Tulip Time is near! We’ve got LOTS of slots to fill for Marketplaatz, so it’s time to get your Dutch on, Grace Church. Come on board to help with our ONLY youth ministry fundraiser of the year . It’s fun. We come together to help Grace youth and serve Dutch food to guests of this festival (click this link for a video of food served, complete with Tulip Time tunes.) Follow this link to sign up for some shifts! Thanks, Grace!
Holy Week and Easter Services at Grace
Join us at Grace as we celebrate the mysteries of Christ’s death and resurrection. We will have services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, The Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. See the service detail and schedule here. All are welcome!
Lenten Programming
On Sundays and Wednesdays in Lent, we’ll come together to explore and deepen our faith through services of Holy Eucharist, shared meals, and programs. Our Sunday schedule remains the same. Our Wednesday services are at 9:30am and 6:30pm. The evening service is preceded by a meal, open to all and beginning at 5:45pm. The Lenten program will take place during Sunday Forum at 9:15am and on Wednesdays at 7:15pm (see schedule detail here ) and will be Trinity Institute’s “Values in Action” using The Rev. Winnie Varghese’s book, Church Meets World as our guide (available online or in the Church Commons.) Several “guest speakers” will present via download from Trinity including The Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop, Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet and theologian, and Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
Ash Wednesday at Grace
Join us Wednesday, February 14th for Ash Wednesday services of Imposition of Ashes and Holy Eucharist at 9:30am and 7:00pm. The evening service will be preceded by a soup supper at 5:45pm open to all. Come be with Grace to eat and to pray as we begin the holy season of Lent.
William H. Rhodes “Bill”
On Thursday, February 1, at 11:00am, we will gather at Grace to celebrate the life and new life of beloved member, Bill Rhodes. Visitation is at Grace, Wednesday, from 5:00-7:00pm. Bill died on Sunday at the age of eighty-eight. At Grace, over the many years he was a member was in the choir served on vestry, as Junior Warden, Sunday School teacher, hymn committee member, and as long-time coordinator of our Lay Eucharistic Ministers. Bill was a kind friend to many and will be dearly missed. “Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him.”
Creation Care Forum and Movie Series
Adult Forum and Film Series: Beginning Sunday, January 7 and continuing for Sundays January 14 and 21, the Creation Care team at Grace is sponsoring Sunday Morning Forums at 9:15am and three films at 12:00pm that relate primarily to ‘water,’ this precious resource. For the film series which will begin approximately at noon, please feel free to bring a snack to pass and a beverage of your choice on the 7th and 21st. The 14th is Pizza Sunday! All ages are welcome.
January 21st Forum Speaker, Dr. Aaron Best: Dr. Best, Professor of Biology, began working at Hope College in fall 2004. His research includes understanding the unique process of transcription in the human parasite Giardia lamblia, the integration of large-scale data sets into models of metabolism for bacteria and the microbial ecology of the Macatawa Watershed. January 21st Film: Before the Flood
The First Sunday After Christmas
On December 31, Grace will have ONE SERVICE of Holy Eucharist at 10:00am. Come join us as we offer our thanks and our praise. All are welcome.
Advent IV and Christmas Schedule
Celebrate Christ’s Birth with Grace on Sunday, December 24: Join us at 10:00am for an Advent IV service of Lessons and Carols and Holy Eucharist. Christmas Eve celebrations will be held at 6:00 and 10:00pm. The early service at 6:00 will be a full Eucharistic service including prelude music and a “Spontaneous Pageant” brought to us by the children and youth of Grace. Kids who would like to participate in the Pageant please arrive at 5:30 – costumes will be provided. Kids and youth who would like to offer music at the 5:45 prelude, bring your instruments! Our annual traditional Choral Service of Carols begins at 10:00pm with the Christmas Eucharist starting at 10:30pm. All are welcome.
Feeding America
This Thursday, December 14, Grace will serve a warm meal to over 200 people and distribute over 8000lbs of food to lots of households. If you need food, come! If you can help out, please be here! Work in the kitchen begins about 4:00 and outside about 5:00. Given the snow and cold temps, we’ll need LOTS of help so that people can come in to get warm when needed. Jump in with some Christmas spirit and join us this Thursday!
Advent Begins
Join us on Sunday, December 3 as we begin the season of Advent, a season of anticipation and preparation as we look forward to the coming of Christ. Services are at 8:15 and 10:30. We’ll light the first candle on the Advent wreath and through Holy Baptism, receive five children into the Household of God. The youth of Grace will provide offertory music at the 10:30 service. During Education Hour and throughout the whole season, the labyrinth will be open in the undercroft to help with us reflect, center, and pray. Join us at Grace this holy season.
Grace Pledge Drive
On Sunday, October 22 we kicked off our pledge drive for 2018 in truly amazing Grace style with a wonderful feast, a lovely celebration, and the world premiere of Stewardship the Musical: The Sequel! The undercroft was filled with Grace folks ranging in age from two to (almost) ninety-two. Our blessings overflowed! As did our thanks and our praise. And so it is in this spirit that we look forward to another year of being Grace and that we launch our pledge drive to support the mission and ministry of this congregation.
It is the annual Operating Budget of the church that supports this mission and ministry. The Operating Budget is funded almost entirely through the pledges of members and friends of Grace. This year our pledge goal is $394,000. This goal represents a 5% increase over 2017 due to increases in the areas of Diocesan apportionment, staff costs, and the care and maintenance of our facilities. As parish leaders, we continue to support the kind of growth that leads to vibrant, sustainable ministries and good care of the people, sanctuary, outreach, buildings, and grounds that are Grace Church.
We believe that with God’s help and yours, this goal is well within our reach. We ask that those who can increase their pledge, consider what more they can give. We ask households who have not yet pledged to Grace Church to offer a pledge for 2018. We look forward to hearing from all of Grace and are again, grateful. To date our pledge total is $98,720!
Pledge cards are available in the pews and the Commons and were mailed to homes following Oktoberfest. We ask that pledges are submitted by December 3, the first Sunday of Advent. You can mail your pledge card or place it in the offertory plate on a Sunday morning. The Vestry and Rector are available throughout the drive to answer any questions you might have. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be raising the sails on the Steward-Ship in the Commons (cue the music) as we move toward our goal!
Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Whayne Hougland, Jr. visits Grace!
On Sunday, October 29th we will welcome our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Whayne Hougland, Jr. and his wife Dana to Grace Church. The Bishop’s Visitation takes place once every two years and is a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know our Bishop, and for him to experience Grace. Bishop Hougland will be our speaker at the 9:15 Forum Hour. He will preach and preside at the 10:30 service, join us for Coffee Hour and meet with Vestry for lunch at 12:30. Be sure not to miss this opportunity to experience the Bishop of our Diocese and to be Grace for him!