Volunteer Opportunity: Counter Needed

Counters work together in pairs to tally a week’s worth of contributions to St. Gregory the Great. When the tally is completed, either counter takes the contributions to deposit at Truist Bank on Gaines School Road. Counting takes about 30 minutes, the visit to the bank takes about 10 minutes, and counters work just once a month. Counting pairs determine a mutually convenient time during their counting week to meet in the copy room in the Parish Hall to tally checks and cash donated during the week. Lifetime commitment to counting isn’t required or expected. Counting is an easy task and an opportunity to serve at St. Gregory the Great.

Currently, counters include Lois Alworth (wilo59@charter.net), Stacie Court (stacie.court@gmail.com), Gail Eilers (eilersgail@gmail.com), Angela Greene (angelagreene23@gmail.com), Katie Hein (khein@uga.edu), Jane Hudson (janeghudson@gmail.com), Alice Mohor (alicemohor@windstream.com), Katie Reinberger (kreinbe@gmail.com), and Maggie Reinberger (mmreinberger@gmail.com), any of whom are happy to answer your questions about counting.

Contact Jane Hudson at janeghudson@gmail.com to volunteer to count.

Call to St. Gregory's Artists!

The Card Ministry needs new art for 2024 cards. The ministry sends birthday cards for children and youth up to 18 years old and seniors 70 and over, and also get-well cards, messages of encouragement, and sympathy cards in time of bereavement.

If you have questions or would like to submit a work of art for a card please contact Jenifer Borg. Please send pictures in jpeg format. A wide range of art is welcome, but images should not be specific to gender or race.

Thank you,
Card Ministry 

2023 EPIPHANY DRIVE FOR FAMILY PROMISE

As most of you know, St. Gregory’s belongs to Family Promise (previously Interfaith Hospitality Network), an organization of churches in Athens that provides homeless families a temporary place to stay while they work their way back to stability. The breadwinners of the families get rides to work if needed. Those who don’t have jobs are provided some of the support they need to find one. Meals are provided. Family Promise also works to prevent homelessness by helping families with a rent or utility payment or with the purchase of a used vehicle. These are truly opportunities to put our faith into action.

While we have the chance to serve as onsite volunteers during three weeks of the year, there are many parishioners who are unable to show up in person but would be interested in helping with Family Promise. We hope our 2023 Epiphany Drive will provide the opportunity to do just that.

Family Promise has an Amazon wishlist which, of course, is readily accessible to anyone shopping on Amazon. This link takes you directly to the Family Promise wishlist. There, you may add items directly to your Cart, pay for them as you do any Amazon order, and Amazon delivers the items straight to the registered Family Promise address. This provides an easy way to help meet the needs of the homeless population served by this program, and we hope that many of you will agree and participate. We will announce this effort several times during our January 6-February 6 Epiphany Drive. 

In recognition of the fact that not everyone shops with Amazon, we will also provide paper copies of the Family Promise wishlist as inserts in our church bulletins during January. You may purchase as many items as you choose, bring them to the Fellowship Hall at church any time from January 6 – February 6, and we will deliver them to Family Promise.

However you decide to participate, you may rest assured that your contributions will significantly impact Family Promise and its clients.

Let’s Help Church of the Common Ground

Deacon Christina’s Outreach* 

As the cold weather kicks in, our Episcopalian brothers, sisters, and those who identify as neither, who also suffer from homelessness, receive hot coffee at Church of the Common Ground, our church without walls at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. They are in need of these specific items, 5 lb bags of sugars (no bigger than 10 lbs), containers of powdered (only) creamer, and boxes of hot chocolate. This sugar, creamer, and hot chocolate drive will continue until Christmas Day, December 25, 2022. A box for collection of these items will be in the parish hall foyer.

*for anybody wondering, our Outreach Committee supports local needs, 
and our clergy outreach supports diocesan and wider church needs.

Calling All Creative Peeps!

Have you been wondering what happens to all those colorful marshmallow PEEPS you see in the stores these days? Does anyone really eat them? Could they have some greater purpose? Well now they do. You can enter our Bible Story PEEPS contest and wake up your creative genius from its pandemic slumber.

Contest Rules:

  • Start with a cardboard box no larger than 2' x 2' x 3'.

  • Use paint, markers, paper, cloth or other disposable props to create a scene from the Bible using Peeps.

  • Make your characters (peeple and animals) out of Peeps and dress them to fit the Bible story you have chosen to represent. Melt, mold or glue the Peeps and other props in place as necessary.

  • Submit a card with your entry with the name(s) of the artists and the title. Extra credit will be given for using "Peep" in your title. (All clean puns accepted.)

  • Entries are due in the Parish Hall by Friday April 15 before the office closes (4:30PM).

  • The winner in each category (Individual, Family and Group) will be announced Easter Sunday Morning and will receive a chocolate bunny chocolate and have a donation made to the Athens Food Bank in their honor. Get to work, PEEPLE! Show off your Bible knowledge! Be creative, artistic and competitive! And have fun!