Choristers
Choristers
always played an important part in the life of this Parish. A Miss Mary Kinsella who celebrated her
10lst. birthday in 1981, served in the choir for over 30 years. Today, on most Sundays, only four choristers
compose the choir during the service.
Senior
Ladies' Residence
In
1969 a loan of $ 10,000 was obtained and a building was purchased on Fortune
Street, near the Church, to be used as a home for senior, single, women of the
Parish. The first two women crossed the
threshold of the Grace Church Residence in November of that year. The residence was closed in 1990, as there
was no longer a call for it.
Red
Door
As
the congregation dwindled, Grace Church felt that it should do something to
attract attention. Rather than erect a
sign -which, contrary to most churches, it did not have- it painted its main
door red.
Church
Attendance and Consequences
For
decades, the congregation of Grace Church numbered approximately 600
people. The last twenty years has seen
a gradual decline in number of parishioners, with a dramatic plunge in recent
years. The congregation now numbers
only fifty worshipers! The only new
member is the person responsible for this article, Who joined in February of
2001. Some of the older members of the
congregation have been baptized, married and had their children baptized at
Grace Church. Some have also attended
the wedding of the children and the baptism of their grandchildren in the
Church.
Grace
Church no longer bas an "Incumbent' ordained priest. A lay minister who is also the Church’s
Administrator conducts services. His
name is Ronald Yeoman, a retired metallurgist and senior member of the congregation. Communion service -which is held every other
Sunday- is administered by visiting ordained priest from Christ Church
Cathedral in uptown Montreal.
Lunch
Programme: "Dining with Friends"
Since
2000, Grace Church bas had a lunch program, named "Dining with
Friends". This is net a soup
kitchen. A nutritious full course meal
is served for a price of $ 2.50, from Monday to Friday. A professional cook prepares the meals. An average of 450 people is served per
week. The servers are volunteers. Meals are also delivered to shut-ins. These meals require an average of 24
volunteers per day. This adds up to
nearly 6,000 volunteer hours per year.
When refreshments served every Sunday in the Church's basement hall and
meals served to special guests are included, Grace Church has served more than
21,000 people in the past year.
Bread
Box
Grace
Church keeps "Bread Boxes' just inside its Fortune Street door, offering
free bread to anyone coming in. A
"Provigo" supermarket donates the bread.
Meals
Grace
Church has served more than 21,000 people in the past year.
