Grace Presbyterian Church has spent much of the past two years or so discerning our mission, reflecting on our mission, crafting a mission statement, and figuring out how we live out that mission. Much of what we do to live out our mission takes place in the Montclair area. If you have been involved with Grace Church for any length of time, though, you know that we have reached, and indeed we have sent our daughters and sons far beyond the borders of the Township of Montclair. For this issue of Grace upon Grace we invited individuals and organizations that we support financially and that are involved in missions work to tell us their stories. We want to know how their work fits into our mission statement: “Connecting with people through Christ to meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of the community and the world around us.” We also invited congregants who have been involved in missions beyond the local area to reflect on that involvement. We pray you will be blessed and encouraged by these stories and challenged to imagine your role in Grace’s mission in the world around us.
The larger Grace Church family continues to send us their Stories of Grace and so we continue to feature those stories here as well. Finally, we include some news and events that we think might be of interest.
Missions from Montclair to Madagascar
- Dan and Elizabeth Turk—FJKM/Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar
- Ken and Michi Meyer—Calvary Chapel Vienna and Oasis Refugee Ministry
- Lisa and Michael Anderson—Cru
- Twyla Pellegrino—Child Evangelism Fellowship
- Joanne Acevedo—InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
- Cathy Craig—InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Upstate New York
- Mary Woodward—Guelph Prays, Guelph, Ontario
- “Grace Teenagers Learning Compassion” by Henry Gerstman
- “Pisco, Peru Update” by Liz Moulthrop
Stories of Grace
Days after Grace Presbyterian Church’s building caught fire and our world was turned upside down, Pastor Robin, Victor Peterson, and April Sliwak (once a member, always a good friend of Grace) were together at the church telling and listening to one another’s stories of Grace. This conversation gave birth to the idea of asking people to tell their stories, then sharing those stories available with the church community.
- What Is in a Name?
- A Memory
- ReOpening Dorz
- The Stone Church
- Passion Play, April 1992
- A Christmas Eve Wedding
- We Knew Every Corner
- Grace Church Was the Most Beautiful Church
- Wreckage Over Worship
- We Will Ring the Bell Again
- A Story of Grace
- Grace Found Here
- The Gospel Story in Stained Glass
- Church Windows
- Grace Church Amazing Ministry
- Comments related to the fire from social media and other sources
- “A New Thing” by Emy Kamihara
- “A Prayer on Behalf of Grace” from Noroton Presbyterian Church
News and Events
About Grace upon Grace
Past Issues of Grace upon Grace
- Summer 2020: Grace Responds to COVID-19
- Fall 2020: Social Justice
- Advent 2020: Waiting in Hope
- Spring 2021: Rising
- Summer 2021: Open Doors
- Fall 2021: A Time for Everything
- Advent 2021: Journey
- Spring 2022: Sorrow and Loss
- Summer 2022: Discernment and Growth
- Fall 2022: Storytelling
- Spring 2023: Kindness
- Summer 2023
- Fall 2023