Blog

Beach Day Away with God

“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). That was the verse at the top of the handout. My dinner group was taking a seaside retreat from our everyday lives. Piling into vehicles, we headed down to a member’s beach house for a Saturday of spiritual focus. There had been a storm the day before (with flood warnings), [...]

Continue reading →

Love Through a Camera Lens

Loving someone from behind a camera isn’t what most people envision when they think of serving others. And it wasn’t what Al had in mind when he started taking photographs. For years while living in England, it was mostly just a pastime. He went to Guatemala last year with the intention of building a house. Traveling with about a dozen other members of a team [...]

Continue reading →

Summer Camp on the Other Side of the World

A team from Hoboken Grace returned from South Korea earlier this month after spending a week with Liberty in North Korea. The organization, one of Hoboken Grace’s longtime partners, helps settle and support refugees fleeing economic and political oppression. The team spent time at LiNK’s summer [...]

Continue reading →

All-Team… Cuddle?

An email came into my inbox from Rachel, Hoboken Grace’s Communications Director. The subject line was “This Sunday!” The message read: “Summer is in full swing and what better way to celebrate our team than to have ice cream . . . for our all-team huddle.” For almost a year, I’ve been enjoying working on the church’s website — writing […]

Continue reading →

When the Math Doesn’t Make Sense

Jim said he couldn’t help but be moved when he met the families and kids that were getting support from Enable the Children. Kids with cerebral palsy who had spent their lives indoors on the floor were sitting upright, feeding themselves and getting to go outside with other kids. But the finance guy in the back of Jim's mind kept on asking, is this really [...]

Continue reading →

A Night of Prayer, A Month of Rhythms

At Night of Prayer earlier this year, Devin was handed a card with a string attached – the type of string you might tie around your finger as a reminder. He was told to jot down the things he was struggling with – the areas in his life he would hand over to God that month. “And at the end of the month, I looked back at [...]

Continue reading →

The Stories That Connect Us

Before I ever set foot in Hoboken Grace, I spent an hour or so perusing its website. Hobokengrace.com was drastically different back then, and there wasn’t nearly as much content as there is now. But I got sucked into the video page – or maybe I’d been rerouted to YouTube, I can’t remember – and watched stranger after stranger share their [...]

Continue reading →

What I Never Thought I Would Share on Facebook

I remember the first time I heard the word Facebook. I was in college and my roommate introduced me to the site. It was the latest and greatest thing everyone in college was into. It was cool to log on and catch up with old high school friends and post pictures, but I never in a million years thought it would be something [...]

Continue reading →

Building Community, One Meal at a Time

For Julia, who has attended Hoboken Grace for several years, the welcoming atmosphere on Sunday mornings has always been apparent. There’s a sense of responsibility for one another and for the city itself, she noticed. It was that sense of community that inspired Julia to start praying about ways to reach [...]

Continue reading →

In Dinner Group, Age Is Just a Number

Jeanette had been going to church for two years before she worked up the courage to join a dinner group. At that time, even the short-term 10-week dinner groups felt like a big step. She was hesitant to sign up in part because of her age. Now 51, Jeanette knew she would probably be older than the rest of the group [...]

Continue reading →

Watch Josh’s Story

“I was looking for a new way to serve at Hoboken Grace and I had a conversation with a friend who mentioned that there’s a huge need for male leaders in Grace Kids,” Josh says. “It kind of threw me off. It wasn’t on my radar. I wasn’t thinking about serving in kids ministry. I’d never really done that before and I really didn’t think I connected [...]

Continue reading →

A Year and a Half of Chalkboarding

We were designing a new set for our stage when someone pointed out that chalkboards are everywhere in Hoboken. Before I could ask any questions, the rest of the group was jumping on board. Our new set debuted several months later, and I soon realized changing the artwork on these giant chalkboards was about to become a regular part of my life. And this [...]

Continue reading →

Summer at the Movies

Just like that long-awaited sequel, Hoboken Grace is back at the movies this summer – Movies Under the Stars, that is. A group will be handing out popcorn at the city’s free movie screening at Pier A each Wednesday night. The series kicked off last night with a showing of Young Frankenstein. Hoboken Grace began serving popcorn at the [...]

Continue reading →

Defining Moment

You know how on social media, they let you set up your profile? It’s a way for people to identify you – a way for people to connect with you. You know what’s hard? When people have other people in their portrait picture. When that happens, I can’t tell who is who. Here’s my picture. Okay, maybe I don’t have a leg to stand on. They say that couples [...]

Continue reading →

The Trip That Changed Everything

Rose had been going to Hoboken Grace for only a few weeks when she heard something on Mission Sunday that stuck with her. Pastor Chris said God has a way of speaking to you and you would know when He’s calling you to do something. Having such an intimate relationship with Christ was something Rose had not experienced. But when [...]

Continue reading →

Follow us

Get the Newsletter