Apr. 10 ~ Good Friday Reflections

*In an effort to keep our community safe, Grace Church services and all musical rehearsals are suspended through March 31st, 2020. Please check back here and the Grace Church Facebook page for alternative online worship experiences.

Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

We gather to reflect on the themes of Good Friday through poetry and discussion.

When: Good Friday, April 10, 7 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About: 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.

Apr. 9 ~ Maundy Thursday Service

Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

When: Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 7 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Sanctuary

About: Maundy Thursday Service of Communion and Tenebrae
The Sanctuary Choir, Grace SSAA choir and Joyful Noise offer a service of Lessons and Carols for Maundy Thursday. The anthems reflect the Seven Last Words of Christ, which this year will be paralleled with the creation story. The wide variety of anthems include music from Estonia, Ireland and Weston Priory (Vermont).

Mar. 19 ~ Discovering Some of the Amazing Women of Rutland

Cancelled

Carolynn Ranftle of Rutland Historical Society presents, Discovering Some of the Amazing Women in Rutland’s Past.

When: March 19, 2020 @ 2 p.m.

Where: Grace Church Chapel and parlor

About: In celebration of Women’s History Month, Fortnightly will be featuring at talk from Rutland Historical Society about the area’s amazing women of the past. Featured pieces will be:

The recipient of the Bronze Star for her heroics in World War II
An educator who made her start in rented space at the Nickwackett Firehouse
An early Physician who practiced medicine for 34 years
The granddaughter of Julia Dorr who made her mark in the Arts and Crafts Movement design world
A woman who devoted her work to the Rutland Community all of her adult life
And finally, two women who kept secret their careers as prolific children’s authors by writing under nom de plumes: Margaret Warde and John Prescott Earl

Grace Church Chapel, 2 PM As always, tea and sweets will be served in the Parlor after the program. All are welcome!

For further information or to arrange transportation, call the Church Office (775.4301)

2020 Lenten Services

Other church-sponsored meetings are also cancelled through March 31st. AA will continue to meet. Please contact the church office for more details: 802-775-4301.

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!

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

Nov. 22 ~ Ceciliafest Organ Recital

All are welcome to a joint organ recital given by William Gower-Johnson, Alastair Stout and John Riddle.

When: Friday, November 22, 2019 at 7 p.m.

Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Rutland, VT

About: In honor of St. Cecilia, patron saint of music and musicians, and in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Russell organ at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church three local organist will offer this organ recital, which will include works by Bach, Franck, Part and Gershwin.

Free admission.