Youth Group

All Nativity youth and friends grades 6-12 are invited to our first Sunday evening gathering of the new school year on Sunday, August 19. Join us for dinner at 5 pm and programming with Phillip, Brantley, and others at 5:30 pm. We'll play games, we'll get to know more about Phillip and how he found his way to Nativity, and we'll close with prayer as always. The EYC is always in need of adults willing to provide dinner. If you can help feed our youth, sign up for a spot on the sheet in the church kitchen.

Softball End of the Season Party

To celebrate another great season of softball, the team and fans will gather at Serio’s Restaurant Wednesday, August 22 at 5:30pm. Join us for food and fellowship and so we can hand out team awards!  Who will win the coveted Colquett prize for excellence in the field of falling down on the base path?  You'll have to come to find out!  This event is open to all team members and fans.  We'll purchase appetizers and a little pizza; heavier food and drinks are on you.

This Is Our Story

Let’s face it.  Episcopalians have feelings of inadequacy when it comes to the Bible.  We hear more scripture on Sunday mornings than almost any other denomination.  But let a Baptist friend of ours start talking about the Bible, and we get squirrely, saying things like, “I’m an Episcopalian; we don’t know much about all that.”  If I never heard that statement again in my life, I would die a happy man!

As I say to Inquirers' classes, we Episcopalians don’t take the Bible literally, we take it seriously.  We take it seriously because it is the principal source of our knowledge about who God is, who we are, and what our purpose is in this God-given life.  We take the Bible seriously because in its stories, we find our story.  Our Muslim brothers and sisters call Christians and Jews “People of the Book.”  That’s exactly right.  Like all people, our identity comes from the stories we tell.  Christians are those who tell the stories of the Old and New Testaments and let those stories reorient their lives.

In 2011, a fellow with a funny name tried out a simple idea.  The Rev. Marek Zabriskie serves an Episcopal church in the Philadelphia suburbs, and as a New Year’s resolution he decided to read the Bible cover to cover in a year.  On a lark, he invited his congregation to join him.  Before he knew it, more than half of his church and another 90 of their friends had joined in.  And what he found was profound renewal for himself and for his people as they read Bible stories not usually heard in church and other stories that were familiar, but that they had never read in context, as a part of a whole.

In the years since, Marek has been an advocate for similar programs across the Episcopal Church.  The way it works is simple.  All of us read the same parts of the Bible at the same time – about five chapters a day, six days per week.  We each take personal responsibility for our growth as Christians.  Then, the church builds programming to support us as we do that work.  At Nativity, that means adult Sunday School is a place to get oriented to what we're reading and ask questions.  It means we’re encouraging small groups to nurture relationships and to encourage each other on in the marathon.  It means we've dreamed up a monthly trivia night to compete among friends and test our newly gained knowledge!  For more information on these and other offerings, check out our website.

Whether you think you’re up for the challenge or not, I hope you’ll make plans to join as a church family on Sunday, August 12 at 9:30 for the launch.  This is chance to hear more; ask questions; join a small group; and, crucially, vote on who we want to be our first trivia night’s Master of Ceremonies!  The marathon begins Monday morning! 

Let’s say it plainly.  If we feel embarrassed or unfamiliar with this, our own story, there is literally only one way to address those feelings:  pick it up and read!  This is our chance to do it with all the love, support, and encouragement we’ve come to expect from this wonderful church family.  Let’s do it!

Peace,
Peter

Photo by nappy from Pexels

"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.