"The Bible Challenge" Books

The Challenge Begins August 12!

As we begin to read through the Bible together as a church family in just a few weeks, we've got a great resource to help us along the way. Forward Movement, the folks who publish the Day by Day devotionals, has published a book that tells Bible Challenge participants what to read each day and includes a devotional, prayers, and reflection questions for each day. Contributors include Bishop Michael Curry, Dr. Walter Brueggemann, Bishop Gray, and more. Pick one up in the church office or in the back of the church!  

Blessing of the Backpacks

Sunday, August 5 at 10:30am

As our young folks get ready to head back to school, we'll lift them up in prayer and bless backpacks new and old. Join us at the 10:30 service next week as we support these members of our Nativity family.  If you didn't get a Nativity name tag for your backpack last year, we've got more!

No Bluegrass Mass, But Potluck Is On!

Sunday, July 29 at 11:30am

Sadly, as we prepared for Nativity's first ever Bluegrass Mass, one picker got sick, another two had family obligations, and every other backup musician we called is going to be at the Neshoba County Fair this weekend! The Bluegrass Mass will wait for another day. In the meantime, let's still plan on getting together to share a potluck meal together this Sunday after 10:30 church!

1-Day Youth Mission Trip

Nativity youth grades 6-12 will join the youth of St. James' Episcopal Church for a day of outreach work at Delta Streets Academy. We'll gather at 8:45am in the Nativity parking lot and then Phillip Parker and Steve Iwanski will travel with the kids over to the new Delta Streets location downtown and help staff, students, and families prepare the new building for the new school year. The day concludes with worship. Bring a little money for lunch downtown.

The Bible Challenge: Small Groups

This August, you can begin the marathon task of reading the entire Bible, and you get to do it with your church family.  Think you don't know enough about the Bible?  Maybe even a little embarrassed?  There's no better way to get over that fear than by diving in with a group of friends!

If you were training for a 26.2 mile race, you'd look for a running buddy to keep you on track.  Why not do the same for this marathon and build relationships in the process?  Small groups of up to six can self-organize and meet on their own schedule if they like.  Or, if you'd rather be assigned to a group, you can let us know and we'll match you with folks with a similar level of experience reading the Bible.   If you'd like help joining a small group, fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

The Bible Challenge: Trivia Night

Now is the time to begin building your team. Look around Nativity and ask yourself, which five church members do you want competing with you as you compete for the Nativity Cup?

Next Fall, everyone at Nativity will be invited to take up the challenge of reading the Bible in full over the course of about 18 months. To keep this challenge fun, we'll gather monthly for a potluck dinner, followed by a Webster's-trivia-night-inspired competition. Teams of six will answer a few rounds of questions drawn from the previous month's readings. We'll finish in an hour (if our M.C.'s stick to the script) and the winning team takes home gift cards to local businesses. During all this, the nursery will be open for small children and study hall and other light programming will be available for older kids.

The Nativity Cup, you ask? That'll be the garishly oversized trophy awarded to the team with the highest cumulative score as we read the entire Bible together. Now, you know you want your name on that. Better start building your team!

Bluegrass Mass in July

Sunday, July 29, Nativity will do something different. Our Senior Warden, inspired by the "Summer Chapel" she often attends in western North Carolina, had the idea of an outdoor, bluegrass-inspired worship service. It just so happens that Nativity member Ben Johnson is quite the accomplished bluegrass bassist. Put a good idea and great talent together, and all of a sudden we're preparing for our first Bluegrass Mass!

At 8 am, we'll worship inside just like normal: air-conditioning, church clothes and all. At 10:30, come dress comfortably: in shorts, t-shirts, straw hats, whatever! And come ready to sing those eminently singable bluegrass standards like "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" along with Ben Johnson and his merry band of bluegrass musicians. We'll gather on the large patio to worship, to pray and to sing. We'll share communion and then, following the service, we'll share a potluck lunch together.

The Choir Corner: Methodism

Most of you know John Wesley as the founder or Methodism, but we Episcopalians still have one of his hymns in our hymnal. His brother Charles was the prolific hymn writer and the person who invited John to the group out of which the Methodist movement was born. Nevertheless, Charles remained staunchly Anglican until the end and was buried in his vestments.

Charles's son Samuel was the most brilliant organist of his day, scandalous, and for a time became Roman Catholic. We still have many of his gorgeous Anglican chants and organ pieces in out hymnal. He's famous for competing with the great Felix Mendelssohn at organ playing. No official result could be rendered because the men that were hand pumping the organs gave out.

Samuel's son, Samuel Sebastian, was the greatest organist and Anglican composer of his time (mid Victorian) and we still sing much of his music. The one likely most familiar to us is "The Church's One Foundation."

Send a message to David Williamson for more information and a listening list.

This is the Egmore Wesley Church in Chennai, India. Choristers are from all leading choirs of Chennai.

Melody: Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1874 [AURELIA]

Text: Samuel John Stone 1866 "The Church's One Foundation"

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+

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!