As members grow in our love for God and for ourselves as God’s beloved through worship, study, and fellowship, this love reaches out into the community. Our relationships outside the gatherings of our church have grown and deepened over the years. Sometimes these community connections have emerged from casual conversations among members, such as the Sunday School wreath party at Taft Farms in 2008 that started Gideon’s Garden. Other times they emerge when we purposefully gather for deep reflection and prayer. In 2019 the Wisdom Group discerned a community need that led to a partnership with local schools to sponsor a day and evening with basketball star Chris Herren for honest discussions about substance use disorder.
Through their community connections, such as board membership on Construct, the local family housing and shelter non-profit, our clergy have also helped us to look out into God’s holy fields and into the faces of God’s beloved around us. In some cases this support for the people around us is financial and reflected in our Annual Budget. In 2018 we provided safe meeting space for legal consultations. Public policy and then the pandemic complicated this service.
The largest budgeted item is Gideon’s Garden and our community partners in Gideon’s Garden keep growing and spreading each year, from the various delivery sites to the Multicultural BRIDGE summer program and now with the schools through the new summer intern program. Lee Food Pantry was begun by the people of St. George’s and is now managed by Grace Church with the hands-on work and support of many community groups and churches in Lee.
The People’s Pantry, begun in the small shed behind the former St. James building in Great Barrington, and now housed in that building’s basement, is included in our budget. It is now managed by a board that includes two members of Grace Church and is staffed by teams from various faith and community organizations.
The largest budgeted item is Gideon’s Garden and our community partners in Gideon’s Garden keep growing and spreading each year, especially during COVID, from the various delivery sites to the Multicultural BRIDGE summer program and now with the schools through the new summer intern program. Lee Food Pantry was begun by the people of St. George’s and is now managed by Grace Church with the hands-on work and support of many community groups and churches in Lee.
The People’s Pantry, begun in the small shed behind the former St. James building in Great Barrington, and now housed in that building’s basement, is included in our budget. It is now managed by a board that includes two members of Grace Church, and is staffed by teams from various faith and community organizations.
The clergy of Grace Church have traditionally served on two community housing boards: St. James Community Housing Corporation which directs the senior low-income housing Bostwick Gardens founded in 1985 by St. James Church, and Construct, Inc., the local non-profit that builds and locates low-income housing for families and vulnerable community members.
Grace members see their journey to God as a journey to others. Who knows what new way God will dance us into future solidarity with those around us? You can learn more about our partnerships in our 2024 Annual Report which also includes the 2024 budget. The following is a list of our partners who have been included in our budgets, have met in our office space, and have spoken to our congregation.
Haitian Family Ministry
Grace Church has reached out to local asylum seekers with spiritual and material support. When a community of 20 Haitian and Venezuelan families settled in Great Barrington in late 2023, Grace Church coordinated an initial, emergency clothing drive. After leading several worship services with members of the Haitian community in Multicultural Bridge’s Solidarity House, we hosted weekly services for the families on Sunday afternoons in the Grace Church Chapel. These services were conducted in Creole and Spanish, and Grace Church members provided transportation to and from service. We invited the families to our Easter Sunday service at Berkshire South, conducted partly in Creole, and we had a memorable celebration. Members of the Grace Church community provided transportation and translation services for some families in their search for permanent homes and jobs. The families lived in government-funded housing in a Great Barrington motel until June 2024, when they were moved to a similar facility in Pittsfield, but Grace Church has remained in touch with the families and, most recently, joined a local initiative to provide clothing and other Christmas gifts for all 20 families.
English as a Second Language (ESL)
In 2023 Grace Church received a diocesan grant to support an initial run of Spanish and English classes which we were able to offer to the community for free. The classes have been a huge success. We’ve had three 14-person, 8-week English as a Second Language (ESL) courses since its inception. Each week we serve our ESL students refreshments and provide learning materials. As immigration from Latin America continues to grow in our country so does the need for these classes.
Community Partners
- Taft Farms
- Partnership for Gideon’s Garden
- Lee Food Pantry
- People’s Pantry
- Board members; team members with Christ Trinity
- Multicultural BRIDGE
- Summer camp at Gideon’s Garden and other activities over the years
- Construct, Inc.
- Parishioners participate as volunteers and in raising money for Warm Up the Winter, their annual fuel assistance program; clergy serves on board
- Guidance Counselors (three public school districts)
- Gift cards for teens at Christmas, school supplies for fall; contact for Gideon’s Garden summer intern program
- Berkshire Hills Regional School District
- Lee Public Schools
- Southern Berkshire Regional School District