From a Hitch in the Mud to a Prairie Gothic Sanctuary

Grace Episcopal Church sits on the northwest corner of Pine and Hickory Streets in New Lenox, a few blocks north of Route 30 in Will County. The first service took place on November 22, 1868, in the Methodist Meeting House on Hickory Street, when several local families asked the Rev. Sam Cowell, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Manhattan, to come out by horse and buggy and start a parish under the name of Grace Church. From the start, Grace was yoked to St. Paul's Manhattan; for decades the two shared clergy and even Sunday carriage trips between New Lenox and Manhattan for afternoon services.

In April 1869, founding member Caleb Jones asked a draftsman named B.R. Phelps Jr. to copy the College Chapel book and draw Grace in the style of Christ Church in West Davenport, Iowa. Phelps charged twenty dollars. The plans came from a design by Richard Upjohn, the New York architect whose name still anchors the study of American church architecture. The result is a small Prairie Gothic sanctuary - the same wood-frame body of worship that Grace still uses, raised on a foundation excavated in 1869 and roofed over in 1870 while members sat on rough-hewn benches and a cloth-covered box served as the altar. The first service in the new building, on September 4, 1870, was so crowded, the Rev. Cowell wrote to Bishop Whitehouse, that the crowd "could not find entrance."

The building was consecrated on November 25, 1879, by Bishop William E. McLaren of Chicago, free of debt, with a congregation of nineteen families. The Jones family has been woven through Grace from the beginning: Caleb John Jones served as Senior Warden for roughly thirty years, his parents Thomas and MaryAnn Jones are memorialized in the stained glass of the bell tower that Caleb and Alice donated in 1883, and Jones descendants still appear on the rolls today. A second tract purchased from Austin Page in 1873 became the parsonage, later the parish hall, and the present rectory was built across Pine Street in 1968.

What Sunday Looks Like at Grace

The Sunday schedule is built around two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist, Rite II, from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.

• 8:00 AM - a quiet, said service with communion. Members describe it as simple and brief.
• 9:00 AM - Sunday School for children ages three through ten and Adult Forum for grown-ups, both held in the parish hall during the school year.
• 10:30 AM - the principal Sunday liturgy, with music, sung responses, and a coffee hour afterward. The 10:30 service is also the one that is livestreamed on Facebook and later archived on the church's YouTube channel.

Grace describes its tradition plainly on the newcomer page: "Episcopal Churches straddle a traditional style of worship with a decidedly progressive and inclusive theology." Worshipers can expect the older textures of Anglican liturgy - the Eucharistic Prayer, vestments, the historic collects - preached in a voice that names women and LGBT+ people among its clergy, welcomes same-sex couples to marry in the church, and treats the rail as an open table.

The church practices open communion. Everyone who comes forward is invited to receive the sacrament; those who prefer may receive a blessing instead. Real bread is used, and gluten-free wafers are available on request. Bulletins are posted in advance so anyone can follow along, and the lectionary readings are linked through the Lectionary Page.

A Welcome for Children and Visitors

Children are not parked in a corner at Grace. They stay through worship, and the congregation keeps crayons and children's bulletins in the pews for them. Infants, toddlers, and older kids are described as a normal part of the assembly, and the parish encourages their presence and participation. Sunday School meets at 9:00 AM for ages three through ten, with crafts, songs, and Bible stories, while adults are invited to the Adult Forum next door on a rotating set of topics.

Visitors who drive in will find three parking options spelled out on the newcomer page: angled spots in front of the church on Pine Street, more angled spots on Hickory Street, and a lot behind the church. There is no dress code spelled out, and the newcomer page makes a point of saying the church looks "really Catholic" to first-time visitors - the Episcopal tradition borrows the vestments, the smells and bells, and the ordered liturgy of the broader Western church, while reading the Bible and listening to lived experience alongside tradition.

Anyone exploring baptism for a child or for themselves is asked to email the parish office at info@gracenewlenox.org. Weddings are also open to all couples, including LGBT+ couples, with three requirements: at least thirty days' notice, three sessions of marriage preparation with the priest, and at least one baptized Christian in the couple. The church does not charge a fee for the sacrament.

The Lazarus Ministry

The most distinctive work that flows out of Grace is the Lazarus Ministry, which the parish describes as providing "help, hope, and guidance to those in Will County who find themselves in financial crisis." When someone calls the Lazarus line at 815-717-6500 or emails lazarus@gracenewlenox.org, trained volunteers assess the situation and, in most cases, pay the bill directly - rent, a utility, another urgent need - while pointing the caller to longer-term agencies that can help. A separate donation page lets parishioners and friends give to the Lazarus Ministry specifically, separate from pledge and general offering.

The Lazarus Ministry is a neighbor-of-last-resort program: practical, local, and quietly run. It is the reason Grace's outreach budget is a regular line item on the giving page, alongside pledges and unrestricted donations.

Music and the Liturgical Year

Chrissy Putlak has served as Minister of Music since February 2018. A graduate of VanderCook College of Music who teaches general music to kindergartners through third graders in Park Forest, she plays piano at the 10:30 liturgy and shapes the parish's repertoire. Worship bulletins include the credit "Permission to reprint / podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license A-730831."

Grace observes the Christian year in full Episcopal color. The Holy Week and Easter cycle is the clearest example: a Healing Service on Wednesday with anointing and prayer for physical, mental, and spiritual healing; Maundy Thursday with foot-washing, Eucharist, and the stripping of the altar; Good Friday Stations of the Cross at 3:00 PM and a Good Friday liturgy at 7:00 PM; an Easter Basket Blessing on Holy Saturday that draws on the Slovak heritage of the priest-in-charge's family; the Great Vigil of Easter that night; and two Easter Sunday liturgies, the early one quiet and the late one "louder and more boisterous," with an Easter egg hunt for the children after the 10:30.

Other recurring seasonal offerings include a six-week Lenten series called Ways To Pray, held on Monday evenings in the sanctuary. Each week examines a different tradition of Episcopal prayer - Compline, Anglican Prayer Beads, labyrinth walking, unscripted prayer - with teaching, practice, and reflection. A Pet Blessing each October continues a long Anglican tradition of honoring the animals in our lives.

Adult Formation and Youth

Christian formation at Grace happens in several overlapping circles.

• Adult Forum meets at 9:00 AM on Sundays during the school year, either in the conference room or on Zoom, and walks through a rotating slate of topics.
• Bible Study meets at 1:00 PM on Tuesdays, in person and on Zoom, and has worked through books of the Bible such as the Epistle of James during Lent.
• Youth Group is open to anyone in grades six through twelve and meets on Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in the parish hall. Recent evenings have included an escape room in a box, a Mario Kart tournament on the big screen with pizza, DIY tie blankets that are donated to the local hospital, and an outdoor scavenger hunt to close out the program year before summer.

The Youth Group blends fellowship and service: tie blankets go to a local hospital, and the group plans a service project of its own choosing each season. There is no cost to attend, and visitors are welcome.

Grace in Action

Grace in Action is the parish's umbrella for service projects beyond the Lazarus Ministry. The mission statement describes it as "a compassionate service ministry dedicated to supporting individuals and families in need within our community." Through essential-needs programs, Grace in Action aims to provide practical help, encouragement, and Christ-centered care. New projects are launched from a quarterly meeting held at the church, and parishioners are invited to bring their own ideas or simply show up curious. Coordinators Barb Plantz and Ruth Kozlowski welcome newcomers to the work.

The parish hall has also hosted events that connect Grace to the wider community, including a fundraising pancake breakfast with the Tutti Voce Collective, a Joliet-based choir whose mission is bringing the arts to underserved communities. Members of TVC joined the 10:30 liturgy that Sunday and sang a choral anthem before the breakfast downstairs.

Parish Hall and the Life of the Building

The parish hall, built over the footprint of the original 1885 rectory and dedicated in November 1979 with the celebration of the building's centennial, is the center of parish life. It hosts Sunday School, Adult Forum, Youth Group, coffee hour, fellowship dinners, game nights, puzzle nights, s'more nights, and the parish's annual Country Fair tradition that goes back to 1896. The hall is also available to rent for outside events at $80 per hour with a $250 refundable security deposit and a fifty-guest maximum; the hall is not available on Sundays before 1:00 PM because of worship.

The sanctuary itself has grown and changed with the parish. Electricity was added in 1920, the false ceiling was laid in the same year to help hold heat, insulation was added to the walls and false ceiling in 1980, a memorial electronic organ was installed in 1974, and the 1966 renovation saw pews from the Church of the Ascension in Chicago cut to size and refinished to fit the nave. The brass cross on the altar, the silver vases for Paul Jones, the brass altar desk and vases for Sarah E. Jones, and the prayer book donated by the Rev. T.S. Richey are all memorials from the first century of the parish.

Governance and the Vestry

The Vestry is the lay governing body of the parish. Vestrypersons serve three-year terms, and each year members in good standing may nominate themselves at the Annual Meeting in January. The Rector nominates the Senior Warden, Junior Warden, Treasurer, and Clerk from inside or outside the Vestry for one-year renewable terms. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM, either in person or on Zoom, and visitors are welcome to attend and observe. Current Co-Wardens are Anne Styx and Teri Tucci, and the Vestry roll includes David Schilling, Madie Redfern, Charles Bopp, and Jackie Mennella.

Clergy and Staff

Grace is led by Fr. Bryan Matias, Priest-in-Charge. Bryan is a proud graduate of Bexley Seabury Seminary, where he received the Saint Marina Scholarship awarded to LGBTQ students seeking ordination and interested in social justice ministry; he also serves on the Bexley Seabury Board of Directors. Before ordination he studied mechanical engineering at Northwestern and worked as an HVAC design engineer for hospitals and universities. He lives in the Pine Street rectory with his wife Kendall, their dog Riker, and a turtle named Simon. He builds sets for plays, runs Dungeons and Dragons tables at game night, and can be reached at bryan@gracenewlenox.org.

Chrissy Putlak, Minister of Music, can be reached at chrissy@gracenewlenox.org. Lauren Meder, Parish Administrator, can be reached at lauren@gracenewlenox.org. The parish office is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and the main line is 815-485-6596.

Giving, Membership, and Staying Connected

Grace accepts pledges, one-time and recurring donations, and gifts to the Lazarus Ministry through Vanco, the church's online giving platform. Step-by-step instructions for setting up an account are available on the giving page, and the church welcomes pledges at the start or end of each year.

Becoming a member starts with a welcome card from the back of the church or an email to info@gracenewlenox.org. A Ministry Sign Up and Interest Form is available online for anyone who wants to plug into Adult Forum, Bible Study, Youth Group, Lazarus, the Altar Guild, the Liturgy and Music Committee, the Accessibility Committee, or any of the other groups that keep the parish running.

Bulletins are posted before each Sunday service, sermons are archived on YouTube, and livestreams begin on Facebook. A weekly e-newsletter keeps parishioners and friends current, and the full calendar of services, classes, and parish events is embedded from Google Calendar on the church's calendar page.

An Open Door on Pine Street

Grace's own statement of who it is, taken from its newcomer page, is direct: "All are welcome." It is a parish that takes the Prayer Book seriously, has been keeping the same corner of New Lenox since the year Ulysses S. Grant was president, and runs a crisis-payment ministry that pays rent and utility bills for neighbors in Will County. The body of the church is small - the nave seats about one hundred - but the reach of the Lazarus Ministry, the youth group's tie blankets at the hospital, and the Sunday morning coffee hour keep the footprint wider than the building. Anyone curious is welcome to walk in on a Sunday morning, find a pew, and stay for coffee.