It has been one of the great joys of my tenure as Grace Episcopal Church’s priest to partner with Hope WINS and watch it flourish. When I first started in June of 2018, our Youth Center was a dormant wing attached to the church; a monument to a bygone era of mainline Protestant churches. Everything had been left as it once was untold years before I arrived. It was eerily quiet, and I vowed to figure out how to fill that space once again.
Then you all showed up! Mac Camp needed a home. We had space to offer, and the rest is history. You all have brought a joyful noise back into our church building, and the ministry you offer is unparalleled, as many of you parents can attest to how difficult it is to find the programming Hope WINS offers your kiddos.
As you may have heard, I am leaving Grace Church for a new call in Canandaigua, New York. It was a heart wrenching decision to make, but ultimately, through much prayer and discernment, it was one that my family I feel was best.
I will miss dearly all the kids and the Hope WINS staff that make the organization so special. I will miss Nia’s taps on my office window: “What doing? What doing?” I will miss Emma’s sass with a side of frass. I will miss watching the way the older kids help shepherd the younger kids. I will miss all of them waving to me as they pass by office window on their way out to the bus. And I will miss watching them grow into the well-rounded, kind human beings that Hope WINS strives to form them into. Parents, I need not tell you how lucky you are to have Hope WINS in your lives.
Moving forward, the process for finding a new priest in the Episcopal Church is rather cumbersome and time consuming, so I cannot tell you when the people of Grace Church will find a replacement. However, I am leaving with some of our best lay leadership in place to oversee the operations of the church in the interim, and to continue our collaboration with Hope WINS. Our Vestry (Episcopalian for church board), is fully committed to the continuation of our partnership, and would like to see that bond strengthen. It helps that our Senior Warden (Episcopalian for church board president) is Martha Furst, president of the Freeport school board; so, you already have a strong advocate.
You all have been a blessing to me personally, and my ministry, as well as to the ministry of Grace Church. I wish you and your children all the best as they continue to grow and flourish. You will all be in my prayers, and my God bless you and may God bless Hope WINS.
Fr. Brian Prall