Grow Your Faith
Christian Formation challenges us to grow in our faith.
Grace Church has an extensive Christian Formation program for people of all ages. We see our ongoing exploration of faith and moral issues as a key component of our parish mission.
Sunday Children's Chapel
This program is offered as a transition program for children 3 and older during the first part of the 10:00 Holy Eucharist. At the Gloria, children are dismissed to the Undercroft, where they have their own entrance procession and song, hear prayers and readings, participate in an interactive homily, and have time for prayers and singing. This is a wonderful program to help children become familiar with the major parts of our liturgy and worship service. Children rejoin their families at the Peace in order to be present for the entire Eucharistic liturgy.Children's activity bags are available at each entrance to the sanctuary. Rainbow bags for 3s and 4s contain a picture book, crayons and blank drawing paper. Bags for K-1st Grade and 2nd-3rd Grade contain a weekly activity page corresponding to the readings for that day, crayons, and an illustrated version of the bulletin for children to follow along with the service.
Sunday Classes for Youth
After the 10am Eucharist throughout the school year, we offer a variety of programs for children and young adults.Young Children
| Godly Play I | 3s and 4s |
| Godly Play II | Kindergarten and 1st grade |
| Godly Play III | 2nd and 3rd grade |
Godly Play is a curriculum for young children based on the Montessori Method of education. Grace offers one of the Midwest's most highly developed Godly Play programs, with three classrooms and 15 fully-accredited volunteer leaders. The program follows the pattern of the Christian liturgical tradition: gathering, word, meal, sending. All classrooms are located on the lower level of the building.
Disciples - 4th and 5th grade
The Episcopal Children's Curriculum focuses on the overall biblical narrative, as opposed to a random selection of stories,
in ways understood by older children. Classroom experiences also follow the pattern of our Episcopal liturgy and prepare
students to recognize and participate in the worship life of the church.
Middle School - 6th, 7th and 8th grade
The Middle School curriculum focuses on people and events from the time of Jesus and examines church traditions. This year,
students will be studying from Faith in Motion, which revolves around the Bible, Jesus Christ and pop culture. The aim of all
our youth programming is to bring sound theological judgment to bear upon what we observe and experience.
High School - 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade
High schoolers use the Attitude curriculum to explore the issues, values and faith that will become a life-long spiritual resource.
This program is designed to encourage teens to speak up and discuss their views.
ACTION Youth Groups
ACTION stands for Anglican Christian Teens Inspiring Our Neighborhoods. It's the name of our teen fellowship and outreach groups; the acronym and our logo were developed by Grace teens.Our ACTION middle-school youth group is a vibrant group of young people from all different school districts. We participate in games, prayer, singing and fellowship activities. Lunch is provided weekly. Most of the time we hang out, eat pizza, laugh and talk about how God is working in our lives! We meet on Sunday afternoons.
The ACTION High school youth group meets Sunday evenings in the Youth Room. Our older teens have the opportunity to visit a coffee house, talk about God, plan retreats, and worship together. Great discussions about our FAITH and extreme light-track FRISBEE are core components to our meetings.
Youth Mission Trips
Every summer for the past 16 years, Grace has supported mission trips for our 9th through 12th grade students. We have traveled to South Dakota, New York City, West Virginia and Washington DC, to name a few. Middle-school mission trips have existed for two years and focus on community service projects in nearby areas of West Michigan.In preparation for their mission trips, our students are engaged in prayer, local outreach and fundraising activities, such as our annual Harvest Dinner and Basket Auction, as well as a Dinner Theatre featuring the talents of our youth. They donate time at local agencies that provide meals and housing for those at risk in our community. These service projects are an important way for our young people to learn first-hand what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
Youth Retreats
Where youth explore team-building, evangelism and discipleship. They are also actively involved in Nightwatch, a weekend retreat offered by a team of youth leaders in our diocese. The retreats are designed as a sacred community of Christian love and compassion where our youth are called to take seriously their baptismal covenant.Christian Formation for Adults
Grace Church offers a variety of thought-provoking educational opportunities for adults on Sundays from 11:30 am -12:15pm, following Coffee Hour. Our Adult Ministries Team works year-round to provide classes that are not only relevant to parishioners' interests but also create opportunities for the deepening of adult faith. We often bring in guest speakers from local universities and colleges, non-profits, and government agencies.In addition, we offer in-depth adult scripture studies both on Sunday mornings between services (9am - 9:45 am) and on Wednesday mornings at 10am.
Click here for the 2007 Spring Adult Education schedule.