Grace Episcopal Church - Holland, MI
N 42° 46.591 W 086° 06.679
16T E 572697 N 4736380
Grace Episcopal Church is one of the oldest churches in Holland.
Waymark Code: WMN6FE
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 01/04/2015
Views: 4
In the years just after the Civil War, the Episcopal diocese in Detroit considered the Lakeshore area in the west a missionary district. A priest came over from Ionia one Sunday in August 1866 to conduct two services and baptize 11 persons. Later, the rector of the church in Grand Haven held occasional services in the home of a community leader, Manly D. Howard, and in the fall of 1867 the group decided to formally organize as a parish. The Rev. J. Rice Taylor, with the title Missionary Rector, added not only Holland but also Saugatuck to his duties in Grand Haven.
Three other church buildings preceded what we now call Grace Church, which became home to the parish in 1954.
The first thirty years were obviously a time of struggle but not only because of the two fires (plus another in 1886 that damaged the rectors home.) There were also the issues of the debt resulting from needing to rebuild, the frequent turnover of priests, and dwindling membership from the 70 enrolled at Grace’s inception. Services were held irregularly at times. But fortunately, during this time and to Grace’s favor, the ethnic and ecclesiastical prejudice that existed in earlier times was beginning to fade away.
Text taken from the Grace Episcopal Church website (
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