Outreach at Grace

Serving our community with our time and resources

Grace in Action

  • Serving

    The Outreach Commission of Grace Memorial is committed to the missional church by “serving our community with our time and resources”. (Grace Memorial Episcopal Church Mission Statement). Grace Memorial parishioners are generous with their time and money for outreach programs. The commission is composed of Vestry members and parish volunteers. We support the following organizations with our time and resources: Inter-Faith Outreach, Commission on Aging, Daily Bread, Meals On Wheels, Blue Ridge Regional Food Bank, Boys Home of Covington, Free Clinic of Lynchburg, Gleaning for the World, and the Salvation Army, with resources and bell ringers at Christmas and at times of natural disasters, local or world-wide. A major part of our outreach is our regular donation to the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia and we are very proud of that.

  • Assistance

    We also serve special projects. We feed the residents and give financial resources to Gateway, an alcohol recovery program for men. Church members also are involved in Bridges Out of Poverty, a city- wide program aimed at permanently removing families from poverty. We gather and pack supplies for natural disasters through Blessing Buckets which are distributed by God's Pit Crew from Danville, Virginia. We contribute financial resources to Centra Medical's Dawson Inn which provides housing for family members of patients at Lynchburg General Hospital.

  • Building

    We have backpacks with socks, canned food, gloves, hats and personal hygiene products available for people who come to the church for help. This is temporary assistance until we can refer people to the appropriate agencies. We also give financial resources to members of our congregation who have emergency situations.

The center piece of our outreach is our neighbor, Fort Hill Community School, a facility serving students with emotional, medical, and behavioral issues from Lynchburg and surrounding counties. Several years ago, the school, needing a place for emergency evacuation, knocked on our door. It was the beginning of a wonderful partnership. In the last few years we have partnered with them to offer cooking classes, painting classes and like our first rector, Rev. Kinckle and his wife, sewing classes. We also provide Angel Tree presents for the students at Christmas, cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner for the students and their families, and provide financial resources for the school. The students have painted two pianos for our church, and the cooking classes invite parish members for lunch on occasion. We serve lunch at our church for teachers and staff on workdays at the beginning of the school year. Students and faculty have worshiped with us at Sunday services.