Grace Church Van Vorst
an Episcopal Congregation
You are welcome at this table.
ABOUT GRACE CHURCH VAN VORST
WHO WE ARE
Members and friends of Grace come from two blocks away, from the far corners of the world, and everywhere in between. We have straight folks, LGBTQ folks, singles, couples, nuclear families and other kinds of families. We have babies and plenty of children. Some of us come from conservative religious backgrounds, some us from progressive ones, and some of us do not come from any religious background. We are recognizable as an Episcopal Church in the way we worship and we have an evangelical joy about the Good News of God in Christ.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe in Jesus.
Our longing for Him brings us here
and makes us family.
We don’t all believe the same things about Jesus, but we do find Jesus present,
just like He promised,
every time we break bread, study Scripture together, visit someone who is sick or imprisoned, or make breakfast for our hungry neighbors.
OUR MISSION
Following Jesus,
we love, we extend mercy,
we spread outrageous joy.
We feed the hungry in spirit, mind, and body.
We practice loving each other because Jesus said the world will know we are His
because of our love.
We strive to help people know Jesus
and give everyone an opportunity to experience God's love whether they are members of our congregation or not.
Our Staff
REV. LAURIE WURM, Rector
The Reverend Laurie Jean Wurm has been the Rector of Grace Church Van Vorst since 2013. Rev. Laurie is the President of Grace Community Services, which provides meals to food insecure and homeless people and health and wellness programming to seniors. She is the Co-Chair of Episcopal Jersey City, and is an active member of Jersey City Together, a coalition of congregations and neighborhood groups collaborating on social justice on the local and state levels. Rev. Laurie and her wife Rosemary McLaughlin have been married since 1993 and have two children, John and Lucy.
Daniel Mullens, Music Director
Grace Church Van Vorst welcomed Daniel Mullens as our new Music Director in October 2023.
JAZAMINE DAVIS,
Youth Minister
Jazamine has served in youth ministry for over 10 years and Youth Development since 2016. She has a passion for all things Youth and Community and is currently obtaining a degree in Global Community Development. Jazamine is a mother of one daughter Jaiden and a proud aunt. In addition to the work she is doing with our Youth & Family Ministry, she seeks to afford local youth the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship, money management and have the ability to add to their resume through offering paid summer internships. It is her joy to spread the gospel and make it relatable to young people that they may also be kingdom ambassadors and wholistic being in their day-to-day lives.
ELENA-MARGARITA MCCALLA,
Parish Administrator
Committed to serving others, Elena brings conflict mediation and de-escalation skills to the table as well as administrative skills with a ‘can do’ attitude served with more than a cupful of kindness and care. She also is an advocate of giving others the right to be heard with active listening. Elena is a care giver for two adopted cats, Tara-Habby and Madeline, creating a retirement haven for ex-racer Katie the greyhound, and keeping up with her corn snake Harvie’s bioactive dream home.
The Vestry
Vestry members lead and serve the congregation as legal representatives of the parish. The vestry works with the rector to oversee the health and vitality of Grace Church. They manage the financial and property needs of the church and approve the annual budget. The vestry helps discern God's mission for our church and they carry that mission forward.
To be on the vestry is a calling. All members are asked to dedicate time to prayer and thoughtful consideration before serving.
Lucia Zhanje, Warden
Patrick Hambrecht
Kim Holl, Warden
Shanita Rapatalo
Jenn Roach
Brandyn Heppard
