Welcome to Phillip, Amanda, Connor, and McKenzie Parker

Sunday, June 3, Church of the Advent, Sumner has invited Nativity members of all ages to join them for a late rogation celebration at the Belk Lake House and welcome their new pastor and Nativity’s new associate for youth ministry as well as his family! Following 10:30 church, drive 11 miles up Money Road and look for the sign that says BELK.

Becoming the Beloved Community

The Racial Reconciliation Task Force of the Episcopal Church in Mississippi is bringing in nationally recognized speakers and leaders for an overnight workshop at Gray Center on May 30 and 31, 2018. For more information or to register go to www.dioms.org/digital_faith/events/3177891

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!

Cursillo

Ready for a three day retreat to focus on your spiritual need and your relationship with God? Think about Cursillo, June 21-24 at the Episcopal Camp and Conference Center outside Canton.

The basic atmosphere of a Cursillo weekend differs from the individual solitude of a retreat. During the 3-days, the teachings of Christ are discussed in a climate of joy. The talks and discussions are interspersed with prayer, Eucharists, songs, recreation, laughter and moments of reflection and silence. There is nothing dull about a Cursillo weekend! It is full of work enjoyed in the name of Jesus Christ. It is a joyous workshop in the fundamentals of our beautiful Christian faith where everyone learns by experiencing a living Christian community.

For more information, talk to Father Peter or Paula Provine.

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!

Ordination of Phillip Parker

Saturday, June 9 at 10:30am, Phillip Parker will be ordained a deacon at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Jackson, his last step before being ordained a priest. It would be wonderful for a Nativity contingent to go and pray in support of him and the other five individuals being ordained for the Episcopal Church in Mississippi.

Ministry to Growing Families

The Episcopal Church Women are working to consolidate all of Nativity’s ministries to growing families under one umbrella. These include, reaching out and praying for expectant parents and those considering adoption, delivering celebratory yard signs when the child comes home, organizing meals for the family, and creating personalized banners for the day of their baptism. If you would like to join this ministry, contact Lindsay Powers at 466-1114.

The Choir Corner: Pentecost

David Williamson, Choirmaster and Organist

As we speedily fly through the Great Fifty Days of Easter, seemingly faster each year, I'm putting in a new communion hymn on The Day of Pentecost from the contemplative Taize' Community. The community is an ecumenical monastic order in France, near Cluny, founded by a Swiss Protestant, who felt called to minister to young people and work towards greater cooperation among Christians.

Their worship and their songs were made to be accessible to the brothers and pilgrims, using mantras, short repeated phrases like antiphons. Usually a cantor provides the rest of the text of the psalm or Canticle. We have used "Ubi Caritas" for a while now. For Pentecost we will use "Veni Sancte Spiritus." Both were written by the late French organist Jacques Berthier, who composed much of their music. In the past fifteen years or so this invocation of the Holy Spirit has gradually replaced the "Veni Creator Spiritus" as the musical prayer at the laying on of hands at ordinations, so many of you have probably already heard it.

Rogation Sunday

Since the late 5th century, Christians in Europe have set aside a few days in the late spring to
ask God’s blessing for a fruitful growing season. In some locations, the faithful lead a
procession around the fields. In other places, this ancient tradition is all but forgotten. In
Greenwood, we gather for an outdoor Eucharist with appetizers and beverages!

Sunday, May 6 at 5pm, join us at the home of Bob and Paula Provine, 11178 County Road 94. Bring an appetizer to share and a symbol of how you’ll be working with the earth this summer. It could be seed, a trowel, dirt from the farm, or a catfish! We’ll offer all of those gifts at the altar as we ask God’s blessing on us and on the good earth God has given into our care.

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+