Introducing Grace and Holy Trinity Church
Grace and Holy Trinity Church is a community of people which strives to do three things:
*build strong disciples,
*build a strong church community
*and serve God and the world God has made.
You may be most interested in personal, spiritual growth and this church would love to help you do that. Or, you may be most interested in being part of a caring community, in finding friends. We are committed to caring for each other in the good times and in the hard times. You may be looking for ways to serve others in Richmond and beyond and Grace and Holy Trinity Church would be privileged to support you in that endeavor. You may be interested in all of these things and more. There is a place for you here.
You will find people to welcome you. You will find great fellowship. You will find beautiful worship empowered by uplifting music and the Word of God expressed through scripture and in sermons. You will find opportunities to change the world for the better. We invite you to come and see.
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If you'd like to know more, please contact the Rev. Bo Millner or Carolyn Chilton, who are on the staff of the church.
You may also like to read more here about what you will find at Grace and Holy Trinity Church. We are a people guided by a belief that God is love. We believe that when God lovingly created this world God said "It is good." Even when we turned against God and against each other and sin and death entered into God's good creation, God did not give up on us. Again and again God called us to return. God raised up the children of Israel to be his chosen people and a light to the nations. In the fullness of time God sent his own beloved Child, Jesus the Messiah (or the Christ). When Christ Jesus died and was raised from the dead, a new creation, a new age, was begun. That which this world was meant to be from the beginning it shall be through the resurrection of Christ Jesus. In him, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth where love, peace and justice reign, where death is no more and where God wipes away every tear from the eye.
You will find that we offer meaningful worship through services like Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Baptism involves pouring water over a person and claiming them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When people are baptized, they are made part of Christ Jesus. The faithful in Christ are called to be agents and signs of God's renewal of this beautiful but broken world. To be a Christian is to live by the light of the world to come in the midst the world as it is, still marred by sin. We live in hope.
Baptism, which joins people to Christ, is a sacrament. A sacrament uses things we can see to communicate real but inward realities. Through the outward and visible sign of water and in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we receive union with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into God's family the Church, forgiveness of sin and new life in the Holy Spirit. At its core, baptism is about connection...with others and with God.
Following baptism, we are given strength for our life of faith by personal discipleship, by fellowship with sisters and brothers in the faith and by service. We serve God both as we undertake good works and as we worship. Our central and most important act of worship is the Holy Communion In this service we remember Jesus' life, death and resurrection and receive him by partaking bread and wine. Holy Communion is a sacrament. Through the outward and visible signs of bread and wine we receive the Body and Blood of Christ so that our sins are forgiven and our union with God and one another is strengthened. Just as in baptism, at its core, Holy Communion is about connection...with others and with God.
You will find that our beliefs are expressed more fully in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. We use this book at almost every worship service. The Prayer Book draws upon wisdom from two thousand years of church tradition to guide our worship and to illumine our lives and faith in the 21st century. Our worship is steeped in the Holy Scriptures which tells the story of God's love, a story which has been summarized on this page. You can find the lessons that will be read each Sunday of the year at our worship services by clicking here.
As an Episcopal Church we are part of the "one, holy, catholic (universal) and apostolic church" founded by Jesus Christ. We enjoy deep and nourishing roots in the faith - roots which challenge and empower us to do God's will in the present. Because of this we seek to praise God, not only with our lips but in our lives.
We invite you to come and see. And, we certainly hope you will join us.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
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