Grace Episcopal Church is an affirming Episcopal parish rooted in the practice of loving God and all of God’s creation.
Grace Celebrates Diversity
At Grace Church we strive to cultivate an open, inclusive, and affirming environment for all who would come - embracing people of every race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability level, education level, and religious background. Our understanding of the Bible calls us to acknowledge the inherent dignity of every human being, and we believe that Jesus' love extends to all. In our view, diversity was God's idea in the first place! At Grace you will find that our parishioners and clergy come from all walks of life - lifelong Tennesseans and immigrants, trans and cis, queer and straight, poor and wealthy, liberal and conservative. We hope you will come experience our congregation for yourself. We look forward to welcoming and learning more about you!
Resources:
Believe Out Loud - LGBT Resources for Christians
LGBTQ+ in the Episcopal Church
TransEpiscopal - Working toward the full embrace of transgender and nonbinary people in and through The Episcopal Church.
The Union of Black Episcopalians
Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church
Latino/Hispanic Ministries of the Episcopal Church
Our Team
Rev. April Berends: Rector
April has served as the Rector of Grace Church since December 2017. Prior that she served parishes in Miami, Washington DC, and Milwaukee. With a background in community organizing and public health, April is interested in building relationships within the parish and the wider community and in equipping congregations to listen to the world around us as we discern how God is calling us to engage with our neighborhoods and our cities. She is a graduate of Yale Divinity School/Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. She enjoys hiking, native plant gardening, ecology, cooking, pottery, photography and exploring both cities and forests. April is married to Drew Bunting, an Episcopal priest and songwriter. They have two school-aged children and an adventurous doodle.
Rev. Zac Settle, PhD: Curate
Fr. Zac was ordained to the priesthood in 2023. Prior to joining Grace he earned an Anglican Studies diploma at Sewanee’s School of Theology and completed an internship at Erlanger Hospital, where he was a chaplain for the cancer and diabetes units. Before that he earned a PhD in theology from Vanderbilt’s Graduate Department of Religion. His first book, On the Nature, Limits, Meaning, and End of Work, was published in Bloomsbury Academic’s “Reading Augustine” series in 2023. Zac is married to Meg, and they have two daughters: Margot and Birdie. He likes to spend his free time chasing those kids, reading, cooking, watching movies, and trying to become less terrible at golf.
Monika Barger: Communications
Monika Barger is in charge of communications at Grace. She spenders her time managing Grace Notes (our weekly newsletter), building bulletins, answering phones, responding to emails, and giving away (a not insignificant amount of) bus passes. When she's not at Grace, she's either journaling on her preferred stationary at a local tea room or trying to hunt down the infamous Grace ghost. She promises to report back on her findings soon. She's through and through a people person, and she's always happy to help connect folks however she can, so don't hesitate to reach out.
Karla Fowkes: Organist
Karla Fowkes graduated from Southern Adventist University in 1979. The following year she studied at the Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, Austria with Peter Planyavsky. She earned a Master of Music degree in organ performance at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1986. She is the Organist/Choirmaster at Christ Church, Episcopal, a position she has held since 1992. She enjoys performing regularly with the Chattanooga Bach Choir.
Rev. Casey Perkins: Deacon
The Reverend Casey Andrew Perkins began serving as deacon at Grace Church in June 2023. He lives and works in Sewanee, TN where he is the Director of Alumni, Annual Giving, and Church Relations for the School of Theology at the University of the South. He also graduated from the School of Theology with a Master of Arts in Theology in 2022. Growing up in Southwest Georgia, he attended a United Methodist church and a Southern Baptist school - tough places for a young queer kid in the deep south. In 2005 he found a welcoming and affirming home in the Episcopal Church. Deacon Casey is passionate about helping Queer people find safety and support in the Church. Casey is a certified coach (ACC), spiritual director, and labyrinth facilitator. He is in formation to become a Benedictine oblate of the Community of St. Mary. An avid music and musical theatre lover, Casey sings in the School of Theology's Schola Cantorum in Sewanee. He loves museums and art galleries, mystery novels, traveling to big cities, and watching reruns of The West Wing.
David Long: Director of Music & Choirmaster
David serves as the Director of Music and the Choirmaster at Grace. He also serves as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Chattanooga Bach Choir since 2005, succeeding James Greasby, Founding Director. He also conducts the Tennessee Festival Singers and is a frequent guest conductor with the Chattanooga-based Voci Virili Men’s Consort. David is a graduate of Elon College and holds Master’s degrees in Performance-Orchestral Conducting from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Church Music from Southern Theological Seminary. David has participated in the Beyond the Baton Workshop Seminar, the Conductors’ Institute of the University of South Carolina, the Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestra Musicians, and the Oregon Bach Festival, where he was selected as a conducting fellow, studying in masterclasses under Helmuth Rilling. In 2001, he was chosen to participate in the Symphonic Conducting Workshop and Competition at the Accademia dell’ Arte of Florence/Arezzo, where he was a prize winner and conducted the Accademia dell’ Arte Orchestra in Florence, Italy. He resides in Chattanooga with his wife, Karen, a media relations specialist for Memorial Hospital, and their three children, Megan, Jacob, and Cassidy. He enjoys bicycle riding with his family on the many trails and greenways along the Tennessee River and Chickamauga Creek.
