Every week, and sometimes every day of the week, someone from Grace Presbyterian Church is doing something to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus and meet the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of our community and the world around us. “If every one of them were written down,” (John 21:25) and we created a separate article for everything that happens at Grace, this issue of Grace upon Grace would be one big TL;DR document. But here’s a sample:
- Under the umbrella of the CARE ministry team, members of Grace Church visit or call home-bound congregants and those who live in care facilities. Communion is served to these precious souls several times a year. Meals are provided when the need arises. Flowers and other small tokens of cheer are delivered. Pastor Robin takes part, especially when communion is served, but most of the work is done by a small group of dedicated and concerned congregants.
- Deacons wait at the doors of the sanctuary every week to hand out bulletins and greet congregants. Everyone who comes through the doors, whether they’ve been attending Grace for decades or they are visiting us for the first time, receives a warm, friendly greeting.
- Each weekday morning at 9:00 a.m. we offer a Daily Devotional discussion, based on Our Daily Bread, online via Google Meet. Go to: https://meet.google.com/ryo-bgsg-uok, or join by phone at (617) 675-4444 and enter the PIN 758 394 859 6697#.
- In the words of Pastor Emeritus Paul Leggett, the Amazin’ Grace softball team members “cover themselves in glory” season after season. They won all their regular-season games this year and are in a three-way tie for first place. They play on Monday evenings at various locations in the late spring and early summer. Contact Rich Thomas or Bob Roe if you are interested in learning more.
- Pastor Robin leads a biweekly Women’s Fellowship Group in a book discussion. Most recently the group finished Gratitude by Diana Butler Bass. They will resume in fall 2023 with a new book selection.
- Twice a month a small group of Grace men, organized by Len Smith, meet for breakfast and fellowship.
- Martin O’Boyle Landscaping recently renovated our Memorial Garden, an effort that was funded by donations from Grace Church congregants.
- Several Grace Church congregants show up during the growing season to plant, water plants, trim shrubs, trim back overgrown ivy, and do whatever else is needed to keep our grounds beautiful and in bloom in season. The Memorial Garden and the adjacent wooden cross provide a quiet haven for local residents and passers-by who stop for a moment to reflect, meditate, and pray.
Many of the ministries of Grace Church, including those featured elsewhere in this issue Grace upon Grace, began when a single congregant or a small group saw a need in the church and the community and sought God’s guidance for ways that they could meet that need. What need do you see? How do you see yourself and others meeting that need, with support from Grace Church? You can be the hands and feet of Jesus. Find a Session member and tell that person. Or discuss it with Pastor Robin. You never know how God might use that initiative to meet the needs of the community and the world around us.