At the Heart of Nyack Since 1861
Grace Episcopal Church stands on a quiet block of First Avenue in Nyack, a red sandstone Gothic building whose rose window, chestnut arches and Westminster-patterned granite columns have looked out over the Hudson River village since the church was consecrated in May 1882. The parish was incorporated in October 1861 when a young priest, the Rev. Franklin Babbitt, saw in the riverside village an opportunity to build a church where none had stood. Today Grace is a congregation of more than 300 households drawn from Nyack, Rockland County and nearby New York City. Members describe it as a family, and the parish lives into a mission of reconciliation summed up in the 2000 mission statement: "We believe that Grace Episcopal Church is called by God to live the way of Jesus through a ministry of reconciliation, seeking to restore all people to unity with God and each other, through prayer, worship, spiritual growth, witness and action."
The Rev. Dr. Dustin Trowbridge is the twelfth rector of Grace. He joined the parish in January 2023 after serving as rector of St. James' Church in Danbury, Connecticut and as rector of St. George's Church in Newburgh, New York. He completed his undergraduate work at Yale University in English Language and Literature, served as an English teacher with the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan, earned an M.A. in Central Eurasian Studies and a Master of Public Affairs at Indiana University, a Master of Divinity at General Theological Seminary in 2009, and a Doctor of Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2020. He was ordained a priest in 2010 by the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware.
The Gothic Sanctuary on First Avenue
The church building is built in the Gothic style of native red sandstone. A bluestone walkway and broad oak doors open into the nave under chestnut arches that rise forty feet at the peak and are supported by twelve granite columns patterned from Westminster Abbey, each one a reminder of the twelve apostles. Above the entrance hangs a stained-glass rose window, a replica of one in Lincoln Cathedral. The carved chestnut pews echo early Saxon benches found in Surrey, and in the walls are stained-glass memorial windows in a style copied from Tintern Abbey.
Behind the free-standing altar, framing the stained-glass chancel windows, sits a mosaic mural of two grape vines in full foliage. The vines are constructed from one-inch pieces of marble and bear six of the traditional Fruits of the Holy Ghost - Charity, mysteriously, was omitted. At the foot of the altar are prize-winning needlepoint kneelers. The choir sits in stalls at the rear of the nave on a balcony that overlooks the congregation, and in their midst stands a Casavant Frères organ, originally built in 1967 and enlarged with additional pipes in 1994. The nave seats about 300 and is equipped with a complete voice amplification system and video equipment for livestreaming services. The campus also includes a Parish House connected to the church by a walkway, with offices and meeting space, as well as three income properties, a rectory, and the Memorial Garden and Columbarium.
Three Sunday Liturgies and an Evensong
Worship at Grace is grounded in the Book of Common Prayer. From September through June the parish gathers on Sundays at three services. At 8:00 a.m. a quiet spoken Holy Eucharist follows Rite I with scripture readings, a sermon and prayers. At 9:30 a.m. a lively and informal Holy Eucharist adapted from Rite II includes congregational music and a shorter sermon; young parishioners serve as crucifer, subdeacons and lectors, and church school follows the service. At 11:00 a.m. the principal Holy Eucharist is sung according to Rite II, with full choir, organ and congregational hymn singing. This 11 a.m. service is livestreamed on the parish YouTube channel. On the first Sunday of each month, from October through May, the Grace Church Choir offers a Choral Evensong at 4:00 p.m., a forty-five-minute service of choral music, psalms and prayer; Evensong is also livestreamed, on Facebook. In July and August the choir and church school take a brief hiatus, and the parish gathers for a Rite I service at 8:00 a.m. and a Rite II service with music at 10:00 a.m.
Liturgical seasons shape the year. Baptisms are most often celebrated at the 11 a.m. liturgy on five principal feasts of the church year, and the parish keeps the seasons of Advent and Lent as well as holy days with appropriate devotions. The Wedding of the Easter Vigil is a particular tradition; adult baptisms are usually celebrated at that service.
A Choir with a Century of Heritage
Music has been central to Grace since 1886, when the church founded a vested choir of men and boys that quickly rose to a high standard of musical excellence. Today's Grace Church Choir is a dedicated ensemble of men and women whose repertoire ranges from the Renaissance through the Romantic eras and includes contemporary composers working in the Anglican choral tradition. The choir rehearses on Thursday evenings and serves as the primary liturgical choir at the 11 a.m. Holy Eucharist and on major feast days. It also sings occasional Choral Evensongs.
The Music Director and Conductor is Jie Y. Segal, who holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Kent Tritle. Segal is the author of Chinese for Singers, the first comprehensive guide for Western singers singing Chinese texts, and he is on the music staff at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He has performed works ranging from Schütz's Musikalische Exequien to Victoria's Missa O quam gloriosum with that Cathedral's professional choir, made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2015 conducting Xian Xinghai's Yellow River Cantata, and has been a recipient of fellowships from the Asian Culture Council and the U.S. China Cultural Institute.
Beyond the liturgy, the parish presents an annual concert series known as GraceMusic. The 2025-26 season, for example, opened with an organ recital by Ray Nagem, brought the Dominion Brass Quartet from Washington, D.C. for a late-November concert, and included a Messiah Sing, a New Year's Eve concert with the Celtic band Maureen Madness, a spring program by the Sputter Box trio and a "Salut d'Amour" concert featuring the Grace Church Choir in show tunes, jazz and congregational favorites. Most events are followed by a "Meet the Artist" reception.
Children, Church School and Youth
Children are woven into the worship life of Grace, not tucked away from it. The 9:30 a.m. service is designed as the All-Ages Family Service, with a shorter homily aimed at children and adults, and roles for young parishioners as crucifers, subdeacons and lectors. After the service, children ages three through fourteen gather for Church School at 10:15 a.m., where they explore the week's lectionary readings through hands-on activities, crafts, discussion and games. Special events during the year include the Children's Christmas Pageant, the Feast of St. Francis Pet Parade, Earth Day activities and the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Giving Day.
The Junior Youth Group serves middle-schoolers in grades six through eight, meeting during church school on most Sundays and focusing on community service and friendship, with refreshments and an interfaith welcome. The Senior Youth Group is for high school students and has organized an annual Church Youth Service Mission trip since 2006. Past destinations have included Louisiana, West Virginia, Montana, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The youth have funded these trips with pancake breakfasts, tag sales, citrus sales, rummage sales, an Easter Fair, the parish's annual Haunted House and monthly hot breakfasts with an oatmeal bar and fair-trade items.
Other sacraments are celebrated with young people. Bread for Life, the parish's first-communion program typically held in early June, includes a Saturday morning of Eucharistic instruction and bread baking, with children serving their bread at communion on Sunday. Confirmation is offered from September through June for young people eighth grade and older; the program includes classes, service projects, team-building and a retreat, and concludes with a visit from an Episcopal bishop.
The Church School Director is Sandra "Sandy" Rodriguez, a special education teacher raised in Valley Cottage who attended Nyack public schools and earned her bachelor's at SUNY Geneseo and her master's at CUNY Hunter College. She began at Grace as a church school teacher before becoming director and is also a volunteer with Midnight Run.
Adult Spiritual Formation and Small Groups
The Adult Spiritual Formation Commission sponsors most of the parish's small-group and study work, with Verne Becker chairing the commission in addition to his role running the livestream and helping with security.
Recurring gatherings include Bible Study, meeting in Patterson Hall on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.; the Men's Prayer Breakfast, gathering in Patterson Hall on the first and third Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., with members occasionally joining from out of town via Zoom; and the Women's Spirituality Group, which meets on the last Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to noon, also in Patterson Hall, for facilitated discernment and reflection led by Jan Valentine. Each year the commission also hosts book chats, including "Grace Reads," a summer reading program focused on social justice and a beloved community, and a fall book chat that continues the conversation over tea, coffee and light snacks.
Labyrinth walks are a regular offering, both at the parish and offsite. In recent years the commission has sponsored trips to the labyrinth at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey - based on the same template as the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth - and has installed temporary labyrinths in Memorial Hall and the Memorial Garden. Lenten Suppers are held through Lent, with a soup-and-sandwich supper at 6:30 p.m. followed by a one-hour program. Past themes have focused on the sacred sites of the Holy Land.
Social Ministries: Feeding Neighbors, Sheltering Friends
Social ministry is woven through the life of Grace. The church is a member of the Rockland Interfaith Social Action committee (RISA), a coalition of Rockland County congregations that work together on community needs. Grace collects non-perishable food for People to People, gifts for the Nyack Center at Christmas and other targeted drives in response to community requests.
The Senior Youth Group's principal outreach is participation in Midnight Run, which the parish supports with a monthly Saturday lunch assembly in Memorial Hall at 10:00 a.m. Volunteers prepare one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five lunches the second Saturday of every month, and the youth deliver them that night in New York City along with warm clothing, toiletry bags and hot soup. A Winter Clothing Drive each January collects coats, scarves, gloves, hats, sweatshirts and sweaters, plus new socks and underwear. The Giving Tree at Christmas fills wishes from children served by the Nyack Center.
The parish also participates in the RISA food drives that supply Proyecto Faro, a Rockland County ministry to immigrant families, and in the Nyack Homeless Project's Porch to Pantry food drive. The Senior Youth Group recently prepared two thousand bags for that project, joined by students from St. Ann's and St. Paul's. Other walks and fundraisers - the annual Women's Distance Festival, the Proyecto Faro Unity Walk at the Stony Point Center, and the parish's own Pancake Breakfast fundraiser - bring the congregation into broader community life.
Grace's Thrift Shop on South Main Street
Founded in 1968 by members of Grace Episcopal Church, the Grace Thrift Shop is part of the parish's outreach program and one of the most visible expressions of Grace in Nyack. The shop sells clothing and shoes, housewares, art, collectibles, toys and games, jewelry and other items, and it donates proceeds to a long list of local charities including ARC, the Center for Safety and Change, Habitat for Humanity of Rockland County, Homes for Heroes / Camp Shanks, United Hospice, Meals on Wheels, the Nam Knights, the Nyack Senior Center, the Nyack Homeless Project, People to People, the Rockland Hospital Guild, St. Anne's Pantry, St. Dominic's Home, St. Zita's, Soup Angels, Sunday Supper, Proyecto Faro and the Grace Church Youth Service Mission Trip.
The shop is located at 10 South Main Street in Nyack, telephone 845-358-7488. Hours are 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. The store is run by volunteers and welcomes new help.
The Memorial Garden and Columbarium
The Memorial Garden, with low stone columbarium walls stretching along the south wall of the church, is enclosed by the walls of the church, the Parish House, the rectory and tall trees along First Avenue. Originally designed by Nyack architect John Colgan Sr., a member of Grace, the columbarium walls were built in the 1960s when the Rev. Charles Greene was rector. In 2010, under the Rev. Richard Gressle, new walls were added on the north side, walkways were widened, steps were eliminated so that the garden is now wheelchair accessible, and the plantings were redesigned.
The garden is a place for weddings, baptisms, the Holy Eucharist, summer worship, children's play and parish picnics, and it is used as a cemetery of remembrance, with niches available for cremated remains. The current cost of a niche is $2,500, payable in installments to the Grace Church Columbarium Fund, a fund restricted for the perpetual care of the garden. There are no denominational restrictions on whose ashes may be immured, though the rector's approval may be required. A niched plaque bears the name and dates of the person.
Highlights of the garden include an iron arbor in the shape of the church's Gothic windows, an oak tree planted in memory of 9/11 victims including two children of the parish, a bluestone altar with a Jerusalem cross for outdoor weddings and Eucharists, a pink-granite baptismal font, the children's garden, a sensory garden that engages sight, sound, taste, touch and smell, and a hillside planted with ivy given to the first rector Franklin Babbitt by Washington Irving - from ivy given to Irving by Sir Walter Scott from his home in Scotland. Westminster bells ring on the hour to the glory of God and in loving memory of one of the 9/11 victims.
Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
Grace welcomes all who seek baptism. Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body, the Church, and the bond established is indissoluble - baptism is celebrated only once. The parish asks that candidates for baptism be part of the worshiping community for at least three months, so that meaningful relationships with the priest and congregation can grow. Baptisms are usually scheduled on one of the five principal feast days of the Church Year, normally at the 11:00 a.m. liturgy, but can also be arranged at the 8:00 or 9:30 a.m. services.
Weddings are celebrated as solemn public covenants in the presence of God. Couples are asked to talk with the clergy first and to give at least three months' notice - more than the thirty-day canonical minimum - so that scheduling and preparation can be carefully managed. For first marriages, three premarital counseling sessions with a priest are required. Blessings of committed relationships may also be arranged by consulting with the clergy. Divorced persons are welcome, and the pastoral team works with the Diocese to obtain the bishop's consent when required. Weddings are not celebrated during Advent or Lent, and the Rector has final responsibility for all arrangements. The church seats approximately three hundred and twenty-five for weddings.
Funerals and memorials are arranged directly with the parish through the office at 845-358-1297. The requiem liturgy may be celebrated in the church, and committals may take place in the Memorial Garden's columbarium. Pastoral care is offered throughout the process.
Becoming a Member, Giving and Stewardship
Membership at Grace is informal. There are no cards, no forms, and no required dues - if you consider yourself a member here, you are a member. The New Member Ministry Commission serves as the welcoming hand of the parish: volunteers greet newcomers at services, follow up with those who register as visitors, and host twice-yearly brunches to introduce newcomers to the leaders and ministries of the parish. The Eucharist at Grace is open to all baptized Christians, regardless of denomination. Those who wish to become members of The Episcopal Church are typically received through baptism, confirmation, reception (for those confirmed in other Catholic communions) or reaffirmation (for those baptized in other Protestant traditions), often in a single service at which the bishop is present.
Grace accepts pledges through three means: cash or checks using offering envelopes or placed in the offering plate, electronic transfer from a checking account, or debit or credit card payments processed through the GivingFire platform accessed from the parish website. Online donations can be made on a fixed schedule or as one chooses. The parish also accepts gifts of time and talent - every ministry at Grace depends on volunteers who serve as worship leaders, choir members, church school teachers, social ministry workers, thrift-shop volunteers and vestry members. The annual Stewardship campaign, along with year-round pledging, supports the work of the parish and its ministries to neighbors in need.
Grace Church exists today as it did in 1861: a place set apart on First Avenue for prayer, worship and the work of reconciliation, gathered around a Gothic sanctuary, a Casavant organ and a chapel window that looks out onto the Hudson.