Welcome to Grace Church
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In the Name of Our Lord,
Jesus Christ, we welcome you to
Grace Episcopal Church in
Elmira, New York. |
Grace Church is a community centered around the worship and experience of the saving power of Jesus Christ. We trust that you will find God’s peace and strength through your visit here, and go on your way renewed and refreshed by God’s Word and power.
Jesus taught us to trust in a loving and merciful Father and to pray to Him in faith for all our needs. He taught that we are all, each one of us, infinitely precious, children of one heavenly Father, and that we should treat one another with love, respect and forgiveness. He lived out what he taught by caring for those He met.
His teaching challenged the religious views of His day. He pointed to His death as God’s appointed means to bringing people back to God; He said of Himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus also foretold that His rising to life three days after His death would both prove His claim and demonstrate that He had defeated death. When He appeared to His frightened and defeated followers three days after His death on the Cross, men and women became fearless and joyful messengers of this “gospel” or “good news.”
The Apostles’ message of the good news about Jesus Christ is the direct reason why this parish family of Grace Church exists. Christians continue to worship and seek a place of prayer here every day of the week; many souls searching for meaning, truth and the power of God also call this place a haven of rest and reflection. May your visit here be a blessing to you.
— The Reverend Donald W. Matthews, Priest and Rector
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