Grace Church Bainbridge Island

 

“In all we do, the hope is to deepen our relationship with each other

and to open the door to God’s presence in our lives.”

Programs

In more than 20 years, we have grown into a large congregation and developed several dozen organized ministries. Our grassroots mentality has resulted in an extensive offering of opportunities for all ages and interests where each one of us can find some way to connect and develop our gifts through service.

 

Among our most distinct programs are outreach, an annual retreat, adult faith, art shows, music programs, environmental stewardship and pilgrimages.

 

Outreach

Each year Grace sets aside ten percent of the previous year’s pledge and plate income for outreach, a commitment first established in 1992 at the time of our founding. The Outreach Committee encourages our connection to the world beyond Grace by soliciting and evaluating grant proposals from non-profit organizations. We then disburse grant money to fund those organizations that meet the criteria of fulfilling human needs relating to housing, hunger and health, here in our community and in our world.

 

Annual Family Retreat

Approximately 150 parishioners travel to historic Fort Worden State Park each fall for our annual three-day retreat. We gather to deepen relationships with each other as one large family in rich programming that absorbs all participants. Our impromptu neighborhood resembles a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting with kids of all ages playing, riding bikes, and roaming from house to house to share music, games and community.

 

Adult Faith

Adult Faith programs are designed to nurture faith journeys. One recent weekend, under the guidance of a well-known poet-pastor, we explored poetry as prayer. Weekly programs range from writing spiritual autobiographies to studying the theology of the Nativity to translating our care for the earth into action.

 

The Arts

Arts at Grace include the Gallery at Grace, an exhibit space that promotes the notion that art and spirit are intrinsically linked. Each exhibit is curated with attention paid to linking content with liturgical seasons or themes. The program also hosts and produces several musical concerts each year including operatic soloists, chamber musicians, pop soloists and groups as well as jazz and world musicians.

 

Earth &Spirit

Environmental stewardship is a fundamental response to our covenant with God to care for creation. The mission of the Earth and Spirit program at Grace is to raise the environmental awareness of everyone in the parish as it connects to our spiritual covenant, to care about all of God’s creation, to act to protect and restore its integrity, and to facilitate the adoption of more earth-friendly practices within the parish and in our personal lives.

 

Pilgrim Journeys

“At Grace we feel like we’re all on a journey together.” Separate groups of women, men, and high school youth take extended backpacking trips into the wilderness each summer, offering a time for spiritual reflection and growth. We bond with others as we trek, cook and pack shared gear. It’s a chance to become reinvigorated with a pause from the hectic pace of daily life.