Dear People of Grace, 

Maybe you’ve noticed the growing crowd of kids and teens in the corner of Grace by the altar, spilling out onto the activity carpet. Our Sunday School attendance is up with new families in regular attendance, and we’ve opened a middle-school classroom for teens grades 5-8, which originally met once a month but will begin meeting twice a month in the new year. 

What you probably don’t know is just how much is going on for youth at Grace under Youth Coordinator Melissa Meyer’s leadership, and how that goodness is expanding into our community. 

• At the Grace Summer Camp, 17 youth leaders from our congregation and the community led and fostered relationships with over 50 kids.

• This fall, Grace families participated in a community kickball event and a bowling night. Melissa also designed two outstanding youth hang-outs, bringing together as many as 35 middle-schoolers to play games, sing karaoke, and eat tacos.

• Grace is collaborating with Little Island Crafts and St. Barnabas to hold Queer Craft nights, which gives middle and high schoolers the chance to be creative in an inclusive community together.

• Grace became one of the churches cooking and hosting dinners at Suquamish Community kitchen. We’ve hosted three times now, with ten teens helping set up, clean, and serve food to members of the community. Soon we’ll increase the number of people served from around 70 to 100 people.

• Grace youth showed up to face paint and create balloon animals at the annual Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Christmas party. This continues to be a great service opportunity for children, families, and youth, as this event reaches 200-300 immigrant families in our county.

• This year’s Advent Pageant is fully teen-directed, pulling in about 30 teens and children!  Join us this Sunday.   

• Our youth ski trip’s rosters filled up overnight, with about 20 youth and five adult leaders from Grace and the Bainbridge Island youth group community signed up to head to Mt. Baker later this winter.

• In 2026, Melissa and a team of talented adults will start monthly evening Youth Group gatherings at Grace.

All of this is the fruit of a commitment the leadership at Grace made in November of 2023 to support the staffing we need to grow as a multi-generational community.  In January of 2024, we hired Kim Cockroft as the Director of Faith Formation, to provide programing for adults and to coordinate programing for families with children.  Then, in March of 2025, we hired Melissa Meyers as the Coordinator for Youth Ministries.  We made these hires with the conviction that this was necessary to help Grace grow both numerically and spiritually.  So far, this act of faith is bearing fruit.  

As we continue to boldly prepare to grow into our future, we need your financial support to help pay for the good work Kim and Melissa are doing.  Our 2026 budgetary needs are projected to be @ $800K.  So far, we have pledges for $681K.  That's 150 pledging households with an average pledge of $4511, testimony to the deep commitment and gratitude the people of Grace have for their church.  Thank you to all who have made a pledge for 2026!  

If you have not yet made a pledge, please do so.  If you have the capacity to increase your pledge, that will help us reach our goal. And if you would like to make a special year-end gift to specifically support our Youth Program and the good work that Melissa is doing, that would be amazing!   Your gift will help.   

I am grateful to be doing the work I do with you all.  I am deeply encouraged by the growth we are experiencing.  I pray for God's continued blessing upon us.  

Peace, 

Rev. Eric Mason