Grace Church (Brookwood Village)
- This article is about the evangelical church. For other uses, see Grace Church (disambiguation).
Grace Church is an evangelical congregation located in the former McCormick & Schmick's in Brookwood Village at 971 Shades Creek Parkway. It was started by Andrew C. Pearson Jr in 2021 after he resigned as dean and rector of the Cathedral Church of the Advent. Initially the congregation identified itself as Anglican, but by late 2022, it no longer did so.
History
The congregation began holding public meetings on Wednesday nights at Temple Emanu-el on September 22, 2021. In early 2022, it expanded to Sunday services, also at Temple Emanu-el. It held its first services in the former restaurant on September 25, 2022.
In April 2022, Pearson announced that he would be stepping down as pastor of the church during the summer because the church needed someone through its period of growth. He served until the end of June 2022. The congregation was without a regular pastor until Bernard Howard was hired in May 2023.
Denominational Identity
Initially, the church included Anglican among the words describing its identity. Pearson is a priest in the Anglican Church of North America and Foley Beach, the denomination's archbishop preached at the church at Easter 2022, but the church is not affiliated with the denomination. By at least November 2022, the congregation's website no longer described it as Anglican and the its pastor search documents indicated it would move toward a board of elders governing the local church. This would make it similar to several local nondenominational churches. The congregation still emphasized the use of traditional liturgy.
Pastors
- Andrew C. Pearson Jr, 2021-2022
- Bernard Howard, 2023-
References
- Garrison, Greg (September 21, 2021) "Former Advent Cathedral Dean Starts New Church" The Birmingham News
- Garrison, Greg (April 13, 2022) "Former Advent Dean Andrew Pearson steps down from Grace Church" The Birmingham News