Care
James River Area Ministry
We are excited that Grace Episcopal Church in collaboration with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Columbia are now a part of the newly formed James River Area Ministry.
Episcopal Area Ministry was envisioned as an emerging missional model for the Church. It acknowledges that the needs of the world are great and that by supporting one another, our churches can increase outreach and worship in impactful ways in our community. Area Ministry envisions a geographic area, looks at what God is doing there, and organizes three orders of ministry (priests, deacons, and licensed lay ministers) from two or more churches into shared leadership. It is in that spirit that Grace Church and St. John’s Church have come together to establish the James River Area Ministry.
As part of this new area ministry, Grace Church will serve as a mentor church to St. John’s by providing assistance with worship leadership, spiritual formation, and pastoral care.
Both Grace and St. John’s will continue to operate as separate and independent congregations but will work alongside one another in ways that are supportive.
Community of Hope
According to Community of Hope, pastoral care is defined as "when a person is being 'present' in a listening, compassionate, non-controlling manner to an individual or group for the purpose of consciously, or perhaps unconsciously, representing God to them and seeking to respond to their spiritual needs."
Grace is fortunate to have trained lay ministers who create our pastoral ministry team called Community of Hope. The ministry delivers meals, reaches out to the sick or homebound and serve as Lay Eucharistic Ministers.
If you have any questions about Community of Hope or you know of someone who would benefit from this ministry, please contact the church directly.
Outreach
Grace Church supports several different programs in our community including the following:
Vestry
The Vestry is the lay governing body that conducts the business of Grace Church and is in charge of financial/business decisions. They care for the overall management and maintenance of the church. See our current Vestry members on our Leadership & Staff page.