Join the Nativity Virtual Half-Marathon Team

For months, a team of Nativity runners has been training for the sweltering Hotter than Hades Half-Marathon outside Leland, Mississippi. Cyndi Saia, Swayze Hicks, Katie Jones, Sloane Fair, Cindy Wilson, Harris Powers, Perry Whites, Hayes Harris, Charlie Swayze III, Louis Holbrook, and Peter will run the 13.1 miles and in their honor, the church will donate $500 per runner to Special Session, a camp run by the Episcopal Church in Mississippi that serves adults and children with special needs.

You can help raise money for Special Session and be a part of this team yourself, and you can do it in a way that doesn't require quite so much effort! Visit hotterthanhades.racesonline.com, and register for the "Virtual" Half-Marathon, which commits you to walking or running 13.1 miles between June 1 and June 15. Your $50 registration fee covers the cost of a t-shirt, and the rest of the proceeds go toward Special Session scholarships. Don't forget to choose Nativity, Greenwood as your team when you register!

Hotter than Hades Virtual Half-Marathon

You can join the Nativity half-marathon team in supporting the Episcopal Church’s special needs camp by committing to walking or running 13.1 miles between June 1-June 15. Visit hotterthanhades.racesonline.com to sign up. Your $50 fee gets you a t-shirt and the rest goes to support scholarships to Special Session. Be sure to choose Nativity, Greenwood as your fundraising team!

A Note from Peter (May 2018)

The Rev. Peter Gray

Late last month, Steve Iwanski shared with the EYC that his time as Nativity’s youth minister will come to a close in late October. In June, Steve will have served faithfully on the staff of Nativity for four years. During that time, he has built deep relationships, led mission trips, organized parish wide fellowship and Vacation Bible School, carried youth to Diocesan retreats, worshiped with us, helped our kids take leadership in worship, nurtured our older kids' spiritual growth, and played ceaselessly with the little ones in our WeeYC. He has done all this while perfectly balancing warmth, accessibility, and maturity. Steve's ministry among us has truly been a blessing.

When Steve began work as Nativity's youth minister, he was newly married, had just completed his time teaching at J.Z. George High School, and was a part-time bookseller at Turnrow. Four years later, Steve is the manager of Turnrow, the founder of the Greenwood Shakespeare Project, the incoming President of the Greenwood Little Theater, and Sarah and Steve's son Nate will be two in July. To everything there is a time and a season, Ecclesiastes reminds us, and Steve is entering a new season with different opportunities for ministry.

In June, Nativity will welcome the Rev. Phillip Parker, freshly-graduated from the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, as a part-time Priest Associate and Youth Minister at Nativity. Before seminary, Phillip lived in Southaven and worked as an outpatient therapist for youth and families in Tunica through the Region One Mental Health Center. Last summer, he served as the chaplain to the young adult staff at Camp Bratton-Green. The Executive Committee and I interviewed Phillip, and we are excited about his professional background and also his warmth, his kindness, and his commitment to nurturing the spiritual development of our kids.

Phillip and his wife Amanda are the parents of two children: Connor, who will be entering the 9th grade next year, and McKenzie, who will be in the 4th grade. Amanda will be working as a Special Education teacher in Marks, and the family will live in Sumner where Phillip will be the clergy-in-charge for Church of the Advent. This unique arrangement of sharing staff is not totally novel for us, since our churches already share a youth group! Three Sundays per month, Phillip will preach and celebrate in Sumner. One Sunday per month, he will be present at Nativity for both services and the Sunday School hour. This arrangement will allow him the opportunity to worship with our youth group and build relationships with adults and younger children on a regular basis. On those Sundays, lay leaders at Church of the Advent will lead Morning Prayer.

The overlap of Steve and Phillip's time this fall is purposeful. I hope that Steve's continuing presence will help our youth be at ease as they get to know Phillip and build relationships with him. In addition, I hope that Phillip will gain an appreciation of our existing youth programming by shadowing Steve for a bit before he begins designing his own Sunday evening programs.

As you can tell, I am grateful for the excellent ministry Steve has done these past many years, and I am excited about the opportunities that Phillip will bring upon his arrival. If you have questions, please be in touch! In the meantime, hold Steve, Phillip, and our youth in your prayers!

Peter+

A Note from Our Stewardship Chair

Friends:

Keeping in mind that Stewardship at Nativity is a year-round Mission, I wanted to advise you of a few timely matters –

First, I thank all communicants who returned a pledge card following Stewardship Sunday. A good number were returned, and I encourage all who have not yet done so that that it is not too late. Cards remain available in the office and in the back of the church, so if you haven’t returned a card, please do so. I would also encourage those who pledge to consider the automatic bank draft feature. Pledges give the Church some measure of certainty in financial planning, but the automatic draft feature really helps with day to day bookkeeping tasks.

Second, if you receive the Mississippi Episcopalian, odds are that you have received a direct appeal from Bishop Seage for a gift to the Diocese. This appeal is to fund Diocesan programs for overseas missions, Episcopal Cursillo, The Gray Center and Camp Bratton-Green, and youth ministry and lay leadership opportunities. Particularly relevant today is the Diocesan Disaster Response and Relief Program, which, along with the collection at Diocesan Council, can provide some measure of relief to our brothers and sisters who are struggling from the effects of the Hattiesburg tornadoes.

Likewise, you probably received a direct appeal from Gray Center for giving. Some goals of these two appeals are common: fostering Lay leadership; youth ministry; and protecting Camp Bratton-Green and our wonderful facilities at Gray Center. We hope to bring Grae Dickson, director of Gray Center, down for a Sunday to discuss all things Gray Center and CBG, and to inform us of recent master plans involving Camp and Gray Center. With the number of children both big and little at Nativity, we really should keep a keen focus on CBG. One of the greatest experiences I have shared with my older sons is attending First Camp with Cindy Saia and the Saia boys. We have more age-eligible children at Nativity for this year than last year, and I look forward to going back.

Last, those who were able to attend the Parish’s Annual Meeting a couple weeks ago were treated to Bob Provine’s rollout of Nativity’s Endowment Fund. This is a giving ministry which will preserve and protect our Church for years to come. I encourage you to consider a commitment to the Endowment. Lindsay and I have done so, however modestly; nevertheless, these gifts will add up quickly, and grow in perpetuity. We have strong leaders as Endowment Trustees and are meeting regularly to make good, sound decisions for the fund.

At the Annual Parish Meeting, Peter reiterated in so many words that 2017 will be a year of giving. I ask that in this year of giving, you give thoughtfully, you give prayerfully, you give cheerfully, and you give faithfully, for yourselves, for each other, and for the needs of the world.

Many Blessings to You,
Harris F. Powers III