“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is.”
– Frederick Buechner
ON MASKS AT CHURCH
COVID and churches – It’s been a minefield. I’m thankful that here at The Sacred Grace Englewood we have prayed for wisdom on how to best care for each other and our literal neighbors and adjusted our ways of connecting accordingly. It’s been a period of constant...
Acoma Pop-Up Vaccine Clinic
We were thrilled to partner with the Mayors of both Englewood and Denver to bring a pop-up vaccination clinic to our building. We were so honored to be chosen for this special opportunity and we were thrilled to serve close to 500 of our neighbors.
Blessed are those who mourn
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.– Jesus In the last year pandemic-related anti-AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) rhetoric and actions have been both documented and disheartening. In the wake of the tragic gun violence in...
An evening of presence, prayer, and song
We want to create more outlets for our church to sing, pray, and listen. We find these to be important rhythms for moving toward God and sometimes Sundays aren't quite enough, if we're honest. We crave more of these kinds of things because God draws us to himself....
LENT 2021
The season of LENT is upon us. Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the Christian calendar because it is stark, simple, and contemplative. No matter how good you are at avoiding or deflecting, you are faced with your reality and circumstances in a powerful...
2020 RECAP
This is the script I used from the Year-End Family Meeting on Sunday, DEC 20. At the end of every year, over the course of a day or two, Julie and I do an audit of our time. We simply pull up our calendars and scan each month looking for events, both significant and...
Prayers for the President
I remember well the multi-hour meeting Canaan and I had at Session Coffee (RIP) during our first year as a church where we wrote the first draft of our Prayers of the People. I had just become aware of this prayer rhythm in Episcopal churches (among other traditions)...
JOB – An Interpretive Challenge
The book of Job has been a wild ride. It's no wonder that it's rarely taught in churches! No doubt you've been confused at times and you're not alone! I find this book to be confusing as well. Job is part fable and part poetry with some theology, anthropology, and...
Justice for Breonna Taylor
An excerpt from the New York Times: "Shortly after midnight on March 13, Louisville police, executing a search warrant, used a battering ram to crash into the apartment of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American emergency room technician. After a brief...
Virtual Worship Gatherings
Hello everyone! We are so glad that you have come here to join us for one of our Virtual Worship Gatherings. Below you will find different Worship Gatherings you can join, hosted by some of our Staff, Elders, and Table Group Hosts. Join whichever Video Gathering you...
Support Our Businesses
Many businesses are taking an enormous hit during and after this pandemic. We need to make it a point to help them out as much as we are financially able. CLICK HERE to see a list of Englewood restaurants and bars that have take-out options. For some, ordering...
Serve Your Neighbors
CLICK HERE to see how you can join the City of Englewood in serving and connecting with neighbors. Our homeless neighbors also need your help. Severe Weather Shelter Network is currently unable to operate. We are collecting tarps and sleeping bags to help our...
PANDEMIC RESPONSE PLAN
We created this plan weeks ago when the pandemic first started altering normal life for our parishioners. Our staff, elders, and leadership have been working this plan and we're now getting around to sprucing it up and making it more widely available. Here it is....
Serve Our Government
That title might completely scare you or it might intrigue and entice you. Either way, we hope you'll give it some strong consideration. Our city government and staff make up one of four pillars that we consider when we move OUT toward our community. We believe that...
Neighbor Check-Ins
The backbone of our church has always been our care and love for our literal neighbors. There has never been a better time to put that into practice than during a pandemic. Of course, we want to maintain healthy distance and precaution as we care; but, there has never...
Write & Reflect Intentionally
We strongly believe that a healthy internal world is an oft-overlooked and yet extremely important part of being human. During a pandemic, there is more time for self-reflection, self-discovery, and self- adjustment. Here’s how we recommend people grow on a personal...
Create a Daily & Weekly Schedule
We strongly believe that a healthy internal world is an oft-overlooked and yet extremely important part of being human. During a pandemic, there is more time for self-reflection, self-discovery, and self- adjustment. Here’s how we recommend people grow on a personal...
Reading & Listening Intentionally
We strongly believe that a healthy internal world is an oft-overlooked and yet extremely important part of being human. During a pandemic, there is more time for self-reflection, self-discovery, and self- adjustment. Here’s how we recommend people grow on a personal...
Interview with Shakerra Monét
Photo: Erica Krysl Throughout the month of February we have been hearing from parishioners and their experience with race, racism, privilege, and fragility. For our final installment we will listen in on an interview between Parish Pastor Nathan Hoag and local artist...
White Fragility | Part 3
There are a handful of white mothers in our church who have a unique task: raising children of color. Many white parents of kids of color simply raise their kids without considering race and the implications that race has on development and growth. These mothers,...
White Fragility | Part 2
There are a handful of white mothers in our church who have a unique task: raising children of color. Many white parents of kids of color simply raise their kids without considering race and the implications that race has on development and growth. These mothers,...
White Fragility | Part 1
There are a handful of white mothers in our church who have a unique task: raising children of color. Many white parents of kids of color simply raise their kids without considering race and the implications that race has on development and growth. These mothers,...
All Politics Are Local
Massachusetts Congressman Tip O'Neil, coined the phrase "All Politics Is Local" sometime between 1977 and 1987 while he was Speaker of the House. He intended the phrase to mean that politicians have a specific responsibility to know and represent the every-day...
Englewood Rehab Project
The Neighborhood Rehab Project will be hosting it's 4th annual day of service here in Englewood on September 7th. This day of service is geared toward making the homes of our neighbors safe, dry, and warm. Ryan Bramlett and Joe Anderson, leaders of our Englewood Rehab...
ENG 3 | REVISED PRAYERS
On Sunday, MAR 31 our church celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Throughout this week we'll be posting highlights from our third year together. The simplest way to understand our theological convictions is to get to know the place where we are rooted and called:...
ENG 3 | LOCAL SCHOOL PARTNERS
On Sunday, MAR 31 our church celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Throughout this week we'll be posting highlights from our third year together. If you've been following along, you've now read a bit about the theological underpinnings of tilling, cultivating, and caring...
ENG 3 | A LETTER FROM MAYOR LINDA OLSON
On Sunday, MAR 31 our church celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Throughout this week we'll be posting highlights from our third year together. Dear friends at The Sacred Grace, Congratulations on your anniversary of influence and love in the City of Englewood! If I could...
ENG 3 | JEREMIAH 29
On Sunday, MAR 31 our church celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. Throughout this week we'll be posting highlights from our third year together. Jeremiah 29 is a familiar chapter in pop Christian culture. Verse 11 says some things that modern-day American Christians love...
PARTICIPATING IN LENT
Quantized Values of Angular Momentum, Linnea Spransy “Using strict rules, I construct images on the belief that limits have an eerie capacity to generate surprise...even freedom." Linea Spransy Before I was exposed to Linea Spransy's artwork and...
Generosity Prayer
Our Generosity Prayer. We pray this together each and every Sunday. We believe that the words we say take root in our hearts and come out in our actions. We, as a church, desire to be defined by generosity. We encourage you, with your family, friends, and neighbors,...
Advent, Longing for Light, & God With Us
By Emily Rader I grew up in a household that celebrated Christmas in a religious sense. Dad read Luke 2 aloud on Christmas Eve. Mum hung an extra stocking embroidered with the name “Jesus” as a reminder of his presence and centrality in our home. Our favorite holiday...
ADVENT PRAYERS
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. WEEK 1: HOPE We are easily distracted by the darkness that comes with unease and anxiety. Source of light, shine in our lives and in your world with your renewing hope. WEEK 2: PEACE We are easily...
CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN – 2018
The Christmas Campaign is an invitation to our families and friends to join us in giving a gift TOGETHER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. Our goal is to give $3o,ooo THIS YEAR. $1O,OOO - The denver street school - east campus The Denver Street School is bringing hope, a second...
ADVENT
WHAT IS ADVENT? The word advent is rooted in a Latin word simply meaning, arrival. During this season of the Church calendar, which starts four Sundays before Christmas & culminates on Christmas Eve, we celebrate the arrival of Light into darkness: Jesus Christ,...
SONGS OF ADVENT
We love christmas music We love Christmas music at TSG! There is no other season that has such specific music associated with it – no other season has songs that instantly transport listeners into an epic, cosmic story like Christmas songs do. And while there is a lot...
BISHOP CHRISTMAS STORE
Every year our church participates in an event that has a huge impact on the families in our parish. Bishop Elementary school is just a few blocks from our building and many of the families there are not able to buy gifts for their kids at Christmas. This, of course,...
The Journey of Transformation
What a difference a day makes. It was a Monday that lived up to the stereotype. You know, one of those days when the bad news and the frustration are all just too much. I could not shake the fact that so much of our world and my life is not as it should be. Getting...
Building a Trellis
The people who owned our house before we did planted a bunch of fruit trees, bushes, and vines. This year we had more apples than we knew what to do with along with peaches, pears, and plums. Needless to say, our neighborhood squirrels ate like kings. Among the many...
The Hard Work of Reconstruction
"How do I reconstruct my faith?" a friend recently asked. It's an important question that I hope more and more people are willing to ask. In an era that glorifies deconstruction, reconstruction is an all-too-rare practice that is vital to our health and well-being. A...
Welcome Home
The bell on the doorway clanged as I ducked out of the rain and into the shop. It was an unassuming place, but brightly decorated. Small window displays advertised new clothing arrivals, and neon signs told the sales of the day. “Hello there!” cheered the woman behind...
Remember
"Would you do it that way again?" a church planter recently asked me in a meeting. "Mostly, yes," I replied. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about some of the scaffolding we've created for our parishioners in the first few years of planting a church in and for...
It Takes a Village
Parenthood has been much different than I expected. Our first child was 14 years old and in the beginning stages of a gender transition. We've had kids from all over the economic, developmental, trauma, and educational spectrum. We've had kids from the city and the...
Safe, Dry, & Warm
Safe, dry, warm. These are three things that describe my house that I take for granted on a daily basis. In fact, for most of my life, these were not only the norm in my neighborhood, they were enforced in uniformity by some kind of code or HOA. Since moving to...
Englewood’s Person of Peace
In Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends a crew of his followers out ahead of him to the towns he would soon visit himself. Like many who came before Jesus, their job was to prepare the way. This reconnaissance mission was designed to test the waters to see where Jesus'...
Church Growth
During our first year of gathering as a church, I could trace a personal connection with nearly everyone in the room. Many of the people in our church at that time had received at least a couple personal invitations to our church from me. I was recruiting constantly,...
A Letter About Abuse of Power
Dear Church, As we spend August and September exploring how we are to respond to power, I would be remiss to ignore the seemingly constant news about the abuses of power. Although we will talk more about this when we get to Daniel in a couple of weeks, I feel a strong...
Serve our Neighbors
Join us tonight at 7PM for Thankful Thursday and this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our EMPIRES series. Englewood is home to a diverse population. As I've gone door-to-door to meet our neighbors I've met people from all over the world, of all different ages,...
Knowing Ourselves
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our EMPIRES series followed by COMMUNITY DINNER at 6PM. There are a few ways that we move IN toward each other; our upcoming Welcome Dinner and Community Dinner are good examples of that. But another way that we move...
Back to School
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the beginning of our EMPIRES series. Welcome to August! If you're a student, the parent of a student, or perhaps you work in education, August means back-to-school season is upon us. The teachers, students, and staff of Englewood schools...
Storm Relief
On Tuesday, a severe storm hit Englewood, causing damage and loss of life, homes, property, and personal belongings. Recovery efforts are underway. As a church in and for the city of Englewood, we want to be on the front lines of storm recovery. Assisting our...
Appreciating Bishop Teachers
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our PROVERBS series and at 6PM for a COMMUNITY COOKOUT. A little over a year ago the Superintendent of Englewood Schools, Wendy Rubin, stood in front of our church next to the President of the School Board, Tena...
Opportunities to Move Out
Join us TONIGHT at 5PM for the continuation of our PROVERBS series. This year we are learning how to follow the way of Jesus in three primary categories: local schools, our neighbors, and civic engagement. I'd like to invite you to consider participating in one or...
Mid-Month Dinners
Join us tonight at 7PM for THANKFUL THURSDAY and on Sunday at 6PM for our June Community Dinner. Community Dinners have become a staple of our church. Our first Community Dinner was Sunday, March 27, 2016 and happened to be the night we launched our church. From day...
Local Impact
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our PROVERBS series. Sometimes I get bogged down in the numbers. I read about an influx of refugees or the acreage of a wildfire and feel overwhelmed, like there's nothing I could ever do to affect change in a...
Summer Cookouts
Join us tonight at 7PM for THANKFUL THURSDAY and on Sunday at 6PM for our June Community Dinner. Community Dinners have become a staple of our church. Our first Community Dinner was Sunday, March 27, 2016 and happened to be the night we launched our church. From day...
Neighborhood Cleanup
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our PENTECOST series. We believe that the work the Spirit is doing in us is the work we are meant to be doing in our surrounding society. As we discussed in week one, the work of the Spirit creates life, peace, and...
Summer Goals
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our PENTECOST series. Summer is for play. Our family has been playing hard and we typically end the day dirty, sweaty, and tired. It's the best! Throughout the summer we find ourselves in more public places than...
Summer Rhythms
Join us tonight at 5PM for the continuation of our PENTECOST series and at 6PM for our May COMMUNITY DINNER. Summer is upon us! High temps are in the 80's, the air in the neighborhood is filled with the smell of smoldering charcoal, and parents are trying to figure...
Pentecost Begins
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the beginning of our PENTECOST series. The Englewood Police Department had a busy day yesterday. There was an active shooter just a few blocks from our church building and a suicidal man holed up in his basement threatening both himself...
Neighboring Grants
Join us this Sunday at 4:15PM for EASTERTIDE HAPPY HOUR and at 5PM for the continuation of our EASTERTIDE series. In our first year God taught us how to move UP toward him through songs and prayers, teaching and communion. In year two God taught us how to move IN...
A Celebration to Remember
Thank you to all of you who joined us for our 2nd Anniversary Celebration last Sunday! Feel free to print or post the photos at the bottom of this email to help you remember the experience. One of the highlights from our Anniversary Party was a video that Canaan...
2nd Anniversary Celebration
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for a special celebration of our 2nd Anniversary and at 6PM for our April Community Dinner. It has been two years since we launched our church. In some ways it feels like it has been a lot longer. In other ways, I can't believe it has been...
More than Worship Gatherings
Join us this Sunday at 4:15PM for EASTERTIDE HAPPY HOUR and at 5PM for the continuation of our EASTERTIDE season & series. I find that most people whittle a church down to their weekly Worship Gathering. How was the music? The preaching? The kids' programs? These...
April Welcome Dinner
Join us tomorrow night at 5:30PM for the April WELCOME DINNER. Confession: When we first started our church I would make mental notes of new people in the room while I was preaching. If I seemed a little distracted up there, I was! I would scan the room for new people...
Join us for Happy Hour.
Join us this Sunday at 4:15PM for EASTERTIDE HAPPY HOUR and 5PM for the continuation of our EASTERTIDE series. This is a season for celebration. It's a season for reveling in the resurrection of Jesus and believing that, despite the darkness all around us, light has...
Eastertide Begins
Join us this Sunday at 4:15PM for EASTERTIDE HAPPY HOUR and 5PM for the continuation of our EASTERTIDE series. The season of Eastertide is the courageous celebration of the persistent hope of the resurrection. It is a season for sharing and celebrating stories of...
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, Church! Two years ago today we met at 3220 S. Acoma for the first Worship Gathering of The Sacred Grace Englewood. We didn't know what God had in store for us that day or for the days that followed but we are extremely grateful for all that he has...
Community Dinner: A 10-Year-Old’s Perspective
Join us this Sunday at 5PM for the continuation of our LENT series and at 6PM for our March COMMUNITY DINNER. Last week I asked a 10-year-old in our church how she would describe Community Dinner. She said, "We get to sit down and have face-to-face conversations...