The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Homecoming Sunday

September 7, 2025

Click below to access bulletins, Livestream and Zoom links, or to make an offering

Sunday, September 7

During the 9:30 a.m. service

Blessing of Backpacks

September 7th marks the bright start of a new programming year at Grace! Please bring your backpacks for a blessing. Teachers and school staff, get blessed, too!

Middle School Classroom

On Homecoming Sunday, our middle school classroom will open for the first time! 6th – 8th graders, meet us in the youth room at 9:30 for conversation, community, and donuts.

After the 9:30 a.m. service

Share with your Grace community all those amazing things that have happened in your life. Bring a salad or dessert. Parish Life will provide the main course and drinks. There is no need to RSVP. If we all remember to bring something, there will be plenty of food. 

The Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap Interfaith Council (BINK/IFC) meets on the first Thursday of each month. The various local faith communities that make up the Council share their current events, ideas, and spiritual education and pastoral care programs.

Grace Church is hosting the first meeting of the year on Thursday, September 4, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We will walk the labyrinth before the meeting, then meet in the Living Room.

Grace will also host this year’s Thanksgiving Service on Tuesday, November 25, and I would welcome your help.

The National Church World Services is holding a CROP Walk for Hunger this fall, and we invite you to join the effort to raise funds for people experiencing food insecurity. 

Please contact Anne Kundtz, Grace Representative to IFC, if you are interested in helping with any of these events. 

Visit the IFC website to learn more.

Coffee & a Psalm
Mondays from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

The Wednesday Gathering
Wednesdays from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

Knitting Into the Mystery
Third Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. 

Meditation/Centering Prayer
Thursdays from 5:00 – 6:15 p.m.

Music Circle Rehearsal
Thursdays from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Mom’s Morning Retreat
First and Third Thursdays from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m

Conversations to Care for Creation
First Sundays in the sanctuary during coffee hour

3rd Saturday Grace Grounds Party
Third Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. – noon

Join other Grace folks at Seabeck Conference Center. Build friendships, rest and relax, learn and discover.

Friday, October  3 – Sunday, October 5
Registration deadline is September 10.

The weekend schedule is on the Grace website (click below on Learn More and Register).
You can also download it here as a PDF.

Day Trippers Welcome!

• Comfortable rooms & all meals provided

• Meaningful content sessions for adults — set your own pace of engagement

• Discovery for all ages

Our facilitator for this year's adult program is Rick Jackson, a co-founder and Senior Fellow of the Center for Courage and Renewal.

Kids and Youth Under 18 attend FREE.

There will be a full roster of engaging activities for kids & youth — amazing crafts, games, and activities, including a field trip to SkyZone!

Sunday, September 14th, following the 9:30 a.m. service

You are invited to gather in the Living Room to learn more and brainstorm about the following questions:

•  Should the work of “Resettlement With Grace” continue? 

•  What would that entail — in dollars, manpower, time?

•  Would expanding beyond our walls be wise (e.g., other churches, Bainbridge Island at-large)?

Questions? Call Kathy Deasy at (928) 606-3410 or email her.

To donate to RWG, a check made payable to Grace Church with 'RWG' in the memo would be greatly appreciated. You may also give through Realm. Thank you!

Local School Districts offer school supplies to teens in need. With your help, Grace’s Outreach/Faith in Action will provide additional help to KIAC (Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center) teens with items such as backpacks, shoes, athletic equipment, haircuts, etc.

Please take an “Apple Envelope” from the Giving Tree in the Narthex, and return it on or before September 28th with $25 Gift Cards from VISA, MasterCard, Walmart, Marshalls, or Ross.

You can make a big difference in a KIAC teen’s return to school this fall!

Sunday, September 14, during coffee hour

Grace welcomes Margret Darrah back to the gallery in September and October for an exhibition of works in cut paper. Margret is a native Seattleite living on Bainbridge Island. She has worked with many media, including textiles and watercolors. Her Scandinavian heritage influenced her appreciation of storytelling and paper. She was greatly influenced by the Old World European Scherenschnitte method. Using small, sharp scissors, she creates original, intriguing, and whimsical scenes.

HOW FUN WAS THAT!? Bouquet making in Walker Hall last Sunday was met with enthusiasm and joy! The Gifts of Dirt garden (the flower and vegetable plot Grace underwrites) brought in an abundance of flowers for folks to create bouquets for a neighbor, friend, or for themselves. For six weeks each summer, Gifts of Dirt supplies 12 buckets of flowers to the Island Volunteer Caregivers group, which they then redistribute as beautiful bouquets to those who need a little cheer. Having done that for the year, the garden shared the continuing abundance with Grace. Thanks to all who picked flowers, washed and collected vases, and set up Walker Hall for the event: Rhonda Peacock, Barbara Hume, Kathleen Abell, Cindy Logan, Rachel Brandt, and Pegge Ashcroft.

Tuesday, September 23 at 5:00 p.m.

Share your story over a delicious hot meal at a co-parishioner’s home.

Each Supper Club group has six to eight attendees, and the group chooses its dinner dates. Suppers are encouraged to be potlucks with rotating hosts. Newcomers are encouraged to sign up!

If you would like to join a fun Supper Club, new groups will be established at the Kickoff Potluck on September 23rd at Grace. Please email Rachel Brandt if you would like to be in one of the upcoming 2025/2026 Supper Club groups, and let her know whether you can attend the Kickoff Potluck on September 23 at 5:00 p.m.

— Warmly with grace, Rachel Brandt and Rachel Yobs

Sunday, September 28, during the 9:30 service

Bring your companion animals for our yearly Blessing of the Animals service. Please keep your leashed dogs with you on the Walker Hall side of the sanctuary. Other animals are welcome on the Sunday School side. Larger animals will receive a blessing outdoors.

Dear Grace, 

An injury this past year compromised my ability to continue working as a mental health counselor. The lack of this income makes it difficult to secure housing in North Kitsap. I am currently looking for an ADU, mother-in-law apt, or financial support to procure housing. I can pay a modicum of rent, but not fair market price. Happy to exchange rent for yard work, cleaning, and or cooking meals. My health continues to improve, and the goal is to increase my work as a spiritual director. Would appreciate your consideration and prayers. 

Nita Baer

nitadbaer@gmail.com | (360) 620-0133

Indivisible Bainbridge is collecting the following pantry items for KIAC to distribute to our immigrant neighbors. Please leave any of the following items on Bridget Berry’s porch. Her address is 8400 Sumanee Place NE.

Items needed: dried black beans, white rice, masa corn meal, cooking oil, paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap, feminine hygiene products, and size 5 and 6 diapers.

Donations are delivered weekly on Thursdays. This is an ongoing collection. Thank you for helping our immigrant neighbors during this difficult time.

The weekly deadline for submissions is Tuesday at noon.

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Click here to view the 2024 Annual Report.