This year, on Monday, Sept. 27, parishioners of Millbrook’s Grace Episcopal Church and golf enthusiasts alike will have the opportunity to support that very active community church by heading out to the McCann Memorial Golf Course in Poughkeepsie and Charlotte’s Restaurant on Route 44 in Millbrook (a last-minute change of venue) for the 14th annual Golf & Gala Dinner fundraiser. It promises to be an excellent day on the greens and a great way to spend some green, for a very good cause.
For those who may not be familiar with Grace Church and the good works it does, the parish goes back to 1867, before Millbrook was established. According to its website, the lovely sanctuary was built in 1901 at 3330 Franklin Ave., right in the heart of the quaint village of Millbrook.
It describes itself as “a church with open doors.” Online, at www.gracemillbrook.org, it shares the message, “We affirm the equality of LGBTQ people and relationships, we are committed to protecting the rights of immigrants, and we denounce racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, and other forms of hate. We also welcome members of other faiths or those who are seeking for spiritual meaning on their own, and believe there is much to be learned from interfaith dialogue. We seek to build loving community both at our parish and in the broader world.”
Those words of harmony and love can be seen through the services and programs the church provides in Millbrook and throughout the greater Harlem Valley community.
It offers Grace Immigrant Outreach (GIO), which has provided support, services and education for all immigrant communities in northeastern Dutchess County since 2005. GIO has assisted immigrant populations in need by connecting immigrants with medical care, legal counsel, translating, educational opportunities, public assistance and transportation to job interviews and doctors’ appointments, as well as with other vital services.
The church also provides young students the opportunity to attend Millbrook Community Preschool, which is now open. Applications for the 2021-22 School Year are currently being accepted; tuition assistance is also available. For more information, contact the admissions office.
Grace Church also offers about a half dozen fellows the chance to live in the vicarage each year to reflect on the values of interfaith spirituality and vocation, and to “dive deep” into how to “contribute to the world” through the Grace Year program.
Along with the very active food pantry and bountiful community garden at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia Union, the Comida De Vida food pantry at Grace Church provides those struggling with food insecurity the nutrition they need.
Then there is both the adult choir and the children’s choir at Grace Church, plus Storytimes for children, not to mention the regular and holiday worship services, both live and on YouTube, in addition to special sermons by the Rev. Matt Calkins, the rector of the church and a popular mainstay in the village.
Monday’s golf tourney will support all of these programs and more — all while those who attend can enjoy 18 rounds of golf on the gorgeous greens of one of Dutchess County’s favorite places to tee off. What could be better? Plus, those who attend the fundraiser can bid on an assortment of fabulous prizes to be won from a silent auction that will be tough to beat (for details, turn to Page B3 or go to www.gracemillbrook.org).
It’s the beginning of fall in the Hudson Valley — where better to celebrate the season than on the gentle, rolling, lush links, especially when the green you’re putting down to swing at a few balls will roll into the coffers of a church that does so much good for so many?
To download registration forms for the fundraiser, go to the Grace Church website, www.gracemillbrook.org. For more information on that event or the church itself, e-mail office@gracemillbrook.org or call 845-677-3064.
Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.L. Tomaino 
