At 711 South McDuffie Street in Anderson, South Carolina, Grace Episcopal Church is known for a traditional, lively Eucharistic life shaped by music, active participation, and long-running service to neighbors. Founded in 1851 and rooted in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, Grace holds that the church belongs to everyone. Its two Sunday Eucharists, grand procession, varied fellowship, and practical work for hunger, housing, transportation, and isolation give the parish a distinct identity.
Two Sunday Eucharists and a Lively Procession
Sunday morning is the center of Grace's parish life. Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 8:00 a.m. with Rite I and at 10:30 a.m. with Rite II. Both take place at 711 South McDuffie Street, and Coffee Hour is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
- 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I
- 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II
- 11:30 a.m. Coffee Hour
Grace's worship is traditional and lively, with a strong sense of participation. The liturgy is not treated as passive viewing or entertainment; it is the church offering itself to God. Music, the changing colors of the Christian year, and a grand procession each Sunday are integral to the rhythm of worship. The parish welcomes people of all ages and colors, families, and people from across the country and around the world.
For newcomers, Grace puts its welcome plainly: “The Church belongs to everyone. Make yourselves at home.” Visitor cards are placed in each pew, and guests may complete one and drop it in the collection plate.
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Classical Christianity in an Anglican Parish
At the center of Grace's identity is the early Christian confession, “Jesus is Lord.” The church observes the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed and celebrates the classical sacraments. It regards the Old and New Testaments as God's Word, is Trinitarian and Christ-centered, and understands Jesus to be fully human and fully divine. Christ's atoning sacrifice and resurrection are understood as setting the world free from the powers of sin and death. Grace holds that atonement is for all, not only a few, and that the Good News is good news for all people all the time. Its central word is grace, described as a gift from above.
Grace is part of the ancient faith tradition of the Church of England and the living worldwide Anglican Communion of Churches. The church began in 1851 and belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Its mission is to proclaim and celebrate the Word and Sacrament that God in Christ embraces the world. That embrace is reflected in a long tradition of community involvement, especially service to people experiencing poverty and support for the arts.
The Garden, the Blessing Box, and Meals for Neighbors
Grace's community service begins close to home. A garden on the church grounds produces fresh vegetables that are available to anyone, with special emphasis on neighbors who need them. Near the garden, Grace maintains a Blessing Box, described as a miniature food pantry, and a Little Library. A food collection box in the church cloister gathers groceries for Anderson Interfaith Ministries, known as AIM, and the Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen.
The Anderson Emergency Soup Kitchen provides a hot, nutritious meal from Monday through Friday to anyone who comes through its doors. Grace provides funding through its annual Soup Luncheon, entirely run by parishioners from purchasing ingredients to preparing and serving food, and through its annual church barbecue. These fundraisers have also supported programs for children with special needs and different abilities.
Saturday Servants grew from the need for meals on weekends. Several Anderson-area churches take turns providing bag lunches on Saturdays, and Grace parishioners have regularly made sandwiches at the church and delivered them to the soup kitchen during May.
A second table extends the church's hospitality through South Main Chapel and Mercy Center. A fellowship dinner is offered there after Sunday worship with support from area churches, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. Grace provides four Sunday meals each year and collects snack food for the ministry. Services during the week at South Main include mental-health counseling, vocational rehabilitation counseling, nursing care, addiction-recovery referrals, transportation and housing assistance, and case management. Grace also supplies a monthly allotment of city bus tickets so people can reach appointments, work, and other services.
Shelter, Showers, Breakfast, and a Monday Route
Family Promise provides another major expression of Grace's commitment to people experiencing homelessness. The church owns two Sunshine Houses that are provided to families with critical needs. Abney Foundation funding supports their maintenance, while Grace volunteers help with Family Promise fundraisers and other work. Clean Start offers showers and laundry facilities to people without homes in the Anderson area, and Grace collects donated personal-hygiene items and supports the organization's fundraising.
Hope Missions works with Anderson's homeless population by providing breakfast six days a week and temporary shelter during especially cold winter periods. The ministry also helps people navigate social services and coordinates with other agencies to prevent duplicated assistance. Grace supports this work with a regular supply of bus tickets.
The church also maintains a Meals on Wheels delivery route every Monday. Volunteers deliver meals to homebound neighbors but also greet recipients, spend time with them, and check on how they are doing. Grace describes this human interaction as an important means of reducing isolation and helping recipients feel safe and cared for.
AIM, Champions, and Mission Beyond Anderson
AIM is a nonprofit founded by churches to coordinate assistance and eliminate duplication among people and families experiencing hardship in Anderson County. Its guiding philosophy is “hand up, not hand out.” Grace is a longtime supporter of its ministries. The church sponsors a table for AIM's Women and Children Succeeding program at the annual Hats Off to Women event, has helped distribute summer lunches and books to children in the neighborhood, and gathers gifts and gift cards for AIM's Christmas Families.
Grace also supports the Champions Center for Special Children, which serves children with special needs and different abilities in Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee counties. Parishioners have sponsored a table at the center's Moms and Mimosas fundraiser, participated in its Dot Day, and directed barbecue proceeds toward the center.
Grace's international mission reaches Cange and Bois Jolie, Haiti, where the church supports teachers at a school. It also assists the educational program at E=Hope in Quito, Ecuador, by helping provide school supplies. These efforts connect the parish's local emphasis on feeding, housing, and welcoming people with support for education and church-led mission abroad.
Nursery, Sunday School, and Fellowship Across the Week
Children and young people have a substantial place in Grace's church life. The parish has a nursery, Sunday school for all ages, youth groups, choirs, Bible study, prayer, and fellowship activities for different ages and interests. This variety reflects Grace's description of itself as a community of all ages, colors, families, and people from many places.
Daughters of the King
The Order of the Daughters of the King gathers women who desire a closer walk with the Lord. Members support one another through a conscious plan for spiritual growth and meaningful Christian life. They meet at Grace on the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. Their shared goal is to know Jesus Christ and make him known to others.
Fiber, Friends, and Fellowship
Fiber, Friends, and Fellowship combines handcraft and conversation. Participants knit, crochet, chat, get to know one another, and bring any portable handcraft project. The group meets on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
Women, Wine, and Wisdom
Women, Wine, and Wisdom is a book group that gathers in the Parlor on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Its discussions explore faith, doubt, story, and the range of human experience. The group roughly follows the school year and continues with monthly gatherings during warmer months for fellowship without required reading.
St. Catherine's Guild
Named for St. Catherine of Siena, the 14th-century Italian nun known for her care of the sick, St. Catherine's Guild carries forward a tradition of service. It supports care projects, homebound neighbors, veterans, and a local charity chosen for donations each year. The guild also serves lunch with the Episcopal Youth Community at South Main Chapel and Mercy Center. Women of all ages are welcome for speakers, field trips, refreshments, and conversation. The guild usually meets on the first Monday from January through May and September through December at 2:00 p.m.
Guys Gathering at Grace provides another adult fellowship opportunity, while music remains a shared ministry across ages.
A Room-Filling Cornell Zimmer Organ
Music has a substantial place in Grace's worship, supported by choirs and a Cornell Zimmer organ inaugurated in 2000. Its console is centered in the choir area, while organ pipes occupy two main chambers on the church's north wall. Horizontal trumpet pipes hang above the west door. The instrument combines wind-blown pipes for its core foundation sounds with digitally sampled pipes for the rest of its specification.
The organ has five divisions distributed through three significant areas: above a door, opening into the choir area, and opening into the left side of the church behind the lectern. Its placement helps produce a room-filling sound. The visible pipes are made from flamed copper, whose variations in color give the interior a distinctive appearance. The console is quarter-sawn white oak, the manual keys are cow bone, and the pedal keys combine maple and rosewood.
A computer-based interface can add further organ voices or connect the instrument to a computer. Grace's organ also has a Solo manual of the kind usually found on large four-manual instruments in British cathedrals, giving it a British accent while retaining a foundation in classic American organ design.
Long-Tenured Rector and Parish Leadership
The Rev. John B. (Jack) Hardaway IV has served as Grace's rector since 2004. A lifelong Episcopalian, he graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1995. Before coming to Grace, he served as rector of St. Paul's in Fort Mill from 1997 to 2004 and previously as assistant to the rector at St. Peter's in Greenville.
Sharon Dorsey serves as Family, Youth, and Children's Coordinator, while Steve Grant is Organist and Choirmaster. Other ministry leadership includes Buddy Bilbrey in Christian Formation and Youth, Cyndi Dougherty in Grace Life and Pastoral Care, Tracey Lidlow in Outreach, Bill Scott in Music, Worship and AV, and JoCarol Titmas in Newcomer Ministry and Events.
The vestry helps define the congregation's mission, supports that mission in word and deed, and assists with organization, planning, resources, finances, property, and buildings. Its work supports the church's many expressions of ministry, from worship and formation to outreach, communication, newcomer welcome, hospitality, and the Altar Guild.
Written sermons by Father Jack are gathered in the sermon archive. Parish giving is available through online giving.
Grace in Anderson
Grace's long history comes alive through repeated acts of worship, study, music, fellowship, and care. At its center remains the Eucharistic life proclaimed each Sunday, joined to food for hungry neighbors, shelter for families, transportation for people in need, fellowship across ages, and mission in Haiti, Ecuador, and Anderson County. The parish that began in 1851 continues to place grace at the center, joining the Word and Sacrament with service to the world.