Hello, I’m Steve Cendrowski, I was born and raised Roman Catholic originally from Detroit MI, but for myriad reasons, grew apart from the church as an institution and became a part of the non-practicing catholic family.
I resigned myself to seeking God’s message and meaning in my work and in everyday life. But as life went on, I felt a need to re-connect with God in a community and I (we) also began to feel that our children should have a similar opportunity to experience God in a way that both my wife and I did, in an engaging and open community. Over the years of our marriage and life, we have tried a few Christian worship venues including Presbyterian while living in the midwest, and later Methodist and Episcopalian when we moved to the Frederick area just over 7 years ago. We even visited a Unitarian Universalist congregation a few times...but Episcopalian for us was a nice (compromise), mixing traditional catholic themes during worship with an open and accepting Christian community. Life got busy after moving to Brunswick in early 2013 and we stopped going to All Saints in Frederick, but we knew that we wanted to get back to an Episcopal church that was closer to home; so after a couple drive by’s to stare at Grace’s beautiful Gothic Stone facade, we decided nearly 2 years ago to come to Grace on the first Sunday of Advent in 2015. Since then, I have been roped in to managing the Food Forest, Stacey begrudgingly serves on the Vestry and Altar Guild, and Millie just mouths the words while standing up here with the choir...Bazinga! We all love Grace, and have enjoyed the people and the ministries we have each taken on to contribute to the needs of Grace and Brunswick. For my part in Grace ministries, I am the BFF manager., For me, this was a no-brainer to help with the BFF ministry. I have always enjoyed gardening, and managed to grow tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, and peppers on a very small home garden scale beginning at an early age and throughout my life. BUT to grow vegetables on a quarter acre to bring produce to the needy in Brunswick? Wow! Working in the BFF allows me to connect with Nature in a way beyond just enjoyment-I achieve an almost meditative state while working in the garden where at times I feel a connection to God and at times even proclaim his name (mostly in vain when I would stand up after crouching for long periods to sow seeds or pull weeds Or when Mother Anjel would sneak up behind me). Even more, It has afforded me opportunities to interact with others at Grace and the broader community. We love it here, and feel fortunate that God showed us the way into the Grace family. Thank you. Ministry Minute, Grace Episcopal Church, October 22, 2017
Good morning. As most of you know, I’m Teri Smith-Jones. My wife, Kathleen and I have been members of Grace for about two years, and I currently serve as Junior Warden. I volunteered to do this Ministry Minute because I wanted to tell you why I believe this place matters so much. To me, it’s all about the welcome. As Christians, we claim Jesus as our Lord, and Jesus welcomed everyone to the table. So, when I consider joining a church, one of the first things I think about is the many people who have been part of my life, and maybe they’ve been part of yours as well. I think about the child whose family struggled with alcoholism. I think about the gay teenager who loved the Eucharist, but was turned away from the Catholic church. I think about the young woman who needed a safe haven for herself and the children she was raising. I think about the loving couple who never thought the church would bless their union. I think about people with family members who reject them because of who they are. I think about those who desperately need to hear biblical truth instead of biblical literalism. I think about everyone who needs a safe community, where they can be themselves. All of these people are part of me. So, I ask myself: Would they be welcome here? Based on my time here at Grace, it seems to me that, in this place, all people are welcome. Indeed, we proclaim that reality on the sign out front by stating that we love our neighbors with no exceptions because that’s what Jesus calls us to do. So, two years later, I’m still here, and I’m looking very forward to the next steps on our journey together as we prepare to welcome our new priest. If you’ve also come to love this place, then I ask you to join me in thinking about our next steps. Think about where you want us to go, and then think about the gifts of time, talent, and treasure you can offer to help us get there. And, remember that none of the work we are called to do can be done unless we do it together, physically, financially, and most importantly prayerfully. Grace Church Ministry Minute – Journey to Generosity
Kathy Brown 10/15/17 Good morning! I’m Kathy Brown…yes the same one that sends out all the annoying emails asking for food donations for this and volunteers for that. And I’m here again to put a little bug in your ear about financial support. So...this is not my first ride in the Ministry Minute Rodeo. I came before the congregation in 2013 to talk about what it is I love about this quirky little church. It was about a year after my family came to Grace, and I was still in that fat, happy and stupid honeymoon period. “OMG…everything is so amazingly perfect here!”…ya know like that. In prepping for this talk, I started thinking about whether I still feel the same way and/or what has changed for me. So, let’s dust off my 1st talk from 2013… __________________________________________________________ Fall 2013 “What’s a good Catholic girl from CT, doing in a place like this?” What’s a good Catholic girl from CT, doing in a place like this? How in the world did she wind up here? And why on earth does she love it so? This is NOT what the plan was to be. Let’s go back to 1976, to a kitchen table in Darien CT. Dot and Frank, dyed-in-the-wool Catholics that have raised their 5 kids that way, sit discussing a request by their 14 year old daughter: Frank: “I don’t know Dot, this just doesn’t sound right” Dot: “Oh, Come on Frank, it’s just one little youth group meeting. Kathy’s friend Melanie asked her to go along.” Frank: “I’m gettin’ a feeling about this. You said it’s gonna be at the Episcopal Church, right? I heard they let the priests get married, for God sake! And and and have KIDS! Does that sound right to you?” Dot: “Now…Frank, it’s harmless…one meeting. It’s not like she’s going to start questioning whether the Catholic church is right for her, or marry some quasi-Episcopal guy she meets in college, or wait 12 years to have kids and then start taking them to Episcopal services, baptize the kids Episcopal, then decide to be received in the Episcopal church and then wind up finding an Episcopal church in some dinky little railroad town in a state 350 miles away, with a tank out front. What are the odds? LET’S NOT PANIC! I’m sure it’s just a phase…” Ok, maybe that’s not EXACTLY how it went down, but it wasn’t a phase and here I am! Little did I know that attending a few youth group meetings way back then, would set off that chain of events that would land me here. A good Catholic girl at THE best Episcopal Church! How did I wind up here? Well…I’ve asked myself that same question and it’s actually pretty simple: It’s the grace of God. I didn’t set out to come here, Grace led me here, and I am eternally grateful that Grace came lookin’ for me! Dave, the girls and I have been here at Grace for just a year, and it feels like home. You see, I searched a long time, knowingly or not, for a place like Grace Church…where miracles and blessings happen every day:
__________________________________________________________________ So, those were my thoughts in 2013! While I’m still fat and happy, the honeymoon is definitely over. Time has marched on for Grace Church. New people have come, others have left, and some are getting ready to leave. We’ve faced joys and challenges. Members of my family drift in and out of the church. However, my commitment to Grace gets stronger every day and each year, I find new ways to grow in my faith and as a member of Grace. Grace sponsored me to join the Cursillo movement…it’s awesome, ask me about it! We started “Eat, Pray, Talk” …like Sunday night therapy with food! Hospitality Ministry…again FOOD! The new women’s “Prayer and Self-Care” group…can’t wait to launch that next week! Don’t even get me started on the people who inspire me here! This church, this “family” is bigger than the sum of its parts. And, I’ve found that the more I’m drawn to become more involved, my financial investment in this community has grown as well. While Dave and strive toward tithing (haven’t gotten there yet), our yearly contribution to the works of Grace has tripled since we started here in 2012. The more I give of my time, talent and treasure, the more connected I feel to the life here. So, whether you’re born and bred here or you’re a newbie, think about where and how Grace Church fits into your life journey, what you get from this community and what you can give to support it. Thank you and God bless you! Good morning. My name is Charlie Harris and I am your senior warden! How'd that happen? Who knew? "LOL." Only two years ago no one here knew me and I didn't know any of you or anyone in Brunswick for that matter. You might even say it’s a series of coincidences that brought me to this moment right here, right now, as I stand before you this morning.
Over the past year, I have frequently said that I have experienced an amazing set of coincidences ---- happenstances that I did not anticipate and could not have created. My journey here began about two and a half years ago, when Sherry and I made the decision to relocate and spend our retirement years in Brunswick, a community we knew nothing about and we didn’t know anyone living here. We made the decision to relocate and retire here after investigating about 15 planned communities in Maryland and northern Virginia. We discovered that Brunswick was the only community that checked all our boxes. And then the coincidences began: —after completing a homesite visit about a month before we moved here, we went for a spur-of-the-moment drive through downtown Brunswick and we made the discovery that this marvelous, historic stone church is home to an Episcopal parish and we are Episcopal! —that same day we discovered Anjel+ sitting out front painting an icon. After a lengthy discussion with Anjel+ that afternoon, we drove away and said to each other, "wow, what a wonderful coincidence!" Much to our surprise, the coincidences did not stop there. We received our first Grace newsletter about a week later and discovered that we knew someone on your parish prayer list. It was a friend from our old church. We contacted Anjel+ and learned that our friend had a daughter, whom we had never met, and that she lived in Brunswick and was a member of Grace! And then the very first Sunday morning we attended mass at Grace we met our friend's daughter. Since we were new, we arrived a few minutes early and sat on an empty pew near the back of the auditorium. The daughter came in a few minutes later and actually sat on our same pew --- and we knew her the moment we saw her (she looked just like her mother). Even though we had never met her before, we felt a connection immediately!! What a wonderful coincidence! Over the next several weeks we returned to Grace every Sunday morning, and our new friend introduced us to another person, who introduced us to another person, who introduced us to another person, and so on until we began to feel very much at home in our new community. And before a year had passed, we had made some of the best friends we've ever had in our lifetime! Who knew this would all happen, not us before we moved here!! What great good fortune! At the vestry retreat last March, Anjel+ asked each of us to tell about what brought us to Grace, and I told everyone about these wonderful coincidences. Anjel+ observed that these may not have been coincidences, but rather they were meant to be. Maybe God had a plan for me. I laughed nervously and casually dismissed her observation with “no, I’m not that special”. I would not think about this again for several months. Then something quite unusual happened during a sightseeing day trip that Sherry and I took in early August to the charming communities of Emmitsburg and Thurmont. I had an epiphany moment! As we casually drove along that morning, I saw a message board in front of a church that had a very unusual message. One that was so unusual that I drove past it a second time to make sure I had read it correctly. The message said: "Coincidence: when God chooses to be anonymous". Then all these “coincidences” flashed through my mind. And I found myself spontaneously saying a prayer: “O - M - G! I just received a revelation! Thank you God for not being anonymous today!” Now you know my journey. But you might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with our stewardship campaign: "journey to generosity"? These "coincidences" have taken me directly through the heart of this parish. The heart is where love resides, where hope springs eternal, and where you will find your joy. I have felt the generosity of God's love and your love. I have come to cherish my new adopted home of Brunswick, my new parish, and my new friends; and I have great hope for our future together. So when I turned in my pledge statement last week, it was with great joy in my heart. And as we transition to a new year, and a new reality for our parish, please know that my journey with you continues. In order to understand what makes Grace so amazingly special I am going to tell you a bit about myself and my past. I was raised in the Episcopal Church at Grace Church in Elkridge, MD. One of my first “real” jobs was at the day care center run there. Grace was my home and a second family to me. When it was time to go to college I talk not only to my parents, but too many of surrogate moms and dads I had at Grace. In 2002 at the age of 20, I dropped out of college and joined the US Army as a combat medic. I never felt more purposeful than I did serving my country caring for ill and injured people, not only US Soldiers and allies, but our enemies as well. War opened my eyes to how precious and beautiful life really is. As much as the Army gave me, it took many things away as well. I was sexually assaulted by a member of my unit who was also a pastor in his home church. When charges were brought forth he committed suicide. I became very angry; angry with God, angry with humanity and angry with myself. I stopped going to church. In 2008 I suffered the first of many health crises that would ultimately change the course of my life. I did what any Soldier would do; I grit my teeth, shut my mouth and carried on. In 2012 I could no longer handle the pain and while stationed in Germany I chose to have the total hysterectomy that the doctors had been pushing for. Eight weeks after surgery I went on a mission to Israel. A very long story short the surgery fixed one problem and caused many others. I look back on my mission to Israel as the last time I felt truly healthy, ironic when you consider I had had a major surgery just a few weeks prior. The thing I remember most about that deployment was the feeling that God was in that place, despite all of the bad things happening all around me, God was there and I missed him. Like most people, I may have missed having God in my life but I wasn’t ready to do anything about it. After Israel, I was stationed at Walter Reed and after an interesting year in Wheaton, MD we decided to move to Charles Town. My health continued to fail and ultimately the Army medically retired me after almost 13 years of faithful service. I gave you this long aside so that you understand the first time I came to Grace I was as broken as a person can be. My world was defined by the military and my place in the military. It was all going away, and I was hurt, confused, scared, and lost. My mother sent me an email Anjel had written regarding the DUI incident with the bishop and I appreciated the tone and thought that went into it. I decided to check Grace out. The first service I came to Anjel thought she was giving a sermon to everyone but really she was talking to me. She was talking to me about letting go. About being something different than I thought I was. After service I did a very un-Episcopalian thing and I didn’t go for coffee. I sat in my pew and I wept. There was the God I was looking for, right in front of me. I came to few more services alone and ultimately decided that perhaps it was too far. I tried Zion closer to home but I felt the pull to come back to the place I had felt God. When I came back with my kids in tow the very first week Miss Shirley asked where I had been. You have to understand I talked to Anjel and no one else. I slipped in and out those first few times months ago without my children. How did this person know who I was and that I hadn’t been here? Our attendance became regular during the roughest six months of my life. Anjel knew I was having a hard time but somehow when at church it didn’t seem so bad. Slowly things got easier, I enrolled in school and three months after my retirement date I was offered a job. Our regular attendance had some unexpected but joyous consequences, my daughter Miriam became impatient to be baptized. Just before Thanksgiving last year she was baptized here at Grace. Over time I came to know more and more people in the congregation and even made friends, something I have a very hard time doing. When the call for vestry members went out I pondered it and dismissed the notion. We had been coming to Grace less than a year. The idea kept at me, even when I wasn’t in church and finally I told Mother Anjel that if no one came forward and they still needed a person I wouldn’t mind, but I didn’t want to take anything away from anyone. No one stepped forward and in February it was official. Grace Church helped give me hope when I had none, fellowship when I needed it most and a gift that is impossible to describe. Grace gave me myself, flawed and imperfect and loved. A year ago, my family and I were still newbies to Grace and to the Episcopal Church overall. When the call to confirmation classes came Jannah startled me with letting me know she wanted to attend. Then Jeb, my fiancé, said the same. The pull of the Episcopal Church was strong. I saw being a part of Jesus through Grace as the natural progression of my faith, so I said yes to confirmation as well. Jeb and I volunteered to be a part of the RenewalWorks process. It was an eye opening process. But it was encouraging to us to see that Grace walks its talk. As a church, we desire to serve the community through the outreach of our various programs and partnerships. Then I became sick. I barreled through RenewalWorks and confirmation classes, but it was becoming clear something was really wrong with my health. Then I experienced firsthand the beauty and love of the Grace family. Pat Zupka, Robin Marsan, and Wendy Davis went out their way to drive me to doctor’s appointments when I couldn't drive. Other members of the congregation offered their help if we needed it. Robin rescued me from being stir crazy with lunch at her house. When I would listen to the service on YouTube at home and heard the prayers of the people, I was comforted to know my church family was praying for me. Confirmation was an emotional and spiritual high when Bishop Sutton came to Grace. I pushed my health to its limit because I wanted to be an official part of the church. When Dawn Reid and Jeb held me up while being blessed by the Bishop, it was affirming that I was in the right place at the right time. Simply put, my family and I could not have gone through this health and spiritual journey without Grace, my church family. As mysteriously as my illness came, it slowly went away. I took full advantage and put my energy back to Grace. When an opening became available to serve on the Vestry, I asked to be considered and the answer was a full yes. It's been a new level of serving. I recently went to a conference this week on discipleship on behalf of the Vestry. It was a wonderful experience learning practical ways the church can be disciple of Christ. Just as wonderful is learning that Grace in some ways is already doing this. We read this Scripture at the conference and I thought of Grace. Romans 12:10, 13: 10: “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” Through the Food Forest and Farmer’s Market, our formation classes, Bible study during the week, Grace is showing what it means to follow Christ. And it made me so thankful to be a part of this church. So I want to say thank you to each of you. For every prayer, kindness, fellowship, and love you have shown and continue to show. I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of Grace. Good morning, I must start off with the story of how we ended up here at Grace in Brunswick, Maryland, of all of the places we could have landed. As English writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton once said, “Coincidences are spiritual puns.” This story starts back in January of 2013. I was leading a Celtic Morning Prayer service at our parish in Delaware and we had a drop-in visitor, a priest from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Mary Jayne Ledgerwood. After the service we chatted and invited her to our home for dinner. Fast-forward a couple years. Last August we decided to sell our home in Rehoboth Beach, DE, and move to Lovettsville, VA, with our daughter and son-in-law, Bekah and Sean. We had looked at the web pages for the Episcopal churches in Leesburg and Purcellville. Leesburg was a possibility, but a little far. Purcellville didn’t appear welcoming. Then I had an idea…I know a priest in the Diocese of Virginia, I’ll ask her! So on August 23 of last year I sent a private Facebook message to Mary Jayne and asked her for recommendations for a new church community in Virginia. Mary Jayne immediately told us to cross the Potomac and come to Grace and there we would meet her friend Anjel. She let Anjel know we were looking and within minutes I was receiving messages from Anjel inviting us to try out Grace. We checked the website—“Serving Christ and Welcoming All”, a Believe Out Loud Community, and BONUS, “We are Orthodox and Celtic” in our spirituality. Our first visit to Grace was at the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans a year ago. We knew we had found a new home. There would be none of the dreaded “church shopping.” One of the writers I read this year in EfM expressed this sentiment, “Judaism and all other western religions are suffering from having become over-verbalized and under-experienced. At Grace I find so much is experience, the kind of experience you get from using all of your senses and doing hard work together as a family. I experience the holiness of the ground we walk on and the presence of the saints in the touch of these beautiful walls. I experience God’s presence in the people here and the way we care for each other, in the chant of the Psalms, in the singing of the Eucharist, watching the children in our Pray Space, and in the breaking of the bread. We praise God in song, smoke, Icon, and in our caring for the least of God’s sheep. I am refreshed and give myself anew with hymns, kneeling, standing, bowing, proclaiming the Word, and coffee hour friendship. Grace is where I turned to after the massacre at a Florida nightclub and while I was overwhelmed with grief I found comfort in the loving presence here and the abundance of hugs. Our Thursday morning Bible Study with Anjel is not only a place for learning history and context, but also a place for exploring and connecting. We call it the “rabbit hole”. What I have experienced here at Grace is not something that is confined to Sundays or even within these walls. I have celebrated, gardened, carried furniture and refrigerators, visited the sick, handed out Christmas gifts, prayed, and served up hotdogs, all part of our family life. We have a common mission here at Grace, to seek and serve God in all persons. Teri and I are Netflix junkies, watching entire seasons of our old favorite shows. This month we are watching Cheers. You all know the theme song: Be glad there’s one place in the world Where everybody knows your name, And they’re always glad you came; You want to go where people know, People are all the same; You want to go where everybody knows your name. I’m glad you came. Thank you. Michael Younkins shares his reflection on what he loves about Grace ChurchWhat I love about Grace Church. There are so many things that it is hard to narrow down. However, here are the highlights: First, the Congregation – From the first time we visited here, Mike and I felt that Grace’s congregation was a loving and warm group of people. Virginia Danner, Nancy Smith, Lila and Bill Wenner, Susan Mann, the Dehlers all made sure to welcome us. We felt that the folks here were family; people who love and accept without hesitation. It was based on this impression that we asked a friend Sophia Schmidt to visit here with us one Sunday and she too, found it to be a “family.” Mike and I started attending once a month with Sophia, then more regularly. Finally, it was with no regrets that we transferred our membership here, to come home and become part of the family of Grace. We have friends here, which odd as it sounds, wasn’t always the case at churches we attended. This means a great deal to us. Second, our Priest – What’s not to love about Anjel? She is someone who speaks her mind with compassion and love, but sometimes, when needed, with lightning and thunder. She brings up social issues to make you aware, moves you into action and bring about change. Anjel knows her Bible, the history, the background story, the ancient language/text and explains what was truly meant. She is always willing to share this knowledge with everyone. Then there's DJ and the choir – Hearing the music now and when we first arrived is night and day. The Organ then was not good, but now, it is so beautiful and DJ brings out its best. The choir, small but mighty, always sings from their hearts and it brings something extra to the service each Sunday. I love the the Church Year services. The Episcopal Church is very rich in ceremony and beautiful services, with Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. Each is separate, distinct and emotionally moving. And then there's the building itself, We were in love with this building from the first visit. This is a like a small cathedral. The nave with its beautiful windows, the high alter with the reredos, the stone walls and columns…. Genius loci, Latin meaning spirit of place. I feel that Grace Episcopal Church most definitely has this. So there is much to love about Grace, its outreach with the food forest and ashes to go, our congregational family, Anjel, DJ. We can’t imagine being anywhere else but here. “May God give you grace never to sell yourself short, grace to risk something big for something good, grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.” I heard this blessing at my first service at Grace and knew I found my church home. But it wasn't my first experience at Grace Episcopal. It happened to be the final piece I needed to know I was in a safe and loving church family. When the girls and I lived in Brunswick, we went through a series of churches before we settled on one in town. It was through that church that I heard that Grace was offering the Monasteries of the Heart series. The class intrigued me and I signed up. It set in motion a year long introduction of the people and the ways of Grace Episcopal. I fell in love with the church but had massive guilt. I was already attending another church in town. Can you leave a church with ”it's not you it's me”? We left Brunswick and at this point Jeb became a part of our family. We went to a church near us and it wasn't a good fit. We kept trying with other churches nearby until I gave up, convinced there wasn’t a church out there that would love us for who we are and to hear about God in a loving and real way. It was then I heard about the Monasteries group starting again and we were invited to Grace for a Sunday service. I had doubt after the string of rejection from other churches which made me feel that neither me or my family could be a part of their exclusive group. Exclusive in race, family type, even who we were as Christians. We as a family were looking for a church of inclusion. Where we are embraced for who we are and where we are in our lives. But our first Sunday at Grace was a resounding yes for all of us. We found our church home and in Pastor Anjel we found a pastor who embraced our diversity. Speaking of diversity, we appreciated the openness of Pastor Anjel and Grace to have the conversation about privilege and what does privilege looks like. When I saw in the church announcement to discuss privilege in light of the events in Ferguson and Baltimore, marriage equality, and seemingly systemic police brutality, I asked Jeb if he wouldn't mind the family attending and he was immediately said yes. We've had enough conversations at home as a couple, as parents of bi-racial children, and presenting ourselves from individual views that we had a vested interest to hear how our new church family viewed these issues. At the beginning of the exercise, Pastor Anjel lined us in a straight line, saying in God's eyes, this is how He sees every one of us: equal. I'm thankful Pastor Anjel created the safe space to bring understanding. A thought that cropped up to me during the meeting that I was unwilling to share at the time is this is more than taking care of those with less privilege. Those with privilege experience hurt and discrimination on issues such as character or sometimes, for no reason at all. And they deserve the same level of understanding and compassion. To be broader, privilege exercise is about looking around where we have silos as humans and knocking down each wall with the compassion and equality of Christ. As we began the exercise, we are all on the same page when it comes to Jesus and at the end of the day, privileged or not, that's all that matters. The following weeks the discussion of baptism came up for the girls. I was enthusiastic but had a smidgen of doubt as the previous churches we attended either promised baptism and it didn't happen or was flat out told no. But Pastor Anjel made the process one of ease and joyous anticipation and today I'm proud that the girls are being baptized by her. As a family when we talk about church, the first thing we say is how much we love our church and I'm so grateful we have a church and a church family to call home. Felicia Watkins The Vestry and Stewardship Team ask for your prayers and pledge commitment to the mission and ministry of Grace Church for 2016.
As of November 1st ... 15 families and individuals have pledged thus far 3 new pledge commitments have been received 7 pledge commitments increased from the prior year 13% of the parish has pledged $60,846 to help meet the need for $165,000 for parish ministries Please keep the ministries of Grace Church in your prayers. Good morning. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Matt Dehler and I have been a member here at Grace for three years. I joined this church along with my wife, Kristine, and my three daughters, Kennedy, Emory, and Quincy. I would like to say we found Grace, but the truth is Grace found us. I was raised a good, New York Irish Catholic- the kind that attends 12 years of Catholic School. Kris was raised non practicing Methodist. When we met, neither of us was attending a church. I will always value the education I received in the Catholic Church, but as the years passed, I found that I disagreed with my church on a lot of topics. We spent several years looking for a church that lined up with our beliefs. Once I became a father, I felt even more compelled to find the right place. We tried many Protestant and non-denominational churches. We felt that science, diversity, and social justice were more important to us than ever finding a congregation. One day a friend suggested the Episcopal Church could be the answer for us. I knew something of this church, the offspring of the Church of England. Henry the VIII breaking away from Rome? Oh yeah- I always enjoyed that story in European history. I remember my friend’s words that really resonated with me, “You don’t have to check your brain at the door.” Shortly after that conversation, I found a card in my mailbox. It was the beginning of the Christmas season, and the card was an invitation to Grace Church. It suggested I might be interested in “more than just flying reindeer” this year. When we came to Grace that next Sunday, we were impressed. What we found was a beautiful building that reminded me of the stained glass and tradition of my youth. I remember seeing female altar servers and, what’s this???.....a female priest??!! I thought to myself, “that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” As I listened to that first sermon of Anjel’s, I knew this was the right place for us. I knew that here we accept all of God’s people for who they are. This place seemed to be devoid of all the racism, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism that we experience so often in our world. I’m glad we didn’t give up. I’m glad we kept looking. I’m glad we found Grace ... or Grace found us! The Dehler Family The Vestry and Stewardship Team ask for your prayers and pledge commitment to the mission and ministry of Grace Church for 2016.
As of October 25, 2015 ... 7 families and individuals have pledged thus far 2 pledge commitments increased from the prior year 11% of the parish has pledged $31,400 to help meet the need for $165,000 for parish ministries Please keep the ministries of Grace Church in your prayers. |
Ministry MinutesEach year during our Annual Giving Campaign, members of Grace Church tell their stories about why they love Grace Church and why they are involved. Each story is different in details but all reflect the love of Christ which is found in this community of faith. Archives
October 2017
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