Nativity Newsletter

Week of June 16-22

Soon after he came to us as Vicar, Duncan located the historic Parish Register which documents Nativity from its founding in 1869 by the people named in the church’s Trinity Window. Over the centuries, our church has had dozens of priests-in-charge, hundreds of members, suffered total destruction in 1984, rebuilt, then dedicated anew in 1985. Duncan Gray, III is woven throughout our recent history and will remain an integral part. We honor his legacy and all those who came before us as a part of Nativity by continuing the service of Christ through the Church.

Ann Whitaker preceded her sermon on Sunday with words of wisdom to comfort and guide us as we enter this current season of transition and another chapter in our Church’s history. We will grieve the departure of Duncan as a church family but also allow God’s grace to work through us to bring us together to build our future.

We do not face this future with uncertainty. Thanks to careful planning and shared leadership, we are equipped to move forward with both reverence and resolve. Here are some of the key steps in place for the remainder of the year:

Worship Committee. A team of six parishioners has been working to ensure our Sunday services have thoughtful choices of music, liturgy, readings, and preaching.

Clergy Calendar. Supply clergy (priests and deacons) have been scheduled for nearly every Sunday through the end of the year. A few Sundays will be Morning Prayer lead by our Lay Eucharistic Ministers, but for the remaining 27 Sundays in 2025, we plan to celebrate Holy Communion for 21 of those.

Diocesan Support. The Bishop visited with the Mission Committee and or congregation in February and is aware of our need for pastoral leadership. The Canon to the Ordinary, Gary Meade, will celebrate and preach at Nativity on June 29 and will lead a lay workshop to inform and grow our opportunities for lay leadership and participation on June 28th from 1:30 to 4:30. All are welcome. We have great support from the Diocese of Mississippi for canonical guidance, oversight and assistance.

These efforts and many others demonstrated by all of you reflect our shared commitment to honoring the rhythms of worship and fellowship that define us as a congregation—even in the absence of a permanent vicar. We are grateful for Duncan’s service, and we now carry the work • • • of ministry forward together. This is not a time of waiting, but a time of doing—with God’s help. We hope you will join us each Sunday as we continue to grow in spirit and in community.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Morning Prayer at 10:30 a.m. Homily by Michael Prager “Coffee Hour” following the service. No one has signed up, so bring something if you are able.

Prayer Request: Richard Denham (Dawn’s father) Episcopal Church of the Nativity Mission Committee Prayer requests can be submitted on the pew card or by contacting Robbie Fisher (in person) or by email at robbiefisher@gmail.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

A Lay Leadership Workshop is offered for all who are curious about lay ministries in The Episcopal Church, especially those offered as part of our rich liturgical heritage. We will discuss and invite questions on the variety of roles available in our churches, including Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Lay Eucharistic

Visitors, Lectors & Intercessors, and Lay Worship Leaders. Other opportunities for lay leadership in worship include: acolytes, altar guild, greeters, and ushers. Our leaders will be David Benway, Diocesan Director of Lay Ministries, and Canon Gary Meade, Canon to the Ordinary

We will gather at 1:30 pm on Saturday, June 28 at the Church to begin our conversation. Training will be offered depending on the need and interest of those attending, but no one will be required to make a firm commitment to lay ministry. Just come to listen, learn, and discern. We will conclude by 4:30 pm.

You, your curiosity, and your questions are invited.

Click here to register.

Nativity Newsletter

My dear Nativity friends,

I write this note with a full and grateful heart in appreciation of the lovely “send off” you put together for Kathy

and me over the past two Sundays. On June 1, the gift of the communion set in thanksgiving for Kathy’s work

with the Altar Guild and the processional cross in my honor were beautiful reflections of our common life

together. We were both so touched by your thoughtfulness and generosity.

Last Sunday, your presence in prayer and song as we worshipped together was a very special moment for me.

Brenda asked for a few of my favorite hymns which she played and we ( or Dawn) managed to sing throughout

the liturgy. Your closing prayer over Kathy and me at the altar touched something very deep in my soul.

The luncheon reception was extraordinarily lovely and grace-filled. The food was wonderful and the music, amazing! The so very kind words that were shared in toasts lifted our spirits in ways that you could not imagine. The gift of Hannah McCormick’s painting of the Nativity stain glass window (and banner) was a great

surprise, and it will soon find a prominent place in our home.

You have been a gift of grace to Kathy and me over these past three years.

May God continue to guide and

strengthen all of you!

We love you.

Duncan

Trinity Sunday with Holy Eucharist – June 15, 2025

Reverend Ann Whitaker, Celebrant

Lessons for Trinity Sunday

click this link:

https://www.lectionarypage.net/.../Pent.../CTrinity_RCL.html

Prayer Request*

Richard Denham. (Dawn’s father).

*We are starting fresh with our prayer list. If you have a prayer request, please fill out the card in the back of

the pew, contact Robbie Fisher at robbiefisher@gmail.com, or speak to Robbie in person.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

A Lay Leadership Workshop is offered for all who are curious about lay ministries in The Episcopal Church,

especially those offered as part of our rich liturgical heritage. We will discuss and invite questions on the

variety of roles available in our churches, including Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, Lectors & Intercessors, and Lay Worship Leaders. Other opportunities for lay leadership in

worship include: acolytes, altar guild, greeters, and ushers. Our leaders will be David Benway, Diocesan Director of Lay Ministries, and Canon Gary Meade, Canon to the Ordinary.

We will gather at 1:30 pm on Saturday, June 28 at the Church to begin our conversation. Training will be

offered depending on the need and interest of those attending, but no one will be required to make a firm

commitment to lay ministry. Just come to listen, learn, and discern.

We will conclude by 4:30 pm.

You, your curiosity, and your questions are invited.

Link attached to register.

https://alliance.wufoo.com/forms/zzebosl0hsrmwq/

Reflections

Reflections

As my official relationship with Nativity comes to an end this Sunday I have been flooded with so many wonderful memories of my time with this very special congregation, beginning with that phone call from the bishop during my first week at St. Peter’s in Oxford in 1985. “You know the little church in Water Valley was destroyed by a tornado a few months back. Would you be willing to oversee the rebuilding of the church and hold services for them for a while?” he asked. A question like that, coming from your bishop, is not really a question, but a charge.

So I said yes, and the rest is (a very personal) history.

Before the church was rebuilt we had worship services 2 Sundays a month in the chapel of the Presbyterian Church. On those Sundays over the next two years I would finish the early service at St. Peter’s, keep my vestments on and drive way too fast to get to the 9:00am worship in Water Valley. I would then make a a quick exit as worship ended and , again, break the speed limit in order to return to St. Peter’s for the 11:00am service. It seems very strange now, but in those days if the bishop asked you to do something, it was done- no questions asked!

I remember traveling in a U-Haul to pick up donated pews from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Picayune and unloading them with the Nativity Junior Warden to the very places they rest today. After the church was rebuilt I recruited a retired priest, the Rev. Tom Hastings, to celebrate the Eucharist and preach four Sundays a month. That took a little adjusting to, as the Senior Warden and some others objected to the regular Sunday worship schedule as “being too much church”!

With those roots in Nativity it was a painful moment for me as bishop when,  responding to the request of the one remaining family in 2003, 

I authorized the closing of the church. But I also remember with great joy when, after the rebirth and revitalization of Water Valley in 2017, my successor, Bishop Brian Seage, reopened the church and it began the growth that has continued to this day.

Then, many years later, as my post-retirement tenure at St. Peter’s came to an end, there came the opportunity to once, again, serve in this special place. It has been a great honor and the deepest joy to have traveled this journey with you over these past three years. Your gracious welcome to Kathy and me and your willingness to let us both offer our gifts is so deeply appreciated.  You will never know how grateful we are. To have  had this opportunity to give what I could give in these last years- before the gas tank was completely empty!-was a gift of incredible value. 

I will see many of you on Sunday to say “Good-bye”, but to those who I will miss, may I simply say, “Thank you.” It’s all been so wonderfully joy-filled!

See you Sunday!

Blessings and Peace,

Duncan

(601)260-1937

Dmgrayiii@gmail.com