Grace Episcopal Church calls new rector

ST. GEORGE – Grace Episcopal Church, St George, is pleased to welcome The Reverend Timothy D. Raasch as our new rector. Father Timothy comes to Grace with 30 years of experience as an ordained Episcopal priest, most recently serving at Christ Episcopal Church in Kensington, Maryland. A California native and graduate of UC Davis in religious studies, he attended seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and was ordained in 1984.

Father Timothy will begin his rectorship at Grace on Sunday, May 24, celebrating and preaching at the 10:30 a.m. worship service. All are welcome to attend this service to meet Father Timothy and extend well wishes to him at his new church and to St George. A luncheon will follow the service. Grace Episcopal Church is located at 1072 E. 900 S. in St George.

Grace Senior Warden Linda Watt had this to say about Raasch:

“The members of our review committee and vestry were impressed by Tim’s energy and enthusiasm, his spirituality and love of people, and the variety and depth of his experience. He combines intellect and faith in a beautiful and expansive way that invites people to walk the way of Jesus. We feel he will be appreciated by our entire congregation and will help us reach out to newcomers and others in our community.”

In a letter to the members of Grace Church Father Timothy expressed his feelings for his new calling stating:

“I’m excited and thrilled to walk a journey of faith with the good people of Grace Church! Many depths of emotion are stirred up by this call—and much silence and gratitude. I think more and more of us come to worship looking not for Church but for an experience of Kingdom—a new consciousness and new way of thinking and feeling, seeing and hearing, being and becoming grounded in justice, compassion and mystery. A call to Kingdom is finally not about you or me, it’s about loving God and neighbor in all times and all places.”

Father Timothy’s formal installation will be held at Grace Episcopal Church at a date still to be determined and will be officiated by The Right Rev. Scott B. Hayashi, the Bishop of the Diocese of Utah.

Please note for those who are familiar with Grace’s schedule of worship, there will NOT be a worship service on Saturday evening, May 23.

Full information on weekly service dates and times, program offerings for women, men and children as well as community outreach ministries provided at Grace Episcopal Church can be found here or contact Carolyn Barnett, Parish Office Administrator at 435-628-1181 or via email at: [email protected].

Grace is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. The Episcopal Church in Utah is a diocese of the Episcopal Church USA, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese consists of 22 parishes and over 6,000 members across Utah and one parish in Northern Arizona. The Rt. Rev. Scott B. Hayashi serves as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Utah.

Grace Episcopal Church is a reconciling, affirming, and inclusive Christian community striving through worship, love and service to welcome all people. No matter where you are on your journey of faith, and whether you are single, married, divorced, separated, or partnered, our welcome knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic condition, physical or mental ability.

We believe that God delights in the diversity of creation and so do we!

We invite you to search, learn, and grow with us as we explore together biblical faith, holy hope, and the transforming love of Christ. Whoever you are, whatever brings you to this place, we open wide our doors and our hearts to you.

At Grace Episcopal Church, we believe that we “live, and move, and have our being” in grace. All good things that we have, that we are, and that we do, are by grace. And, because we have received so much from the generosity of God’s love, it is natural for us to extend that unmerited love and graciousness to the world. We do that through our worship and prayer, and also through our giving and serving. As a church, we have discerned that “Grace-in-action” is to be committed to three primary ministries: feeding the hungry; welcoming the marginalized; and stewardship of the resources of the earth.

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