Grace provides a lovely balance between traditional worship and surroundings with the realities of our time. The leading guide is love. And preachers make no mistake that leading a life with love is easy–they make it clear that part of leading a life of love is difficult at times and we falter. But God loves us anyway.
Our Transition
Our Search for a New Rector
Our Parish
A process of self-assessement including a parish-wide survey, small group discussions, virtual town halls, and interviews with ministry participants let us to prayerfully consider our strenghts and challenges as a parish.
Our Strengths
- Diversity (age, race, ethnicity, longevity at Grace)
- Strong finances and pledging and the condition of our facilities
- Motivated and dedicated lay leaders who want to be better
- Strong music program
- Children’s presence
Our Challenges
- We need to foster closer bonds and relationships across demographics in the church
- We have a challenge and an opportunity to discern God’s will at this time and place, determining how we use our tremendous capacity to bring about God’s kingdom during a tumultuous time in our nation
- Communication, both internal and to our larger community, is lacking
- Pastoral care is not as strong and consistent as it could be
- Adult formation is lacking in depth, consistency, and structure
- We need to resolve Grace Episcopal Day School’s ongoing financial challenges
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Typical Sunday Service Attendance
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Involved in community organizing and social issue advocacy
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Active ministries
More about the Parish
Grace’s congregation is diverse. We have congregants in every age group, from infants and preschoolers to octogenarians and beyond. We have multiple races and nationalities reflected in our congregation. We are racially diverse in that we have White, Black, Latino, and Asian members. Our Black members hail from the Caribbean, the United States, and the African continent. We have members who have attended for five years or fewer, and members who have attended for decades. Overall, we are a congregation with diverse ideas about things such as music and preaching style, but we all are willing to share a large umbrella together. We are willing to try new things even if they’re not our favorite. We get along in spite of our differences and are willing to experiment.
Life in Silver Spring
Silver Spring is a wonderful and vibrant area near the border of D.C. Grace church is located on Georgia Avenue, a major road that travels through the main part of Silver Spring. A 15 minute walk and a 5 minute drive away from Grace is downtown Silver Spring, the main area of life. There is a mall, movie theater, as well as many shops, markets, and the metro and bus station where you can travel into D.C or further north. The neighborhood surrounding Grace Church is a community full of mainly families and elderly folks. There are several other places of worship in the area, the closest to grace is Silver Spring United Methodist church as well as a mosque, The Imam Center. Silver Spring is a lively community and a superb place to live.
Where we are in the process
The committee is currently conducting first-round interviews of candidates. One took place the last week of January, and two more are scheduled for the first week of February. The committee will consider on a rolling basis which candidates will advance to second-round interviews. If you have any questions, please email the chair, Mike Bader, at mikebader9@gmail.com.
Quick Links About Our Parish
- Our presentation of Lessons and Carols
- Information about our Youth Music and Children’s Programs
- Our Ministries
- Worship at Grace