Joining Grace
Wondering about Grace Church? Get to know us, pay us a visit, decide whether you'd like to become more involved with our community. You are welcome here!
A few words about us
Rather than a strict confession of faith, Episcopalians are united by how we pray together. The Book of Common Prayer guides all Sunday liturgies, prayers, and sacramental rites globally. This focus allows us to hold diverse personal opinions on theology while remaining unified in corporate worship.
What is the Book of Common Prayer?
Get to Know Grace
For anyone new to or exploring Grace, complete a visitor card found in every pew. Read this week's sermon online. Ask to be added to the mailing list. Request a meeting with the Rector or office staff to learn the lay of the land. Introduce yourself to an usher who will help you meet other parishioners. Ask questions and stay for a Grace Grounds tour if you like.
We also recommend that you subscribe to The Messenger, our weekly email newsletter. You do not need to be a member to subscribe to this free weekly email newsletter, and you may unsubscribe at any time. Be assured that we will not give your email address to any outside party.
We gather together
Wondering how things work at Grace? We celebrate Holy Eucharist, also known as the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or Mass every Sunday. Services may involve standing, sitting, kneeling, sung or spoken responses, and other participatory elements that may provide a challenge for the first-time visitor.
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All baptized Christians’ no matter age or denomination are welcome to receive communion. Episcopalians invite all baptized people to receive, not because we take the Eucharist lightly, but because we take our baptism so seriously.
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Visitors who are not baptized Christians are welcome to come forward during the Communion to receive a blessing from the presider.
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At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving and then is dismissed to continue the life of service to God and to the World.
Finding your way
How can I follow the service?
You will find everything you need to follow the Sunday liturgy in the service bulletin offered by the ushers. The hymn numbers in the bulletin refer to the Hymnal that’s in each pew.
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Our Sunday liturgy usually follows Rite II in the Book of Common Prayer. Each service includes prayers, readings from the Old Testament and New Testament, a psalm and a sermon by the priest.
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We recite the Nicene Creed and offer prayers, confess our sins and greet one another as we “pass the peace.”
Count me in!
Do I need to be a member?
Membership does matter, but it depends on you. This is probably best discussed with the rector in order to discern what is best in your situation. It is certainly possible that you can have a meaningful and fruitful relationship with God and the church without membership. Grace deeply values its many friends who are not members but who desire to have a relationship with us in various ways.
For example, you don't need to be a member of Grace Church in order to receive Communion, but you do need to be a baptised member of a church. Our parish directory includes both members and friends of Grace.
To be or not to be a member
The intent of membership is to be members of the body of Christ--part of an intentional community created by a Trinitarian God. If God is not communal then Christianity could be merely private. Instead, we are called to publicly claim our faith and our relationship to each other, so we can be a worshipping and serving community together, sustaining a life together by our love and gifts. Being members of the body of Christ, we belong to a congregation whom we hope we can count on for prayers, worship, mutual support and friendship, forgiveness, learning, and work for the kingdom of God.
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There are two ways to become a member of Grace: by having been baptized here, or by having been baptized elsewhere and requesting the Rector of Grace to have your membership transferred.
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For a variety of reasons, people may have many valued associations with Grace and yet not be a member. They may wish to keep their membership at a previous church for personal or historical reasons. They may be undecided about matters of faith. In any case, Grace values its friends in the community.
Putting Grace into action
For a congregation of Grace Church's size, we stay pretty busy. You are welcome to take part in just about anything this community offers–as a visitor, a newcomer, or a member.
We work to support our community at home and beyond our doors. The Grace Farm Tour, held in June, and the Blessing of the Hounds, held on Thanksgiving morning, involve the entire parish and draw people from all over our region. These two events fund our outreach program.
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But we contribute our time and talents in other ways, too. Volunteers serve as readers, singers, and lay worship leaders in church, as aides in Sunday School, as planners of potlucks and parties, as cooks for Salvation Army dinners, or drivers and visitors to fellow parishioners in times of crisis, or distributers of food for elementary school children and their families who struggle with hunger.
Serve in one of our many committees, groups, or outreach ministries. Find out what's going on here and join us!
Get Involved
What is the Farm Tour?
The Grace Historic Farm Tour & Country Fair, now an annual event, began in 2010 to raise funds for Grace outreach ministries that support local community organizations.
All Farm ​Tour proceeds are dedicated to community ministries, based on an application and selection process. By 2025, the Farm Tour had raised approximately $750,000 to distribute to community organizations
