Grace Church, 3328 Franklin Avenue, Millbrook, NY 12545, United States Weekly Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) 95 Number of Weekend Worship Services 2 Number of Weekday Worship Services 1 Number of Other per Month Worship Services Current Annual Compensation $76500 Cash Stipend Housing / Rectory Detail Utilities $50000 $15000 $8000 SECA reimbursement $5100 Compensation Available for New Position $100000 Housing Available for 6 Pension Plan We're in compliance with CPF requirements. Healthcare Options Dental Housing Equity Allowance in Full family budget Annual Equity Amount $1500 Vacation Weeks Vacation Weeks Details Continuing Education Weeks Continuing Education Weeks One month, including 5 2 (standard) Details Sundays (standard) Continuing Education Funding in budget $501-$1000/year Sabbatical Provision Travel/Auto Account Other Professional Account We are calling a Rector. Compensation negotiable, based on experience and diocesan guidelines.
Since 2005 Grace church has sponsored a Latino Outreach program, which includes English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Fluency in English is critical for immigrants, even those who are highly educated, since they must interface every day with myriad signs, rules and instructions in English. Although a General Education Development (GED) examination in Spanish is allowed, we urge our students to master sufficient English to take the exam in English. To this end, our ESL class in Millbrook includes GED instruction. A high point came in the fall of 2011 when the first of our ESL students obtained his GED in English. To quote the ESL teacher: Celso received his High School GED Diploma in the mail yesterday. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anyone so excited He was concerned that he wouldn't be able to come to class anymore. I assured him that he is now an official volunteer. Celso is attending Dutchess Community College and is determined to become an engineer. English fluency and a GED provide fundamental changes in a person s ability to obtain secure rewarding employment. Celso s success and happiness reinforced for us that our program is indeed making a difference in people s lives. How are your preparing yourselves for the Church of the future? To imagine the church of the future requires flexibility and openness to new ideas. We hope to find innovative but meaningful ways to attract younger people and those not attending church. We also hope to develop stronger ties with other churches and other outreach organizations. To these ends, we are initiating Taize worship services for younger parishioners. Our youth group serves hot meals at a facility of Dutchess Outreach in Poughkeepsie and also has meetings and projects with youth at Episcopal churches in Stone Ridge and Kingston. During Lent Grace Church participates in ecumenical services with other area churches. Our Latino Outreach program collaborates with several area churches to provide ESL classes. The program also involves a close collaboration with Catholic Charities to help young people apply for the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program. A goal for the near future, with our interim pastor Fr. Masud Seydullah, is to strengthen adult education, focusing on issues that currently challenge the church in the 21st century. Welcoming/Inclusive, Good sermons, pastoral care, social justice.
Grace Church offers two Sunday services, both providing weekly Eucharist. The 7:30 service has a loyal following of approximately 25 people. The Rite II service is presented without music, and is slightly more formal in its presentation than our 10:00 service. Our current 10:00 o clock service is a blend of our previously offered 9:00 o clock child-centered family service and our more traditional 10:30 service. It is regularly attended by approximately 70 parishioners. It includes organ music with an adult choir singing traditional hymns, as well as some songs that are more child-friendly. Our Sunday School children remain for the entire service. Sometimes short children s sermons are offered before the traditional adult sermon. We also provide a Wednesday 10 am Healing Service which is attended by approximately 10 people. Clergy has used both the Prayer Book and personal prayers during this service. Although our services have a different format and feel, the central theme to all services offered at Grace Church is an inclusive and welcoming message to all. How do you practice incorporating others in ministry? Grace Church engages in pastoral care for those beyond our worshipping community by having an active prayer shawl ministry. In 2009 Grace Church began a prayer shawl ministry with an ecumenical workshop open to the entire community. Prayer shawls are created by a person who prays while they are working. Each shawl is then blessed during a church service. Each crafter has their own personal prayer, but most pray for healing and peace for the wearer. Since the ministry began, prayer shawls have been created for people close to those who create the shawls as well as people we don t even know. Many of us began by making a shawl for someone close to us. Most often that person was not part of our worshipping community. Our shawls are also blessed and left at the back of the church for anyone to take. These are taken by parishioners for anyone they think may need one. More often than not, they are given to people outside of our community. Most recently we mailed a box of shawls to Trinity Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook Connecticut. Our shawls wrap many people outside of our immediate community in prayer and love. As a worshipping community, how do you care for your spiritual, emotional and physical well-being? To foster spiritual and emotional well-being for all parishioners, we have a healing service with Eucharist every Wednesday morning. In addition, we have a pastoral care committee, which we are in the process of expanding, to visit shut-ins and to bring them the Eucharist. Women of Grace, which welcomes all women in the parish, sponsors a monthly service of evening prayer and, at a separate time, a monthly potluck supper for fellowship. A subgroup of these women also attend one-day spiritual retreats to which all are invited. Men at Grace sponsors dinners and often invites local speakers on topics of current interest. There is an annual church potluck lunch in the fall. This is simply an occasion for us to gather in fellowship and to celebrate the church and the beginning of the fall season. To strengthen the physical buildings and grounds, as well as providing good exercise, we have a church clean-up day in the fall.
How do you engage in pastoral care for those beyond your worshipping community? The Lunch Box provides hot meals to homeless and indigent people in Poughkeepsie. Grace Church has supported this essential service for many years. We are responsible for providing one hot meal per month. Parish volunteers shop for the food, prepare it at the Grace Church kitchen and deliver the meal to the Lunch Box. The parish supports this activity both financially and by their active participation as shoppers, cookers and servers. The Grace Church Youth group regularly serves meals at the Lunch Box. We work closely with both private and public schools in the area to integrate student involvement in our program. The Interact group at Millbrook High School as well as students from the Millbrook School provide volunteers to serve meals. In 2005, Grace Church established a Latino Outreach Ministry. We were concerned about the increasingly large, poor and vulnerable community of Latinos in our area. The mission the program is to provide assistance to the Latino population to help them overcome their fear (because of lack of documents) and isolation (due to living in a rural area away from family support systems). Our efforts include providing: English language instruction, advice and financial support for those applying for Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), assistance interfacing with legal, financial and educational institutions and social services, accompaniment for legal proceedings, and opportunities for communal worship and celebration. We reach out to all Latinos in Northeastern Dutchess County. The program director, Ms. Garzetta, who speaks fluent Spanish as well as English, has been tireless in her outreach efforts, habitually working many more hours than the time for which she is paid. Her energetic, caring and loving approach has provided a new level of trust for our program among the immigrant community and has been responsible for expanding many aspects of the program as additional people meet her and learn about the program. Carpenter s Kids is a partnership between the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika and the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Grace Church sponsors 50 children who are Tanzanian HIV/AIDs orphans and other vulnerable children, selected by a screening panel. This support provides a school uniform, a pair of shoes, breakfast every morning, and adequate school supplies to enable the children to attend school. This ministry was initiated by a member of our youth group, and is whole heartedly supported by the Grace Church community. Please contact our church office for more information (845-677-3064).
What is your practice of stewardship and how does it shape the life of your worshipping community? Grace Church s focus is on Time, Talent and Treasure during it s pledge season and throughout the year. Our focus is involving parishioners in the fellowship of Grace Church by encouraging participation in beneficial activities, sharing special skills or knowledge as well as providing financial support for the church s basic needs. Parishioners are informed about the many missions supported by Grace Church and how they can become involved. We support other ministries when needed i.e. finding volunteers for Clean-Up Day or encouraging parishioners to assist those who have special needs. Our formal Pledge Season which focuses on financial commitments to the church by parishioners includes communications regarding the importance of funding the basic needs of staff, building and grounds, utilities and worship needs. Stewardship activities are year-round and future-focused. Ideas being explored include teaching about Legacy Giving, developing Grace Connections (a group activity providing support to parishioners in need) and encouraging new church members to join ministries. Activities also encourage parishioners to be members of the broader Grace Church community of Millbrook. Our community s greatest conflict occurred over 12 years ago when we had a rector who separated from our church. Over time it became clear that her beliefs about who was welcome to participate in parish life did not align with the beliefs of our community. Parishioners tried to find some common ground with the rector on this and other related issues. But when these efforts failed, we worked with diocesan leadership to resolve the situation--a resolution that ultimately led to her leaving our parish. Since that time we were blessed to have had a wonderful welcoming Rector and have been able to heal the wounds caused by this conflict. This has been accomplished through time of course, but also by following the heart of this community of people and making Grace Church one of the most welcoming churches in the area. Those in leadership positions remain conscious of this conflict and use it to help make informed, thoughtful, caring decisions about our church. We are careful to be transparent and sensitive to all. What is your experience leading/addressing change in the church? When has it gone well? When has it gone poorly? And what did you learn? For many years Grace Church offered three Sunday services. One of these was geared towards families with young children. It was a shortened service that included child-oriented sermons and hymns, as well as passing of bread and wine with everyone gathered around the altar. A previous rector decided this was not a "real" service, and opted to change it to a traditional service on her first day serving at Grace, as our new rector, without any notice or explanation to the congregation. This caused needless stress, and created a divisive atmosphere within the parish. This leadership style was a large contributing factor to the rector eventually leaving our parish, at which time the service was reinstated. In contrast, the successor to this job realized in time that we did not have the attendance numbers to sustain the family service. In order to reduce to two services, the rector began discussing the dilemma with the congregation, asked for suggestions, and slowly helped us to evolve to one blended family/traditional service. This was done with minimal disagreement, stress or bad feelings being generated. Communication and involvement by the parish was key to this successful transition.
Prior Incumbents Name Position Title Date Begun Date Ended The Rev. Masud Ibn Syedullah, TSSF Interim 2014-02 Name Position Title Date Begun Date Ended The Rev. Ajung Sojwal Interim 2013-01 2014-01 Name Position Title Date Begun Date Ended The Rev. Douglas Fisher Rector / Vicar / Priest-in-Charge 2000-09 2012-09 Our mission at the Millbrook Community Preschool at Grace Church is to provide a safe, loving environment for our youngest learners (ages 3-5) to explore, learn, and grow. Opportunities for imaginative play are combined with music, art, literature, math, and science in daily school activities. For more information: www.gracemillbrook.org/mcp@g.html. NOTE: total staff includes four part time assistants. Church School Sunday School / Youth Group Number of Teachers/Leaders for Children School 5 Number of Students for Children School 12 Number of Teachers/Leaders for Teen/Young Adults School 2 Number of Students for Teen/Young Adults School 15 Number of Teachers/Leaders for Adults School Number of Students for Adults School Day School Pre-K Number of Students for Day School 23 Number of Teachers for Day School 4 8 Day School
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Worshipping Community Web site: www.gracemillbrook.org Media Links: Online References: English Provide Worship or Classes in: References Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Andrew ML Dietsche Diocesan Transition Minister The Rev. Canon Deborah G. Tammearu Current Warden/Board Chair Katherine Mustello and Bill Hogan Previous Warden/Board Chair Barry Schnorr Phone: 212 932-7355. Email: bpdietsche@dioceseny.org. Phone: 212-316-7421. Email: dtammearu@dioceseny.org. Katherine Mustello: Phone: 845-266-8025, Email: kmustello@optonline.net. Bill Hogan: Phone: 845-267-557, Email: billhogan3256@gmail.com. Phone: 540-336-6687. Email: bschnoor@su.edu. Search Chair Barbara Rudy Phone: 845-677-3637. Email: gracesearch14@yahoo.com Parish/Institution The Rev. Masud Ibn Syedullah, TSSF Local Community Leader The Rev. Richard Witt Phone: 845-677-3064. Email: ibnsyedullah@gmail.com. Phone: 845-706-0536. Email: rcyrilwitt@aol.com.