1995 In the beginning, the Reeve's home became the starting point for a hopeful and enthusiastic group of people wanting to develop a new church home. On Sunday, November 30, 1995, 38 people came to the first meeting to share their dreams of a new church including such areas as the level of formality, whether to focus on the Old or New Testament, how to include all ages in worship and ministry, and whether to have traditional hymns or more progressive music. We sang songs and played icebreaking games to learn about each other, as many knew only a few people attending that night. Some of us had not met Nancy Reeves previously. Nancy felt she had been called to start this new church development and was about to take a huge leap of faith. Nine days later, on a Tuesday evening, the original group met in the Reeve's home to learn about and celebrate Advent. Weekly Bible study began soon after on Tuesday evenings. During this group's discussions one could see a part of our future mission statement being carried out, Invite all people to share faith and doubts along the journey. In December we met on a Saturday evening to brainstorm and discuss items, such as our mission statement. Our mission statement read as follows: As we attempt to come close to Christ, we gather in fellowship to: ..........- Worship and study God's Word ..........- Explore the life of faith through teaching and learning ..........- Spread God's love through mission and music ..........- Invite all people to share their faith and doubts along the journey

December 24th, 1995 at 9:00 p.m., Round Rock West Park was the setting for a very cold, but joyous, Christmas Eve service! Nancy led this first service with Jimmye Sue Mitchell playing the music and members of the congregation assisting with the Call to Worship and Scripture reading. 58 people attended the services that night, huddling around the fireplace in the Pavilion in an attempt to keep warm.

1996 As only nine people attended our New Year's Eve Worship due to the bitter cold, we decided to move to the Reeve's living room until the weather improved.

February, 1996 was a busy month for Grace. We established three mission teams consisting of Invitation and Encouragement Team, Administrative Team, and Discipleship and Worship Team. Many people enjoyed the fellowship at the Progressive Dinner held at the Hutcherson's, Thompson's and Granger's homes. Nancy Reeves also had the pleasure of being serenaded that night with a hearty, if not slightly off-key singing of "Happy Birthday". On February 4th the entire congregation approved the name of Grace for our emerging congregation. We began looking for a church home. Our search took us to the Lake Creek shopping Center on Highway 620 as we explored a store front location. Fortunately, that site fell through. We published our first newsletter, Graceful News, in February and Brad Gabbart joined Jimmye Sue Mitchell in providing worship music. In March we held a picnic in the Park including a well attended softball game. Palm Sunday , March 31st , 1996, worship took place in the Park with our youth performing a Passion Play. In April, the Maundy Thursday service was held at the Granger's home around tables set up in the living room. Jimmye Sue and Brad performed a powerful rendition of "Mary Did You Know?" We celebrated Easter Sunrise near the Smith's home on Lake Travis, on a bitterly cold morning. That morning Ty and Shelby Granger were baptized by their Grandfather. Evening services were held at the Park in conjunction with our first Easter Egg hunt. On April 28th, we enjoyed a barbecue dinner prepared and paid for by Bill Murray (a member of our sponsoring church, University Presbyterian, Austin, TX). We had a few first time visitors, who later became active members. In May, we held our first church retreat at La Mirage in Port Aransas. Forty-two people enjoyed the waves, sand and music. Larry Thompson led worship on Mother's Day giving Nancy a break. Our first mission work on May 18th was installing a new roof on a home near Hutto for a mother of three. Although the men were glad to help, at least one wished he had remained in Port A. Our first major leap of faith was moving to the House on June of 1996. Our new home was located on the corner of Main and Harris in downtown Round Rock. On June 28th many folks helped with the move-in. We proudly held our first service there under a big old oak tree. We immediately began to tear out walls, build a play- scape, arrange and decorate classrooms, which we are still doing to our church home today, but with fewer mouse encounters! June 22nd was an important milestone when Mission Presbytery recognized Grace as an official "Fellowship" Our first Vacation Bible School was held on July 20th. The kids had fun creating a bit of the Biblical past through storytelling, making musical instruments, straw and mud bricks and costumes, as well as playing games. By August of 1996 we had added Mission and Building Teams to the list of ministry teams. In addition, we began holding monthly potluck suppers, one Sunday a month prior to worship, on the lawn beneath the oak tree. September 1st marked the beginning of Sunday school classes for youth, elementary and preschool children led by enthusiastic members of the congregation. September brought on some good and some bad news. We had grown out of our home on Main Street in just a few short months. While we were ecstatic about our growing family, we had to find a larger location. Cook Walden Condra Funeral Home across the street graciously allowed us to worship in their chapel for free, under the condition that they did not have a body at that time. We loved to say, "people are dying to worship with us!" For the first time the Grace congregation sat in church pews. On September 15th we held our first membership Sunday for adult and confirmed members who desired to join as members of Grace Presbyterian. Our first members included: Kathy Behrens, Sara Brennan, Janet and Brian Brauckman, Ruth Brunk, Carl, Eva, Scott and Blake Burkland, Art, Cynthia, and Evan Davis, Mike, Irene and Whitney Erxleban, Brad, Kathy, Lauren and Kelly Gabbart, Wayne and Chris Granger, Kirk and Melissa Hutcherson, Walter and Deanne Hutcherson, Ken, Brenda and Kristen Krusely, Tom and Jimmye Sue Mitchell, Pat and Debi Montgomery, Rusty Moore, Helen, Coleman and Sarah Nichols, Mary Payne, James, Twila and Amber Reeves, Kevin, Matt, Chris and Vicky Reeves, April Ryan, and Kathy and Jason Sparks. Christopher Brauckman, Parker Hutcherson, Kristen Krusely, Kassie Krusely, and Evan Davis were baptized. We held a Grace garage sale on October 5th, which was very successful despite the men running around in women's clothing. In November, the Reeves bravely offered their house to the Senior High youth for their first lock-in while the Junior High youth spent the night at the church house. The First Annual Grace ladies sleepover was held at the Reeves on November 2nd, where there was food and fun and where they chose the name H.O.L.Y. (Honest Open Laughing Yaking) Grace Club. Carl and Kevin tried to crash the festivities until they heard the topic and then they left in haste. In December we again celebrated Advent with our second Annual Advent festival with a feast of Thanksgiving leftovers. December, 1996 was a month filled with different events and emotions. December brought the joy of the Christmas season along with marking our one year anniversary. Nancy led a study of how to "Unplug the Christmas Machine". Cynthia Davi's long and courageous battle with cancer ended. A memorial service was held under the old oak tree in front of the House on Main Street to celebrate her life. On Christmas Eve many endured the bitter cold, again, for our candlelight service held at the Park for old time's sake. It was rumored some went ice fishing afterwards on the lake by the Park.

1997 On January 5th, 1997 we elected our first Coordinating Team. The pressure and anticipation was unbelievable. The founding members were elected: Carl Burkland, Kathy Gabbart, Wayne Granger, Melissa Hutcherson, Brenda Krusely, Tom Mitchell, Amber Reeves (youth), Brad Roberson (youth) and April Ryan (youth). A list of needs and programs were identified at the meeting for the newly elected members to tackle. We all missed Nancy's loving and supportive presence during her three-week trip to Israel in January. We were privileged to have Mary Payne and Kirk Hutcherson deliverthe message on two Sundays; and to have a drama/music message given by various congregation members on one Sunday. For those who have forgotten, the service on January 26th was held two and a half hours early so we could get home to the Super Bowl. Where were our priorities? The men started holding breakfast meetings in March of 1997. They continue to hold those breakfasts now, although some are known to oversleep occasionally! Our second Easter Sunrise Service was held under the old oak tree in March. Although not as cold as the previous year, we were chilly. The men prepared breakfast while the youth helped the children with an Easter egg hunt. However, Brad Roberson disappeared for a while the Easter Bunny made an appearance. Any guesses? Our second membership was on Sunday on March 23rd. More eager and enthusiastic people joined our family. In addition, Walter Hutcherson began to share his musical talent with the congregation when he joined Jimmye Sue and Brad in providing music for the worship service. In May of 1997 the congregation approved having the Coordinating Team negotiate on a piece of property at 404 Sunset near the corner of IH35 and Highway 79 for a mere cost of $308,000. Although we were disappointed at the time, this deal fell through, fortunately. In May we again traveled to Port Aransas for our second beach retreat. On Saturday we enjoyed the fellowship, bible study and music and barbecue by the pool. Nancy Reeves led worship on the beach Sunday morning. We also posed for a group picture which was put on our web page. Ruth Hempel joined us in May as a seminary intern. Ruth quickly became an important part of the church. Leading worship and working with the children were just part of the many things she did for us that summer. Ruth also had the privilege of having the "House torn down around her that summer. By the end of the summer there was no loner any bathrooms left in the house and the back wall had vanished under the hands of construction workers. Later that summer the coordinating team voted to leave the House on Main Street whether we had another location or not. The possibility of meeting in the Park was on all our minds. Despite the chaos at the house in July that summer, we sold tacos, tamales, and frozen lemonade at Round Rock Frontier Days. We all wore our Grace shirts and could be seen milling about everywhere at Old Settlers Park. We also had the great pleasure of seeing our own talented Spirit Junction playing a set that Saturday morning at the Frontier Day's pavilion, which included their "I Saw the Light" medley. On August 31st , 1997 we began meeting at our present location on Gattis School Road. In order to purchase the property we needed to raise $53,000 cash. Throughout the month of July we were amazed at God providing for us again and again in many ways to meet this goal. Before we knew it God had provided the $53,000 cash. We were anticipating closing on the sale of the property soon thereafter. The bank gave us permission to go ahead and meet on the land. Our first worship service was held outdoors with lawn chairs and the back of pick up trucks used for seating. We had to laugh at ourselves when we realized we didn't have a Bible to read the scripture, they were all still packed in boxes! For the message that day, we shared our feelings about Grace which resulted in many joyful tears and smiles. We continued to meet outdoors while preparing the garage for worship. In late October we finally closed on our new house at 1705 Gattis School Road. Another very important milestone came on November 1st, 1997. On that date Mission Presbytery officially recognized Grace Presbyterian as a "New Church Development" during their meeting held at Hope Presbyterian Church in Austin. We were excited and full of hope as we approached our first year at our new home. November brought many work days at the house, as well as a baby shower for our expectant mothers Sara Brennan and Kathryn Newth. We also held our third Advent festival celebrating the upcoming Christmas season. On December 20th we met at the church for Christmas caroling followed by singing and fellowship at the church. We held a candlelight service at the church on December 24th to a packed house.

1998 January brought a HOLY Grace Club sleepover as well as a lasagna dinner prepared by the Coordinating Team that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Team members discussed their various teams and the opportunities to serve. Many members signed up to contribute their time and talents. Later, on the weekend of January 30th - February 1st, 1998 the Senior High youth went to the Mid-winter Conference at Mo-Ranch with sponsors Eva Burkland, Kevin Reeves and Tom Mitchell. The Junior High youth "Let Grace Invade Their Space" with sponsors Wayne and Chris Granger and Christie Beittel during their conference the weekend of February 6th -8th. The junior highs went on stage and performed "Grace Is All You Need!" which they later performed at church. Many members busily worked on preparing for the joyous Easter season coming up in April. In preparation, Howard Roalson built a cross to be used in the Good Friday and Easter services. We were enthused about holding services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and two services on Easter, including a sunrise service and a 9:30 morning service. This marked the beginning of our morning services at Grace. Many were moved by the sunrise service in front of our church that Sunday morning; and then again, as we placed flowers on the cross celebrating Christ's resurrection. For the third year we traveled to our favorite beach, Port Aransas, for our retreat at Port Royal the weekend of May 29th - 31st. We were captivated by Carl Burkland's message given at nightfall that Saturday night. Three families had the pleasure of staying in the "Jungle Room" at Port Royal. In the summer of 1998 Miranda Fontaine-Hobbes joined us to serve as an intern from Austin Presbyterian Seminary. Many attended her Wednesday night Bible study on Revelation; including the night her Greek professor joined us and bowled us over with his knowledge of the Bible. She also worked with other church members on our Summer Vacation Bible School held at the park across from the Reeve's home. During that week, Miranda helped paint Grace Kids T-shirts. On August 30th we celebrated our one-year anniversary at our new home. There were many changes to the new home that first year. We put a lighted cross at the front of the house, a ramp for the disabled for access to the church and a new sign, as well as many other improvements. We began sending our newsletter primarily through e-mail and worked on our web page. September of 1998 marked one of the proudest accomplishments in the life of our church when our congregation finally came through on the long overdue commitment to Reverend Nancy Reeves by paying her full-time wages. We had struggled with this issue for some time. The HOLY Grace Club held a building spruce-up day the last weekend of November when they planted trees, painted walls and laid a tile floor in the bathroom. They were also accompanied by some of the men who worked outside the same day. December 6 at the 6:30 service, members of Mission Presbytery joined us in celebration recognizing the official relationship with Pastor Nancy Reeves as "Presbytery Evangelist" for Grace Presbyterian. That day also marked the beginning of Sunday school after morning worship at 10:45. Wednesday nights in December we studied the people who surrounded the birth of Jesus. We attended the open house at Gaddy's in Pflugerville to tell folks in the community about our church. The middle schoolers did face painting; there was a bake sale, music by Jimmye Sue Mitchell and Brad Gabbart, and the Christmas Story told by Nancy. Later that month Nancy took the middle schoolers on a confirmation retreat at John Knox Ranch. We went Christmas caroling, the youth presented a short drama in worship on the Christmas Story from a star's point of view, and lastly, we celebrated the Lord's birth on Christmas Eve by lighting the Christ candle.   1999 In January there was a new Coordinating Teams, with various Ministry Teams looking for members; new discipleship classes, at both the 10:45 am and 5:00 pm services, led by Kevin Jones and Craig Rogers, and a call to those interested in serving on a Building Team. The church continued to be blessed by gifts: a donation of a riding lawnmower and the countless volunteers who came and generously shared their gifts. We had people mowing the great field in their spare time; people cleaning the building; people preparing financial statements for the church; people teaching classes; folks sharing musical gifts; and people assisting in worship. Greg Davidson joined us in February as a pastoral intern and led a Wednesday night study on spiritual biographies during Lent. He put together a Lenten prayer guide and preached several times. Several members began accompanying Nancy to Kensington Cottages to lead worship for the residents, including Martha Ehlers, Nancy's mom, who had recently moved there. Several of our musicians continued to share their gifts through the Faded Blue Jeans Ministry. In April we held a garage sale, the proceeds going to Faded Blue Jeans Ministry and to the Building fund. During the Maundy Thursday service we gathered to celebrate the Passover Seder and the sacrament of communion. Our youth led us in a Tenebrae worship service on Good Friday and we gathered at 6:30 am on Easter Sunday for the sunrise service and later at the regular morning worship service to celebrate the resurrection. Members of Grace participated in worship at the State Capitol Prayer Celebration which was coordinated by Greg Davidson on the National Day of Prayer on May 6. Spirit Junction provided the music. Several of the women attended a Walk to Emmaus that month. The Senior High Youth, Kathleen Moore and Ken Krusely participated in a beach cleanup at Port Aransas. The family of Grace pitched in with a sister church, Westminster Presbyterian, to help move furniture and household items and provide donations for a refugee Sudanese family. HOLY Grace Club held another sleepover attended by 18of the Grace ladies. We welcomed another seminary intern, Clint Regen, in late May, with a reception at the morning service and a taco salad dinner after the 5:30 service. Many of the women continued to attend Tae Bo class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Wayne Granger began writing a regular feature "Wayne's World" for the newsletter where he shared stories of a preacher's son and other pearls of wisdom and insight. Young and old attended the backyard swim party held at the Reeve's home in June with volleyball and great food. Vacation Bible school was held in July with children sharing a fun week on the book of Exodus. In the fall, new Sunday school teachers and adult leaders taught a variety of classes both in the morning and the evening. Greg Davidson returned to complete his internship. We also reached a membership count of 94 in September which was the magic number needed to request Mission Presbytery to charter us as a congregation. We also refinanced our loan through the denomination which reduced our loan payment and gave us $11,000 for our building fund. Also, we had recently received a gift of $5,000 for our building fund. The church began the process of putting together a site plan to build. In October a Charter Planning Committee was formed to prepare for the charter celebration which was to occur later that month. Teams were set up (Building and Ground, Publicity, History and Charter Memories, Hospitality and Refreshments) to plan and coordinate all the various tasks to prepare for the day and to plan for the number of visitors from other sister churches who wanted to attend. We also gathered the congregation to share our vision of who we hoped to be as a congregation. We reworked our mission statement and voted to adopt the following as the vision for Grace: "To create a joyful community of faith that welcomes all people to share their faith and doubts while celebrating the gospel of Jesus Christ through worship, study and service". On October 22nd at Covenant Presbyterian in San Antonio the Mission Presbytery approved our charter to become an official congregation in the Presbyterian Church USA. Many of our members made the trip that Saturday morning to stand together and be recognized as the Presbytery members made their vote. It was a special time for the church and for it's members who were seen running outside and yelling "Praise God" to the sky after the vote. The following Sunday, October 31, at 3:00 pm we gathered under a tent in the gravel parking lot with many friends and family to celebrate our official charter. The Grace members signed the official charter and received a certificate of membership as a charter member. We answered the questions of membership and asked, in unison ,to be chartered. Our elders were installed and we cerebrated the sacrament of communion. There were many tears, smiles, hugs and "Praise God's" that blustery day in October. Two- hundred, thirteen people were present and twenty-six congregations were represented. November brought a church campout at Inks Lake where 18 of the church family had fun and fellowship. Dickie Siebenlist led worship that Sunday morning with two-hundred people present. GAP, a Christian Coffee House, returned with Crimson Stained. The Holy Grace Club gathered at Hope Presbyterian for their Bazaar "Hope for the Holidays" whose proceeds went to the Austin Children's Shelter. In December, the first elders were elected in the church and the congregation officially called Nancy Reeves as Presbytery Evangelist for Grace. The elders were Eva Burklund, Mary Armour Day, Mark Gaddy, Libby Henderson, Kevin Jones, Pam Leschber, Susan Mayson, Jimmye Sue Mitchell, Chris Reeves, and Kim Roberson. A wonderful play by the youth called "The Almost Missed Christmas" was presented in December, as well as a viewing at Nancy Reeves house of the movie "White Christmas", caroling on a Wednesday night, and the Christmas Eve candlelight service held outdoors behind the church building to celebrate Jesus's birth under the stars. We were wrapped in blankets once again.   2000 The youth of Grace attended the Mid-Winters at Mo- Ranch with sponsors Brenda and Ken Krusely in February. We started morning Sunday school classes after worship for preschool through adults. The teachers included Sharon Roberson, Nancy Hunter, Kevin Jones, Susan Mayson, Ken Krusely, Brenda Krusely and Malinda Dehls and Heather Day. Topics included the books "When Good Things Happen to Bad People" and "The Chronicles of Narnia". Wayne Granger, Carl Burklund and Kevin Reeves worked on house improvements in the kitchen and worship area. Kim Roberson, Dickie Sibenlist, Kathlen Moore and John Mayson wrote an outstanding application for Grace for the Walton Grant. A small group began meeting in the living room of the house in February to study a twelve step book written by Bob Lively. The GAP (God Answers Prayers) coffee house continued with musical groups such as The Shake coming all the way from Dallas. Susan Mayson continued to work hard to coordinate the GAP. In March the New Building Team held its meeting with members Carl Burklund, David Johnson, Chuck Ravenscroft, Wayne Granger, Sharon Roberson, Mari Lyn Jones, Nancy Reeves, Bruce Peterson, Kevin Reeves, Ruth Brunk, Robin Turcotte, Sallie Joe Siebenlist and Rick Chichester. They began work on a survey to present to the congregation to determine what kind of building would meet the goals, needs and desires of the congregation. The congregation responded enthusiastically to this survey, stating that the things most valued at Grace are the family atmosphere, the informalness, the mixture of ages, the active involvement of all in a variety of activities including worship and ministry teams, and the fellowship activities. As the year progressed members and their children continued to hold Sunday worship services for Alzheimer's patients at Kensington Cottages in Round Rock. A lock-in confirmation retreat was held for all middle school students who wished to join the membership of Grace. The women of Grace held a fashion and tea show for the residents of Merrill Gardens, a local retirement home. Many of our fine ladies could be seen sashaying through the audience wearing the latest fashions. Several of the women of Grace participated in a Walk to Emmaus in April. The month of April was a time of celebration and sadness in the life of the church. The children of Grace once again proved what an important part they are of our church family by leading the entire worship for both services on Palm Sunday. Many of the folks of Grace worked their tails off to help plan and lead the other Holy Week worship services and prepared, by cleaning the building and mowing the lawn. Easter Sunrise Service was held outside with a meditation led by Kathy Behrans, followed by the Easter breakfast and an egg hunt. The Easter Bunny was once again spied among the children. The members were also asked to complete a New Building Team survey to identify the needs and wants of the congregation. Sadly, Grace lost a member of their family in the unexpected passing of Christi Clifford the following week. Once again the members came together to plan and hold a memorial service for Christi led by Pastor Nancy Reeves. In May the Grace family lost another precious member when Robin Turcotte passed away after a brave fight with cancer. We said our goodbyes and honored this courageous woman, outside, on the back lawn of the church house one May evening. The results of the New Building Survey were published. The Grace members wanted to have youth programs, drama in worship and good childcare for all activities. They believed "if we build it, they will come" and that we should have multiple services each Sunday. As far as a building, the members thought we should build a facility we could grow into and that a Fellowship Hall/Multipurpose room should be the priority. At the end of May, 55 of the folks made their way to Port Aransas for the beach retreat where they swam and surfed, boogie board and prayed and sang. Reverend Dickie Siebenlist stayed behind to preach both worship services to those who did not attend the retreat. From the beach retreat, fourteen of our members including high school and college youth, along with our pastor traveled to Reynosa, Mexico for our first mission trip. They worked for three days in the colonias building a home for a family. They came back from the trip blessed and amazed by the things they saw and experienced. When they returned, both, youth and adults, shared their experiences of their trip with the congregation during worship. In June the Pastor started the Alpha course on Wednesday nights where the attendees could sing and learn more about what it means to be a Christian. The HOLY Grace Club had a Friday night outing at Dodge City Steakhouse followed by the movie Gladiator at the local theatre. Several ladies had fun watching Russell Crowe fight for his life. Seminary student Kim Gaddy preached June 18. In July several of the youth and some insane adults traveled to Schlitterbahn to enjoy the "Hottest-coolest time in Texas" for the day. The GAP coffeehouse had performances by Six Steps and Blood Bought. Grace was also honored by receiving the Walton Grant and recognized at the Mission Presbytery meeting. We received an award of $45,000 which was over the regular amount of $30,000, because the committee was so impressed by what we were doing with our new church. Grace was one of only two churches selected that year by the committee. On August 26, Chapter 41 a Christian band from Pflugerville, brought in the largest crowd yet to the GAP coffeehouse with an estimated crowd of 90. In September Grace welcomed intern Joyce Ludwig who would be working at Grace for the rest of the school year. On Wednesday nights we started a new study "How to Be Contagious Christians". The New Building Team began to meet with architectural firms and other churches which had been through the process of building. The team held final interviews of the architectural teams of Jackson, Galloway, and Collier; and Paul and Associates, the beginning of October. The First Annual Fall Fest was held this first Saturday of November in the rainy and cool weather. The booths were moved indoors and included every sort from woodworks to Pampered Chef items. Children had their faces painted, fished for prizes and ate cotton candy and funnel cakes. Carl E. Burklund offered up some smoked turkey legs for the attendees. Spirit Junction played music and was accompanied by Audrey Johnson, Mark Gaddy and Maggie Mitchell, followed by Soul Mates and Chapter 41. On November 1st Grace celebrated it's first birthday as a church. Some of the Grace family participated in the 2nd Annual Church Campout at Lake Bastrop. The Chichester's, Ward's, Stoke's, Granger's, Kirk and Parker Hutcherson and Joyce Ludwig, with special appearances by Carl and Eva Burklund and Kevin Reeves, enjoyed fellowship time together. Highlighting the weekend were several lessons given on proper fire stoking techniques. In December Grace had the Advent Festival with festivities and crafts followed by singing carols. The children once again performed in the 3rd Annual Christmas Pageant in "A Simple Christmas Story" led by Brenda Krusely. They also performed at Merrill Gardens and First Presbyterian Church in Taylor. In order to prepare for the large attendance at the Christmas Eve service the kitchen in the church house was taken out and the garage otherwise known as the sanctuary was enlarged. In addition, closed circuit TV was set up. Once again we had a beautiful Christmas Eve Candlelight service held indoors for a change of pace. 137 people showed up to enjoy the service, many in rooms throughout the house, watching on TVs.   2001 February brought a seven-week class on Living Prayer led by Barbara Johnson from Hope Presbyterian Church. The New Building Team held a workshop for the members to explore and share with the architect what we wanted our church building to be like, currently, and down the road. Participants were encouraged to layout their own church site and build a church with materials including broccoli trees and fruit loops. People from age 13 to 82 attended. Ten different groups worked to answer what the strengths of Grace were, including its ministry and assets. The HOLY Grace Club had a night of fun, food and yakking at the home of Tammy Ravenscroft later that month. A Fat Tuesday dinner was held with lots of pancakes and bacon to celebrate before the beginning of Lent. The women of Grace led worship in March in observance of "Celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday" and plans began for another mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. A church yard sale was held where old stuff was sold to raise money for the mission trip to Mexico. $1,700 was raised towards the $3,200 needed for the trip. Later that month the women of Grace traveled to Mo Ranch for the Mission Presbytery's PW Spring Retreat where our pastor, Nancy Reeves was the keynote speaker. On Holy Week in April we celebrated Maundy Thursday with a Seder Meal, a Good Friday Tenebrae Worship service, where candles were extinguished as we remembered the crucifixion, and our Sunrise Service on Easter morning, followed by a breakfast. At the regular service we placed flowers on the Cross to remember the resurrection. Our seminary student Joyce Ludwig completed her internship in May and we welcomed a new intern Charlotte McCaroll for the summer. In May we also were treated to a hand bell concert by the University Presbyterian's Church's Hand Bell Choir on a Wednesday night. We also welcomed Julie Reed as a part time Youth Director for the summer. In June our high school youth and college youth along with a few hardy adults once again traveled to Reynosa, Mexico to build a 12' x 24' concrete house for a needy family. Upon their return they shared their stories of the experience with the congregation during worship. The following week the Senior High youth participated in mission work with Manos De Christo with the youth from a San Antonio church. We celebrated member Tammy Ravenscroft completing her training to be a Parish Nurse Health Minister. Summer Wednesday nights brought a study on "Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life", as well as a young adult study and "Wednesday Night at the Movies" for the kids. The New Building Team continued to meet with our architects and the civil engineer to discuss rough plans for building. However, there were issues pending with the City of Round Rock that needed to be resolved before they could proceed. The fall brought a new study opportunity when we began the 34 weeks "Disciple" Bible Study led by Nancy Reeves and Susan Mayson on Sunday afternoons. Fund raising began for our "Field of Dreams" with an opportunity to participate in a cruise to Mexico. The HOLY Grace Club met to make a Topical Bible led by Susan Mayson. Starting September 9th, we moved to one morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. to bring our church family together in one service. We began holding regular Sunday School classes for all the various ages at 9:30 a.m. We gathered for prayer following the horrible tragedy of 911 and remembered the words of Paul that "nothing can separate us from the love of God." The HOLY Grace Club met at the home of Sallie Jo Siebenlist for Chili, Chips and Discipleship in October. The Fall Fest was held on the 27th under a tent in the gravel parking lot with more turkey legs, of course, and fun things to buy. October 28 we met to celebrate our second birthday under the same tent and to kick off our "Field of Dreams" campaign to make the dream of a new building and a paved parking lot a reality. Yeah, no more stuck cars in the mud! The Field of Dreams team was charged with the responsibility of equipping our congregation for "Building Grace's Vision into Reality". The Dream team included: Shirlee Peterson, Kathleen Walker, Kim Roberson, Carl Burklund, Diane Castillo, Deanne Hutcherson, Susan Mayson, Nancy Reeves and James Varner. Our architect joined us to present the plans, answer questions, and show us a video of the building. We chowed down on wonderful baseball game food and the children participated in games and crafts. On November 14 the members of the church were asked to commit to supporting our "Field of Dreams" by turning in their pledge cards We received a total of 38 pledges totaling $191,680 to be given over the next three years towards our dream. In December we celebrated and worshiped, beginning with the Advent festival where we decorated the church house and prepared for the Advent season, with the annual Christmas pageant given by our talented children, and a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. 2002 January brought good news when we found out that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) offices in Louisville agreed to loan us $600,000 at a rate of 6% for our new building fund. In addition, we received a little over $52,000 in gifts from outside our congregation in one week's time. Grace was blessed! In late January we mourned with our Pastor Nancy Reeves at the passing of her mother, Martha Ehlers, after her lengthy illness. Martha had been a loved member of our church family from the beginning of Grace's journey. The members of Grace stepped up to the plate the next six weeks as the Pastor took a much needed leave. They covered administrative tasks and also shared in filling the pulpit. We were treated to the preaching of Susan Mayson, Mari Lyn Jones, Kevin Jones, Kathleen Moore and the youth of Grace. Many of the members cruised to Mexico on the Celebration cruise in late January. Carl Burklund was actually seen dressed up on the ship at one point! The Grace Ministry Teams held an Opportunity Fair in February where they had informational booths available for the members to explore the ways they could share their gifts and talents in service. In March members participated in Grace's first quarterly round table dinners. One family volunteered to host 6 other members of the congregation for dinner and all provided a portion of the meal. These dinners enabled members to get to know each other better, or for the first time The Building Team continued to plow ahead considering applicants for the Construction Manager at Risk who would work with our architect to figure out how much of our building we could afford and to oversee the project. The building project would be tied to the City of Round Rock's schedule of approving different phases of our project. In addition, we needed to know what the City was going to do with Gattis School road. Greg Davidson returned to Grace as temporary Director of Music as we looked to hire a part time Director. Donna Davidson joined Spirit Junction sharing her great talent with us. The Men of Grace cooked us all Easter breakfast following the Easter Sunrise service. The Easter Bunny made his/her annual appearance for the kiddos. The women of Grace joined together for "Crafts with a Purpose" to sew receiving blankets for Su Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope) a Presbyterian mission in the Valley for young women. In May Wednesday night Bible Study returned for the kids and adults who studied Fruits of the Spirit. Attendees brought their own brown bag for dinner and shared fellowship time together. Nancy Hunter and Kevin Jones joined the Board of the new Round Rock group of Habitat for Humanity. Grace welcomed our part time Director of Music David Marks. We were saddened by the death of our member Ruth Hutcherson who passed away after a courageous fight with cancer in May. A memorial service was held on Thursday evening at Grace with a filled church house to remember her. In June high school and college youth and adult sponsors traveled to Reynosa, Mexico with a group from San Gabriel Church in Georgetown to spend five days building a cinder block home for a family. The Sunday following their return they shared their experience of the colonias with the congregation. In July the Holy Grace Club met at Susan Mayson's home for a Book Swap party where they exchanged their favorite books. In August the session voted to add another worship service on Sunday's in the evening, as the morning service was full to the brim and some of the members were interested in an evening service, especially the youth. The evening service began the first Sunday in October. The Mission Team held the Second Annual Shoe Give A Way where donations of new and slightly used shoes were offered for anyone in the community who would like them. We had ten carloads of needy persons who stopped by. Many of us joined the Johnson family at their home for the Annual Pool Party. Mission Presbytery recognized Grace as one of the top 4 churches in our entire Presbytery (162 churches) in their per capita benevolent giving for 2001. Two new Disciple classes began in September, Disciple I led by Nancy Reeves and Disciple II led by Chris Granger, Carl Burklund and Susan Mayson. The New Building Team came up with a plan to begin Phase I of our building plan to begin construction of a worship space that would seat 290 people and meet the budget of $750,000. They shared pictures with the congregation of the revised facility based on this change in September. The adult Sunday school class participated in a study on "Coming Home to Christmas" during the Advent season. We could be seen caroling in the neighborhood around Grace, inviting our neighbors to join us in worship. Again in December, during the annual Christmas pageant directed by Brenda Krusely, we marveled at our children. The HOLY Grace Club held an ornament and Christmas Story exchange at the home of Connie Roalson. The New Building Team reported that our building plans were submitted with the hope of getting our building permit by December 19. Unfortunately, the City of Round Rock had more things they wanted us to do before they would approve the plans.   2003 The New Building Team submitted new plans to the City of Round Rock on January 14, with the hope we could begin construction within 6 weeks. As of February 17 the City had everything they needed, but were still reviewing our plans. Despite the uncertainty we decided to go ahead with plans for our groundbreaking ceremony in March. We began celebrating birthdays each month with birthday cake after the services. The Junior High and Senior High youth attended Mid-Winters at MoRanch with adult sponsors Kevin Jones and Susan Mayson as Jr. High sponsors and Kevin, Nancy, Matt, Chris, Reeves, Sharon Carr, and Ken Krusely as Sr. High sponsors. Our own Pastor Nancy was the keynote speaker for the Sr. High Retreat. Early March we combined Fat Tuesday with Ash Wednesday, eating pancakes and lots and lots of bacon, and then receiving ashes to begin the Lenten season. March 16 was a very special day in the life of Grace. We had 307 people attend our groundbreaking service with 10 different Presbyterian congregations and 10 different other denominations. Our biggest surprise was when Gonzales Presbyterian Church presented us with a check of $20,000 for our building fund along with a promise of $20,000 for the next four years. We also were blessed with the help of so many of our church families who helped with the preparation and the actual service and barbeque meal afterwards. Browning Construction was given the "Notice to Proceed" shortly thereafter. The Mission Team held a car wash in March and a garage sale in April to raise funds for the annual mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Grace said goodbye to Ruth Brunk after her death following a brief illness on April 27. We celebrated her life in a service at Grace on Sunday May 4 thanking God for knowing such a strong woman of faith. We welcomed our new Director of Music Ho-Ling Chen in May. Progress continued on the building with much digging, scraping, inspecting and then plumbing! The foundation was finally laid. The HOLY Grace Club began meeting for a Book Club. The summer brought a new Alpha class on Wednesday nights and the annual mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico. The Grace Choir started up and started practicing for the building Dedication Ceremony. We finally had a parking lot we could actually use. Finally after waiting three years for a program grant from the PCUSA, we received word that we had been given a 5 year grant to enhance the various programs of Grace. The payment would be as follows-2003-$44,500, 2004-$49,000, 2005- $42,333, 2006-$25,333, 2007-$17,000. This grant enabled us to purchase video and sound equipment for our sanctuary, as well as put up new signage. With the addition of a mortgage, we believed this grant came at the perfect time, so we could not reduce our programs as we struggled to meet a mortgage payment. During the month of June three of our members went to Stephen Leader training in Florida. Our congregation was also recognized this month by Mission Presbytery as one of the top two churches who had made the largest increase in their mission giving for this year. In August, approximately 80 people showed up on a Saturday morning to dig ditches, lay pipe and put sprinkler heads together for the irrigation system for the grounds. At the same time the New Building Team was advised that our irrigation plans called for a meter tap that would cost another $23,000. But the team began to explore the options including drilling a well for irrigation. The members were offered the opportunity to purchase trees or bushes for the grounds in honor of a loved one. In September we began a new Disciple I class. In addition our Stephen Leaders began training our first class of Stephen Ministers Stephen Leaders included Kevin Jones, Sharon Roberson and Kathy Pinson. Stephen Ministers included Eva Burklund, Sharon Carr, Sharon Greensage, Mary Armour Hansford, Nancy Hunter, and Mitch Lestico. October was dedicated to daily prayer, for the completion of the building and grounds and for approval by the City of Round Rock for a certificate of occupancy. We could not use the building in any way if we did not have a Certificate of Occupancy. Sarah Shaney became our childcare provider for the nursery in October and became popular with the young ones very soon. The Fourth Annual Fall Fest was held on Saturday November 1 with craft booths, game booths and food booths. The following day on November 2 at 3 p.m. we met with our friends and sister churches to dedicate our new building to God. Three hundred fifteen joined with us to worship and dedicate our building to God. The theme for the day came from Hebrews 3:4, "God is the builder of all things". Following the service we also shared a fajita dinner. We closed out the year with an Angel tree, to select items to purchase for our adopted family; a HOLY Grace Club ornament exchange at Susan Mayson's home, our annual Christmas pageant; and our first Christmas Eve candlelight service in our new sanctuary. We were so thankful to finally be together in our new building on Christmas Eve.   2004 January was a time of new beginnings in several areas. Christina Mereness began our Children's Choir which is a delight for our congregation. Vicky Reeves began coordinating a monthly children's fellowship time, "Kids Night Out", where the elementary and preschool children enjoy games, food and a movie on our big screen. In addition our women began a Friday morning Bible study in January. In February we were very excited to hire a secretary, Marti Good. It is a delight to be greeted by her friendly voice and warm smile on weekdays between 9 and 1. Our music team traveled to Gonzales to lead music during worship for the Presbyterian Church of Gonzales. Their church traveled to Round Rock during August to celebrate the ordination and installation of our new elders. We are excited to have this on-going relationship with our sister church. We began the season of Lent with a pancake supper, followed by an Ash Wednesday Worship, including the imposition of ashes. Lenten studies continued on Wednesday evenings. We celebrated a foot washing and communion on Maundy Thursday, remember the crucifixion through a Good Friday Tenebrae service on Friday, and rose with the sun for a sunrise worship service, which was moved inside due to the rain! This was followed by a delicious breakfast and then Easter worship. Summer began with our annual trip to Reynosa where we constructed a home. Upon return we hosted youth from Oak Hills Presbyterian, Madison Square Presbyterian, Grace Presbyterian, Los Angeles Heights Presbyterian, and Gonzales Presbyterian Churches as they worked at Manos de Cristo. The congregation made took another leap of faith in voting to establish an Associate Pastor position for Children and Youth Ministry. A Pastor Nominating Committee was elected which will begin the search process for someone to guide us in reaching out to children, youth, and their families. Sharon Carr and Sharon Roberson traveled to St. Louis to be trained in the Christ Care Small Group Ministry. Upon returning they have begun training small group leaders for our congregation. Christ Care groups will be beginning in the Spring of 2005. For the past few years our congregation has had a large number of people participate in the Walk to Emmaus. In the Fall seventeen of our women attended a Walk, which brought the total number of Grace members who have participated in an Emmaus weekend to 75. Many of our members serve on Emmaus Teams or on the Diakonia Board. Members of Grace participated enthusiastically with Habitat for Humanity as this group began constructing its very first home in the area. Having made the transition into our new building, the Session recognized the need to again do long range planning. A Long Range Planning Team was selected and is beginning the process of exploring 5 year goals for our congregation. We have been on an incredible journey of faith. There have been highs and lows, times of frustration and times of fulfillment. There have been countless people who have grown in their life of faith and in the sharing of their gifts. As we continue this journey may we always remember that with God all things are possible! 2005   2006