During the past two years, the church has overcome the challenges of the pandemic. The number of pledging members decreased, and the church is facing a deficit budget. Yet, new growth has taken place and with your help, we will continue to grow with God at Grace. Although in-person attendance and financial stewardship are down, Grace has continued successful traditional events including the 2021 Thanksgiving Blessing of the Hounds and the 2022 Farm Tour and Country Fair on church grounds.
True stewardship reaches out beyond the walls of our historic building into the lives of our parishioners and the community and world beyond. We foster a sense of connectedness and “ownership” of our parish by providing education through Christian Foundation, outreach, and fellowship through social activities.
Sunday services that started streaming online while the church was closed have continued in conjunction with in-person attendance. Our ministry in the community also remained strong with the Food Closet, Salvation Army dinners and the weekend food-backpacks program at Stony Point Elementary.
Stewardship is the backbone of our ministry at Grace and in the community and world beyond. The vestry asks you to make a financial commitment (pledge) to Grace. Grace Church depends on you returning time talent and treasure to God so Grace Church can do God’s work in the community. One of the duties of the vestry is providing Grace with enough resources to do God’s work. The Vestry of Grace Church as adopted the following statement on stewardship:
We, the Vestry of Grace Episcopal Church, believe that God is the source of all gifts, spiritual and material, and our faithful response is to be givers and creators ourselves. We appreciate our many blessings and as good stewards of those gifts, commit ourselves to giving a significant portion of our time, talent, and treasure each year to do God’s work. We invite the parish to make this statement their own, and in so doing, to strengthen our church family and to further the work of Grace Church.