OUR COMMUNITY
For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his.
First and foremost we are a collection of people who seek to ground all we do ever more deeply in God’s love. We are young and old, gay and straight, longtime residents and newly arrived transplants, born and raised in the church and still wondering what it all means and if it is for us. All are welcome. No matter what. More than anything this is who we are.
Second, we do not own a building. We have found this invigorating and our community has grown in depth and size in part because of the freedom we have found to focus on God’s mission in the world, on creating sacred space in which to worship week by week at the Great Barrington Community Center and on small group gatherings for worship, contemplative prayer, ESL classes, ecumenical worship and Bible Study in our office and chapel space in downtown Great Barrington.
The truth is though that it was hard to begin with! We are (more than the sum total of) a merger between St. James’ Episcopal Church in Great Barrington and St. George’s Episcopal Church in Lee. After much discernment – and many complications – these two founding churches chose to sell their buildings so that we could use the money to support all members of our community – those inside—and outside—the church. Since 2012, we have been worshipping together in rented space in our community. In this way we support our neighbors and they support us – setting up a mutual relationship of love and openness which we hope we carry forth all we do in prayer, worship and work towards justice.
OUR STAFF
The Rev. Dr. Stephen L. White(
The Rev. Dr. Janet Zimmerman
(413) 644-0022 office@graceberkshires.org
Joel Jorgensen, Director of Farming at Gideon’s Garden
~ a collaborative project of Grace Church and Taft Farms
Joel’s renewed relationship with agriculture and the earth can be said to be bound together with his faith and work in the church. Working on farms everywhere from his home in Iowa to Minnesota, Arkansas, and Michigan, to California and now Massachusetts, Joel has come to consider farming as more than a job, but rather a discipline through which he and others may be nurtured and formed to the needs of the earth and the communities around him. Joining Grace and Gideon’s Garden, he hopes to bring to the field the breadth of life experience he’s had so far with the depth his ideas and education have given him. When not getting his hands dirty, Joel can be found reading and studying any number of topics which he is almost always dying to talk about.
John Cheek, Choir Director
Lee Cheek, Keyboardist
Andrea Saville White, Parish Administrator
& Charlie, Parish Pup
(413) 644-0022 Office@graceberkshires.org
OUR VESTRY
The Grace Church Vestry meets every month to work towards realizing our community’s vision of who and what we can become – all together. Prayer is central to this process, as is the work of planning, dreaming, and leading the congregation in every aspect of our lives together. The Vestry is led by the Rector and the Senior and Junior Wardens and supported by the other elected Vestry members. Our Vestry members represent the diverse backgrounds of the members of Grace Church. Each person brings with them their own body of knowledge and experiences.