Introduction

THE TITLE of this Diocesan Plan is “Turning to Grace.” This is intended to have several meanings at the same time.

One meaning follows from what happened on the first Easter morning. At the empty tomb of Jesus, faces turned inward to see only the emptiness of the moment, Jesus appears and speaks—to draw attention to himself and then to direct attention to a New Creation that, because of his Resurrection, was stretching out before them. His followers—his loved ones—had to turn from loss, find his face again (even though it was difficult to recognize), and turn their own faces to the new, challenging, and glorious way ahead of them. It is a turning toward the face of grace, Jesus himself as the ikon of the triune God, that always redeems and reorients his disciples so that they can be beacons of Resurrection hope for the world.

We pray that our work, following this plan, will be carried out with these dynamics and these benefits! There are many challenging realities we must “face up to” so we pray for courage and faith in everything we seek to do as we intentionally find ways to turn our faces to the grace of God—that grace which has sustained and is sustaining each one of us as well as the whole Body of Christ that is the Diocese of Huron at this very moment.