Grace Cathedral

Dear Grace Cathedral Community,

As we conclude the first week of Lent, the season’s discipline is evident all over the cathedral close. From the beautiful voices of our choirs at rehearsal, to the deep listening of a contemplative practices group, and the preparation and instruction of nearly two dozen candidates for baptism/confirmation/reception, Grace Cathedral’s congregation is working hard at the Lenten invitation to come closer to God. 

The Preaching Round Table is among these focused groups. As part of a 12-week program, Nicole Stahl, Peter Grace, Steve Wereb, Martha Daetwyler, David Smith, and John Evans meet weekly with me to discuss the craft of preaching. Sharing a meal and following a curriculum created by the Episcopal Preaching Foundation, the group has been diving into various aspects of preaching preparation and writing with gusto. Last week, members of the group shared poetry in response to their close study of the lectionary. We all are deepening our appreciation of the work and value of preaching. The work of this inaugural group goes through the Easter season. We hope to introduce some of the ideas, practices, and insights from the Preaching Round Table at the annual congregation retreat at Bishop’s Ranch over Memorial Day Weekend and to offer more round table groups.

Study is part of the Lenten invitation. A few opportunities are on the near horizon. 

• Join us for Sunday 4 pm Book Study Group via Zoom. The group is reading, Ilia Delio’s “The Not-Yet God: Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and the Relational Whole.”  
• Next Sunday, March 23, join an in-person, post coffee hour book discussion of “How We Learn to be Brave” by Bishop Mariann Budde. Discussions, led by Tom Horst and Richard Compean will be on the last two Sundays in March, March 23 and March 30. 

Finally, after much anticipation and hard work, this Sunday, March 16, members of the Grace Cathedral Girl’s Choir will be invested as choristers. The service formally marks their ministry to the church and their reception into the centuries-long Anglican choral music heritage.  Jared Johnson, Canon Director of Music, and Joy-Leilani Garbutt, Associate Musician and Director of Girls’ Choir, began recruitment in December of 2023. In just a little over a year’s time, the girls have become a beautiful chorus. The music they will sing on Sunday includes works by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Jared Johnson, Katherine Webb, Bobby McFerrin, Alice Parker, and Kristina Arakelyan. Join us in the Chapel of Grace at 4 pm for Choral Evensong and this historic occasion.

I pray that discipline in practice, prayer, and study this Lent nourish you and our church so that in Irenaeus’ words, “where the church is, there is the spirit of God; and where the spirit of God is, there is the church, and every kind of Grace.”  

With blessings,
Mary Carter 

The Rev. Canon Mary Carter Greene
Canon Pastor