Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 2026 Annual Meeting. It was a joyful and meaningful morning—one that reflected the strength, generosity, and spirit of Grace Church as we looked at the accomplishments of the past year and forward toward both the coming year and our approaching bicentennial.
This year marked a shift in how we share our story. Rather than a single overview, ministry leaders and volunteers spoke directly about the work they love and lead. This allowed us to hear not just what Grace does, but who we are—a community shaped by service, prayer, generosity, creativity, and deep care for one another.
Across every area of parish life, there is much to celebrate:
• Worship & Music continue to be central to our identity, with steady attendance and a growing online presence. Music ministry remains a powerful bridge to the wider Gainesville community, welcoming students, faculty, and neighbors into a space of beauty and peace.
• Outreach is vibrant and far reaching, with between $80,000 and $100,000 supporting food insecurity, homelessness initiatives, backpack drives, and local service organizations. Grace continues to live out Christ’s love in tangible ways.
• Compassion Ministries, including prayer teams, Eucharistic visitors, a card ministry, and flower delivery, quietly but faithfully serve those who are homebound, grieving, or in need of care and presence.
• Family Ministries & Discipleship are growing through Godly Play, youth group gatherings, Children’s Chapel, diocesan retreats, and innovative offerings like last summer’s performing arts camp.
• Community Life & Formation are flourishing through Charis Circles, sound baths, retreats, lectures, potlucks, the new PALS mentoring ministry for new members, and partnerships with Brenau and others, helping Grace deepen relationships both within and beyond our walls.
• Children of Grace Preschool continues to thrive and remains a joyful, life giving part of our parish community.
We are grateful to report that Grace ended 2025 in a strong financial position, with a surplus of nearly $150,000. Surplus funds will be thoughtfully invested:
• $20,000 to the Doug Smith Outreach Fund (bringing it to $100,000)
• Approximately $130,000 to the Building Reserve Fund to support ongoing and future facilities needs
The vestry approved a balanced 2026 budget of approximately $1.4 million, reflecting a healthy and sustainable parish. This financial strength allows Grace to remain focused on mission and ministry rather than maintenance.
Alongside this, the newly emphasized 1828 Society invites parishioners to consider planned giving as a way to ensure Grace’s long term vitality and mission for generations to come. Key to this is an ambitious but achievable goal of growing the endowment from $1.4 to $4 million by 2028. At that level, it could generate approximately $150,000–$160,000 annually to support the church’s mission and community outreach.
As we approach our 200th anniversary in 2028, the bicentennial is being framed not as an endpoint, but as a bridge into Grace’s third century. Plans include:
• Historical storytelling and documentation
• Retreats, speakers, and formation opportunities
• Community partnerships and outreach
• Early conversations about Phase Two bicentennial projects
A central theme of the meeting was discernment—listening for where the Spirit is calling Grace next. Conversations are beginning around:
• What it means to belong to Grace in a changing church landscape
• How we deepen discipleship and mutual care
• New possibilities for worship, music, arts, and spiritual practice
• Letting go of what no longer serves, while courageously imagining what might
Importantly, this work is happening from a place of strength, not crisis—a rare and precious gift.
The meeting closed with heartfelt thanks to our clergy, staff, ministry leaders, vestry members and officers (outgoing and continuing), and the many volunteers whose faithful service sustains our common life. Grace is a community rich in gifts, generosity, and hope. As we move forward together, may we continue to listen deeply, serve generously, and trust the Spirit who has guided this parish for nearly 200 years—and will continue to do so in the years ahead.