players, directed by Eric Mallette, and the Grace Congregational Church music department will present the award-winning family show, Shrek the Musical, on July 16, 17 and 18, 2020, at the Paramount Theatre. Auditions are open to all, and will take place at Grace Church on January 5, 7, 9 and 11. Rehearsals will begin on June 7th.

Performance dates: July 16, 17 and 18, 2020

Dec. 22 ~ Lessons & Carols

Celebrate the season at Grace!

When: Sunday, December 22 at 10 a.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About: Please join all the Grace Church choirs for a service of Lessons and Carols during Sunday morning worship. The story of the promise of the Messiah and the birth of Jesus is told in readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of anthems, spirituals and familiar carols. The service first took place in Truro Cathedral in 1880 and has since been celebrated in churches and cathedrals throughout the world. It is most famously broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge, and heard by millions of people world-wide.

We are located on the corner of Court and West. For parking, enter our lot from
West Street. Street parking is also available on Court Street. The handicap entrance may be accessed through the north side portico of Grace Church via the parking lot. The elevator is located in the central part of the building.