News for July 5: VBS Thank You, Wednesday Service Update, and more
Snowball Mountain Challenge
Our Vacation Bible School was a joyful week of Bible storytelling and singing, engaging crafts, and exciting science and recreation activities! I’m so grateful to everyone who helped build such a meaningful experience for our participants and their families.
A huge thank you to our VBS director, Callie Flack, and assistant director, Mike Francis, for their leadership, planning, and exhaustive preparation. I’m also incredibly proud of the amazing team of adult volunteers and youth helpers, whose energy, heart, and modeling made each day fun and formational.
Thank you to all who gave time and donated supplies so that our young challengers could tackle Snowball Mountain and remember that God is our source of life and strength!
Father Brandon
Wednesday Service
The service in the chapel on Wednesday, July 8 at 12 PM will be Noonday Prayer.
Parish Office Closed
The parish office will be closed on Monday, July 6.
Sunday Supper Movie Night
Join us for an evening of fun and fellowship on Sunday, July 19 at 6 PM in the parish hall as we gather to enjoy a family-friendly movie together!
To help make the evening even more enjoyable, we invite everyone to bring an item to share:
• Last names A–M please bring movie snacks or candy
• Last names N–Z please bring juice boxes or soda
Hot dogs will be provided for all attendees. Sign up by Sunday, July 12 so we can plan accordingly.
Feel free to make yourself comfortable—bring along blankets, pillows, bean bags, or anything that will help you settle in and relax during the movie.
We look forward to seeing you there for a wonderful night of community and entertainment!
Sign Up2026 Park Lecture
Grace Church instituted the Park Lecture as a space to honor the work and presence of Cynthia Park and Jack Park during their decade at our parish. To give thanks for them, this annual lecture will invite a speaker to lead a retreat and conversation space that intentionally explores the power of story, the Biblical narrative, and our practice of faith. It is a wonderful way to honor Cynthia and Jack’s presence and their deep concern for well-being and spiritual growth.
Ancestral Lineage Healing
This year’s offering, Ancestral Lineage Healing: A Path to Multigenerational and Cultural Repair, will be led by Banta Whitner, MSW, from 9 AM – 3 PM on Saturday, August 8. Whitner is an integrative psychotherapist, ritualist, circle keeper and grandmother, and brings her own elder wisdom to the practice of Ancestral Lineage Healing.
Over the next few weeks, we will share contemplative questions from Banta’s work in preparation for our time together on August 8. This week we consider: WHAT IS ANCESTRAL HEALING? Ancestral lineage healing is a guided process that empowers you to access and sustain supportive relationships with your own wise and loving ancestors and enlist their help in repairing multigenerational wounds and cultural harms along each of your lineages.
A lack of family genealogy information, or being adopted, need not impede your ancestral lineage healing in any way. Because this is heart-centered intuitive work that begins with the well ones who lived long before remembered names, you can still make connections with your wise and loving ancestors even without information about your biological family ties.
Registration Open
- What Ancestral Lineage Healing: A Path to Multigenerational and Cultural Repair
- When Saturday, August 8, 2026; 9 AM—3 PM
- Where Grace Church
- Cost $10/$20/$30, includes lunch
- Register online by Sunday, August 2
School Supply Drive
It’s that time of year again! From now until July 26 we will be collecting backpacks stuffed with school supplies for students attending Lula, Myers, and Tadmore Elementary Schools in Hall County. Our goal is to provide at least 75 backpacks for these children!
Please consider helping in any of the following ways:
A backpack volunteer available on Sunday to supply you with a backpack and a list of required elementary school supplies. We’re asking for these packs to be filled with the supplies and returned to the church the following Sunday or dropped off at the church office. There will be a volunteer at Grace each Sunday until July 26.
Pick up school supplies and drop them off at church. Items such as paper, spiral notebooks, pencils, colored pencils, pocket folders, large glue sticks, erasers, crayons, facial tissue, wet wipes, and sanitizer may be brought to the parish office or dropped off at church on Sunday.
Contribute a monetary donation by sending a check made payable to Grace Episcopal Church, with “school supplies” noted in the memo line, to the office at 422 Brenau Avenue, Gainesville, GA 30501. You may also place a check in the offering plate on Sundays. Online contributions can be made here.
Parish Choir
This fall, the Grace Parish Choir will welcome new members for our 2026-27 season. The season will begin with a workshop on Saturday, August 15 in preparation for our choir residency at Wells Cathedral, England July 18-26, 2027. Our weekly schedule will not begin until Wednesday, September 2 with rehearsals from 7 – 9 PM. We sing each Sunday beginning September 13- May 23 for the 10:45 AM service. We will also offer several Evensongs next season. The parish choir has openings in all voice parts.
If you are interested to learn more please email Music Director Lynn Swanson.
Dates for Your Calendar
Look ahead to upcoming opportunities for prayer, worship, and community!
- July 15 Charis Circles
- July 19 Sunday Supper
- August 8 Park Lecture
- August 9 CE Classes begin
- September 20 Parish Feast Day
- September 25 & 26 Fall Retreat
The Glimpses of Grace Podcast
We invite you to explore the podcast on Spotify (or your podcast app of choice) or here on this website!
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