Halloween Carnival, Chili Cookoff and Honoring Steve Iwanski

Mark your calendars for October 24 at 5:30 pm, and start testing recipes for this great annual event! It’s been a few years since anyone was able to knock Josh Fair off the winner’s pedestal. Maybe this year it will be you! While the adults taste chili and cast their votes, kids from 5th grade on down are treated to a Halloween carnival put on by our 6th-12th grade youth group.

This year’s event will also be an opportunity for us to honor and give thanks for Steve Iwanski, who has served as Nativity’s youth minister for more than four years now. Steve and Sarah aren’t going anywhere, of course, but this season of ministry for Steve is now coming to a close. 

In recent months, Steve has been helping Phillip Parker make the transition as our clergy associate for youth ministry. Join us not only to enjoy fellowship, to compete, but most especially, to show our appreciation to Steve for all that he has meant to us and to our kids these last four years.

Nativity Day School Fish Fry

The Nativity Day School’s biggest fundraiser of the year is just around the corner! Let us make dinner for you and your family on Thursday, November 8, the same night as the downtown Holiday Open House. Tickets will soon be available from Nativity Day School parents as well as the church office. All proceeds go to support this ministry of Nativity Church.

Bishop Seage Visits Nativity on Oct. 28

Since the earliest days of the Church, the faithful have had folks called “bishops.” They haven’t always worn funny hats, but what they have always done is bind together Christians in different congregations and in diverse parts of the world into one fellowship. It used to be that on Easter, bishops would celebrate Communion, and a little bit of the Body of Christ would be taken from the bishop’s altar and carried out for the inclusion in the Easter communion of all the churches to which he was connected. It was a sign of the Body being bigger than any one locale.

Sunday, October 28, our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Brian Seage will make his biannual visit to Episcopal Church of the Nativity. His presence is a reminder to us in Greenwood that as Christians (and as Episcopalians) the capital-C Church is way bigger than just what happens inside our four walls at Nativity. Bishop Seage spends his weekends traveling across Mississippi, visiting big urban churches and tiny rural ones. As he zigzags about, he reminds us that all of us are connected in ministry, in relationship, and in mission.

Bishop Seage will preach and celebrate at both the 8am and 10:30am services. At 10:30, he will confirm and receive some youths and adults as they make adult affirmations of faith and join the church officially. Some of those being confirmed or received have been here a while, some only a short time. Regardless, taking this step with the bishop present is a way of saying, “In this Episcopal tradition, not just Nativity, I’ve found a home and a place where I can grow in faith.”

Since Bishop Seage will be present at both services, we will welcome him with a large parish breakfast at 9am. If you can help provide hospitality for this event, please contact Frances Knight, who coordinates our Sunday breakfasts. Following breakfast, the kids will dismiss to Sunday School and adult forum will turn our attention to Bible Trivia! Since Halloween interrupts our family night schedule, Bishop Seage will be our guest M.C. for two rounds of trivia as we continue our march toward the Nativity Cup. This week's winner not only wins gift cards, but also will be featured in one of Bishop Seage's signature selfies!

It’s a lot going on and we have a lot to celebrate. Join the celebration!

Peace,
Peter+

Youth Group Update

The EYC had a great September as we participated in several outreach activities. These included our first trip to Beacon Harbor and the Greenwood Canned Food Drive. When we were not participating in outreach, we were taking time to reflect on “who God has called us to be.”

We are taking time over the next several weeks to ask the question, “who am I?” We have started by looking at our relationships with each other, with our friends, and with our families. We have spent time exploring our “likes” and “dislikes” and our “hopes.” We will continue this exploration of “who am I?” over the next several weeks by exploring our Christian identity.

The EYC will help with the Blessing of the Animals on October 7th. Please bring a pet and enjoy this fun-filled, Spirit-led service. We have heard that we could have pet pigs here to be blessed! After the Pet Blessing, EYC will stay to enjoy a meal and game.

EYC will host a Halloween themed party for Beacon Harbor on October 21. Our September visit meant so much to the residents of Beacon Harbor that we are still hearing from them about it. To say that they are excited about the Halloween Party would be an understatement! The plan is to have cupcakes, candy corn, and punch while we listen and dance Halloween themed music. We will also decorate pumpkins and make paper Halloween masks. This should be a wonderful time as we continue to nurture these relationships.

Instructed Eucharist

Wednesday, September 19 at 5:30pm

Before tonight's Inquirers' class, participants should take a moment to watch this week's video, which is a brief Instructed Eucharist.  Step by step, the video walks you through what happens in Episcopal worship and the meaning behind all the symbols and movements.  After we gather in the parish hall, we'll move to the church together and ask all those questions we have about Sunday morning but have never had a chance to ask.  All are welcome, and childcare is available!

Pastoral Care Committee

Monday, September 24 at 2:00pm

Those who are or wish to participate in this ministry of prayer, visiting, and card-writing are invited to gather in the office conference room next Monday.  We'll pray over the prayer list, write birthday and anniversary cards, and then volunteer to visit homebound and sick church members.  If you'd like to make a visit but can't be at the meeting, call the church office at (662) 453-7786.

Family Night / Trivia Night

Wednesday, September 27 at 5:30pm 

Next Wednesday night we'll take a week off from Inquirers' Class as we gather for an informal potluck dinner at 5:30pm. At 6pm, the youth choir will rehearse in the choir room, the nursery will be open for infants all the way up to 5K, and in the parish hall, round 2 of The Bible Challenge Trivia Night commences. About 40 of us gathered last month, why not join us this month?

Katherine Pack Stuckey

Services for Katherine Pack Stuckey, 72, who died Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 at Greenwood Leflore Hospital, will be at noon Monday at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

Visitation will be at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of services.

Mrs. Stuckey, an attorney, held a law degree, a master’s degree in remedial reading and a bachelor’s degree in education, all from the University of Mississippi.

She was a fan of Ole Miss football but a convert to Mississippi State women’s basketball, and she never missed a home game.

She was a member of the Mississippi State Bar Association and a former officer of the Leflore County Bar Association. She practiced law from 1989 until her death.

Mrs. Stuckey was a member of Matinee Musicale, the Greenwood Rotary Club, Altrusa International of Greenwood, the Greenwood Garden Club and several boards at Life Help, including its advisory board for more than 15 years.

She was a lector during worship services at the Church of the Nativity, where she was a parishioner. On Wednesdays, she read to preschool children at the Nativity Day School, and a fund at the church has been set up to establish a reading center in her memory at the school.

In spite of having multiple sclerosis for 35 years, Mrs. Stuckey was a private pilot who had owned two Piper Cub aircraft which she enjoyed flying.

She had been looking forward to a reunion of her 1964 graduating class from Senatobia High School, which will take place Oct. 6.

In her law practice, Mrs. Stuckey and Marsha Gentry, a paralegal in the law firm, developed a close personal relationship. They enjoyed traveling, shopping and attending basketball games together.

Survivors include her husband of almost 43 years, Wallie Stuckey; three sons, Jeff Veazey of Hawaii, Hunter Stuckey and his wife, Natalia, of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and Joshua Stuckey and his wife, Robin, of Carrollton; a granddaughter, Katherine Lynn Stuckey, the light of her grandmother’s life; and two brothers, Brooks and John Pack, and a sister, Evelyn, all of California.

The Rev. Peter Gray will officiate at the services, which will be followed by entombment in the church’s columbarium.

Wilson & Knight Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. An online guest book may be signed at www.wilsonandknight.com.

The family requests any memorials be made to the Episcopal Church of the Nativity for the reading center.

Inquirers’ Class Starting Soon

Interested in learning more about the Episcopal Church or in becoming a confirmed member of Nativity? Mark your calendar for Wednesday evenings in September and October. Childcare will be available.

Family Night / Trivia Night

On Wednesday, August 29, we’ll have a casual potluck at 5:30 pm and then an hour of team trivia on the scriptures we’ve read this month. Bragging rights are on the line! Childcare and activities for children up to 6th grade are available from 6 pm to 7 pm.