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    • Sunday service - Holy Communion December 14, 2025 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT As of January 16, 2022 our service online only (via Zoom). Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.orgTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) …
    • Sunday service - Morning Prayer December 21, 2025 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.comTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Morning prayer first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929…
    • Sunday service - Holy Communion December 28, 2025 at 9:30 am – 11:00 am Grace Church 215 Pleasant Street, Sheldon, VT Website: www.gracechurchsheldon.comTime:  09:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)        Every week on Sun.Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83929911344?pwd=alZQTWZMN0ZkWFFPS1hmNjNkZkU2UT09Meeting ID: 839 2991 1344Password: Call for detailsOne tap mobile+13126266799,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (Chicago)+19294362866,,83929911344#,,1#,816603# US (New York)Dial by your location        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)Meeting ID:…

A Prayer for the Power of the Spirit Among the People of God

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Beth Crane

God of all power and love. 

we give thanks for your unfailing presence

and the hope you provide in times of uncertainty and loss.

Send your Holy Spirit to enkindle in us your holy fire.

Revive us to live as Christ’s body in the world:

a people who pray, worship, learn,

break bread, share life, heal neighbors, 

bear good news, seek justice, rest and grow in the Spirit.

Wherever and however we gather,

unite us in common prayer and send us in common mission,

that we and the whole creation might be restored and renewed,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—This prayer will be used at the Pentecost service at our National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It was written by a team of Lutherans and Episcopalians to commemorate nearly twenty years of full communion between the the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Our Presiding Bishop asks us to use this prayer from Pentecost through the first Sunday in September.

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Sheldon Interfaith Food Shelf

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Beth Crane

Grace Church is pleased to be a partner with our local churches in the Sheldon Food Shelf, hosted and operated by the Sheldon United Methodist Church and located in its new space on Church Street, Sheldon Creek, next to the Sheldon UMC.

The Sheldon Interfaith Food Shelf operates on the following days and times:

Monday 4-6pm
Tuesday 10am-1pm
Thursday 5-7pm
Saturday Noon-3pm

The food shelf is also available on an as-needed basis by appointment. John Gorton coordinates the food shelf.

Begun in the 1990s as a ministry of the Sheldon UMC, the food shelf served 3919 people from all over Franklin County in 2018. In 2019, the food shelf received a grant from the United Way of Northwest Vermont to help with the construction of the new building and expansion of services, including community meals.

Grace church applied for and received a grant from the Diocese of Vermont to purchase kitchen equipment and other materials for the food shelf. Grace Church’s rector, Janet Brown, and clerk, jan hilborn, sit on the advisory board of the Food Shelf and volunteer during food shelf hours of operation.

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A community of transformation welcoming others as God has welcomed us.

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Beth Crane

“What do you care about enough to act on?” “What are the gifts that each of us carries within?” “How do we use our gifts—as individuals within community—to act on those things that we care about?”

 Grace Church traces its history back to 1816 when an Episcopal Society of 11 members was formed in Sheldon. In 1824 Grace Church constructed the first church building in Sheldon. The present building, dating to 1878, is considered an architectural gem and a musician’s dream performance space.

Grace Church’s ministries have ranged from the sewing of clothes for needy townspeople and for missions across the country in the 19th century to the financing of fuel assistance and contributions to the local homeless shelter in the 21st century. Both local and visiting musical groups have participated in the Summer Music at Grace series for 12 years.

Grace’s ministry of hospitality is marked by inclusiveness and accessibility. We welcome everyone as God has welcomed us. We are especially committed to accessibility for all.

Another aspect of our ministry is stewardship of the environment. Beginning with our recycling ministry back in the 1980’s, we have tried to do all we can to care for “this fragile earth, our island home.”

We are pleased to partner with the Sheldon United Methodist Church and other area organizations in support of the Sheldon Interfaith Food Shelf, hosted by the Sheldon UMC on Church Street. The food shelf is open the third Tuesday of each month beginning at 8:30 a.m.

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Northwest Deanery

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Beth Crane

The Northwest Deanery comprises the Episcopal churches located in Franklin and Grand Isle counties of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, the mission of which is to:

Pray the Prayer of Christ
Learn the Mind of Christ
Do the Deeds of Christ

The Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely, 10th Bishop of Vermont
5 Rock Point Road
Burlington, VT 05401

Sandra Kenyon, Dean

The churches of the Northwest Deanery are:

St. Luke’s, Alburg (The Reverend Thora Chadwick, vicar)
St. Matthew’s, Enosburg  The Reverend Virginia Thomas, Deacon; Edith Hawksworth, Senior Warden)
St. John’s, Highgate (under Holy Trinity, Swanton)
St. Ann’s, Richford (contact Dave Chevalier)
St. Luke’s, St. Albans (The Reverend Jean Austin, interim rector)
Grace, Sheldon (The Reverend Janet K. Brown, Priest in Partnership; Beth Crane, Senior Warden)
Holy Trinity, Swanton (The Reverend Reid Farrell, pastor)

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Erben Organ Restoration

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Beth Crane

In 1833, St. Paul’s Burlington bought a ten rank organ from the Erben company for $900.    Its first full time player, Theodore Molt was hired in 1838 for $100 per year.   The bench then passed to a sister-in-law, three sons and one daughter of Bishop Hopkins; Charles Woodhouse; John Baker and S.C. Moore.    In 1867 St. Paul’s installed a new Johnson Organ.  Two years later, an influential parishioner of Grace Church Sheldon was able to acquire the Erben for $300.

facade2At Grace Church, the organ made a joyous noise until the mid twentieth century when its last pumper, Horace Soule, was replaced by an electric forge blower.  The instrument started its decline into silence.  The building also deteriorated and for a time was actually condemned.  In the 1980s the floor and roof were repaired, and in the 1990s the belltower was replaced with a smaller structure.

In 1999, Erik Kenyon was appointed music director and an organ restoration committee was formed.  E.A. Boadway and Barbara Owen served as its unofficial advisors. Fundraising was through benefit concerts and grant applications.  Restoration was carried out in accordance with Organ Historical Society standards.  Erik played the church’s Estey Harmonium when he first arrived. Andrew T. Smith began work on the Erben in late 2000 and, along with A. David Moore, who performed the metal pipe work, completed the restoration of the organ in the summer of 2001.

Erik took the bench at the Erben that summer.  A rededication was held August 10 and drew more than 90 people. Senior Warden Susan Palin officiated at the Service of Light. Bishop Thomas Ely presided over the dedication and delivered the homily, and the Reverend David Walters sang psalm 150. Following the rededication service, Erik and his teacher, Jack V. Austin, presented a program of works for organ, including an original composition by Mr. Austin entitled, “Mice!” Although Jack disputed the assertion that “We Three Kings” by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., must have first been played on the Grace Erben, he nevertheless contributed to the organ’s lore by weaving Hopkins themes together with another musical theme of three, “Three Blind Mice,” inspired by the discovery of three mouse skeletons in the base of the largest pipe during the restoration.

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About Grace Church

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Beth Crane

Grace Church is a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, the mission of which is to

Pray the Prayer of Christ
Learn the Mind of Christ
Do the Deeds of Christ

The Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely, 10th Bishop of Vermont
5 Rock Point Road
Burlington, VT 05401

Staff of Grace Church
Priest in partnership: The Reverend Janet K. Brown (802) 899-1188 or (802)860-8441
Organist: Marjorie Adams

2009 Vestry of Grace Church
Senior Warden : Beth Crane 326-4603
Junior Warden: Andrew Crane 933-4603
Clerk of the Vestry: Sue Palin 933-2406
Treasurer: Lori Derry 933-5132

Grace Church is a member of the Northwest Deanery (Deanery One) in the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont.

Grace Church publishes The Remnant, an occasional newsletter. To receive the newsletter, request prayer, or contribute items for inclusion in the newsletter, contact Beth Crane 802/326-4603.

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