The Book of Esther at VBS

When's the last time you read the Book of Esther?

This short book of the Bible tells the story of a Jewish orphan who rises to become queen in the palace of a Persian king. Because of her strength and her character, she manages to save the Jewish people from danger while being faithful to the God she loves. The story has treachery, intrigue, celebration, heroes, and villains. In other words, it's perfect for Vacation Bible School!

June 19 through June 21, all hands will be on deck as we immerse ourselves in this piece of God's story. Beginning each night at 5:30 pm, we'll share a meal and then turn our attention to a carefully casted stage production. In the role of the conflicted King Ahasuerus: David Dallas. In the role of the crafty and deceitful Haman: shifty Steve Iwanski. In the role of Mordecai, Esther's faithful cousin and adoptive caregiver: the faithful Hal Fiore. And making her Nativity debut in the title role of Esther: our friend Elizabeth Hinckley. The action climaxes in a great banquet, and on our final night, you expect our actors to do a little dinner theater while we feast on better than average VBS fare.

Esther's story is the origin of our Jewish brothers' and sisters' holiday, Purim: a two-day celebration of God's care and protection for the Jewish people. With the help of Rachael Goldberg, we'll be incorporating a number of traditional Purim activities into our own exploration of Esther. We'll make Hamantaschen, a traditional stuffed cookie. For crafts, we'll make our own crowns and groggers, the traditional Purim noisemakers. Parents, you're welcome for that one. David Williamson has picked out some great Purim songs for us to learn from a 1960's-era Jewish youth hymnal. And for our Thursday evening feast, Billy Bowman is making brisket, a tradition of some Jewish families for Purim.

Put it all together, and we've got quite a special program being put together for kids entering 3K to 5th grade. Of course, we'll need all sorts of helper, but even if you're not going to help us corral kids and make crafts, you might consider stopping by anyway! I believe Nativity is at its best when folks of all ages gather to learn, play, eat, pray and sing together. And this year's Vacation Bible School offers us a chance to do all of that, all while getting to know the traditions of our Jewish neighbors a bit more. So, join us!

Peter+

Esther: Born for This!

You don’t want to miss this summer’s Vacation Bible School, which will be from 5:30-7:30 PM on June 19-21. We’ll tell the story of a powerful queen who saves her people from a sinister villain. We’ll feast to celebrate her victory. We’ll sing, and cheer, and play, and create. Designed for kids entering 3K-5th grade, it’s fun for all ages!

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 Peter (June/July 2017)

Following the example of both St. Stephen’s, Indianola and The Atlantic, the Nativity newsletter will only have one issue this summer. So, don’t go calling the office around Independence Day looking for another mailing! Everything you need for the next two months of Nativity programming is in here, server schedule and all.

Part of the reason for doing this, of course, is that this summer Sarah will be away for six weeks on educational leave as she continues pursuing her Masters Degree in Non-Profit Management at Notre Dame. As most of you all know, Sarah has been pursuing this degree through distance learning for the past two years, but the program requires a total of ten weeks of residential learning during the summer. She will complete that requirement this summer and is hoping to complete the program in December! While Sarah is away, I will be assisted in the office by Mary Gregory Porter – working on behalf of Fred T. Neely, Alicia Dallas, and Caroline Colquett. Thanks to these great leaders for their time and commitment to keeping the trains running on time!

In the meantime, we are looking forward as a community to two fun summer time activities. Vacation Bible School will kick into gear July 11-13 from 5:30-7:30pm, and our theme will be The Greatest Commandments. Over three nights, we’ll lead those kids entering 3K to 5th grade through activities that explore Jesus’ simple instructions for faithful living: Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself. As we have for the past many years, this program will be created entirely from scratch. VBS doesn’t come from a pre-planned curriculum at Nativity, which is both more challenging and more rewarding. As always, we will need volunteers both to assist in the programming and in the meals for these three nights.

But even before VBS, it’s time for the Nativity softball team to hit the field once again! In- side, you’ll find a schedule of all of our games. We have over thirty players who signed up to be on our team, which is about the size of an 8am Eucharist at Nativity! What that means is that every single game will be a great fellowship opportunity, both for the players as well as the fans who come to cheer them on. This was a highlight of last year for me, and I can’t wait to be a part of it again.

It should be a great two months together! After all this fun, I look forward to telling you what’s happening in August!

Peace,
Peter+