2025 Mission Market

Over 16 years ago, Grace Baptist Church was introduced to the Missions Market by Barbara Scott. She came to Grace in 2005, and having understood the importance of relationships established with community partners and the power of connecting the congregation to the life-changing work of its partner organizations doing work we care about deeply. Barbara saw an opportunity to help Grace grow in its generosity and participation in mission work beyond the building. In 2009, with Jim Rothrock's blessing and support as the Chair of Missions, the first GBC Mission's Market was hosted!

Known for her clipboard outlining what needs to be done and what help is still needed, Barbara recently helped the Missions Commission launch its 17th Missions Market in October, just before reports clarified how a prolonged federal government shutdown and SNAP cuts and would increase the workload and pressure on not only our city and community, but specifically some of our partners who work directly with people experiencing food insecurity.

Typically, our opportunity to give to the organizations supported through our Missions Market runs through the end of November. However, the Missions Commission and Stewardship Commission are extending the opportunity to give directly to our partners via the Mission's Market through December 31, 2025. This extension is in response to the emerging food crisis and growing requests for basic needs and food assistance that our partners are seeing in our community. Giving generously is not the only thing we can do to help meet the needs of our neighbors, but it is one of the first responses we can have while other forms of service and advocacy are organized for impact and aligned with our church's gifts.

Members of our congregation may give to any of our Mission Market partners, and during December we would specifically encourage supporting the organizations engaged with individuals and families experiencing food insecurity: River City Faith Network's South Richmond Baptist Center, OAR of Richmond, Side by Side, and The Underground Kitchen. We have also added Feed More to this list of our partners. In the coming weeks, we plan to share more stories highlighting how our partners in ministry are directly engaged in providing basic needs.

You are invited to peruse information about our partners below and give online or by check, made out to Grace Baptist Church, indicating in the memo which Mission Partner(s) you are supporting.

Our partners continue to work very hard, often with limited resources, to care for our community and the world.  Let’s show them some extra support and gratitude as we give generously this year!

Thank you for your interest in this year’s Mission Market
and for the many ways you extend generosity to our community and beyond.