Grace Church was admitted as a parish of the Diocese of Maryland at the Diocesan Convention held in Baltimore in 1870. Seven communicants were reported at that time. The first two years of Grace Church’s history was marked by nomadic services, as Reverend J.D. McCabe (from the Zion Church of Urbana) agreed to alternate services between New Market and Urbana. At the convention of 1869, permission was granted to organize an independent congregation at New Market. This same year saw the organization of the first Ladies Guild and the first festival to raise funds for the Church. Services were held in the saloon of the Odd Fellows Hall. The original preamble and resolutions submitted to the convention of 1870 were preserved in the church archives.
In the late 1870’s, the Reverend James Stephenson, D.D., a native of Ireland, was appointed rector of Grace Church. He helped to develop not only Grace Church, but also the missions of St. James, Mt. Airy, and St. Paul’s, Poplar Springs. These three congregations in the early 1890’s were combined by Doctor Stephenson to form the Linganore Parish.
The precise date of the construction of the original church building and rectory is unknown. The original church building was destroyed by fire on May 2, 1902, was rebuilt during 1902, and new construction was completed in 1903.
The Reverend Leon Vauthier came to New Market in 1936 and served as the rector until 1956. After his death, the church was served by a succession of deacons, each being ordained as a priest in due course and leaving Grace Church.
During the period from 1966 to 1973, no priest was resident at Grace Church and two lay readers, Walter Kirk and George Delaplaine, maintained Sunday services, with the Reverend Arnold Ross coming from Frederick once a month to celebrate Holy Communion.
In 1973, the Reverend Robert Jacques, Ph.D., was selected, by diocese, to be the rector at Grace Church. Father Jacques initiated many ongoing traditions at Grace Church, including a music ministry, and ecumenical services for special worship days such as Good Friday and Thanksgiving. Shared Lenten services with St. James, Mt. Airy, were initiated together with a shared Easter Vigil Service. Doctor Jacques retired in September of 1984.
In April 1985, after the first search process was conducted by Grace Church, a new part time rector was named. The Reverend John Cawthorne was chosen and served as the part time rector for three years. During those three years, while the parish size remained the same, significant activities were started including increased fund raising, the decision to proceed with the renovation of the rectory, and increased parish activities.
When Reverend Cawthorne left in 1988, the church was again without a minister until January 1990, when Reverend Columba Gillis was named as the new part-time rector. When she retired in January 2003, a search committee was formed to name Reverend Mary-Pat Ashby as the part-time priest-in-charge in March 2003. While serving as priest in charge, she oversaw the deconsecration of the church on Main St. and the consecration of the new church on Green Valley Road in April 2008. Reverend Mary-Pat Ashby served until her retirement in March 2011.
From 2011 until 2013, Rev. Timothy Kroh was named interim minister while Grace formed another search committee. Under that committee, Reverend Sharon Watts was called to be the part-time rector, supporting the church from September 2013 until her retirement in April 2025. She ministered to the congregation through the COVID19 pandemic and was able to, post pandemic, re-establish routine church services, supporting functions, and a children’s Sunday School.
Following our search and discernment process, we are pleased to welcome Rev. Kiona Lookingbill as our Priest-in-Charge in November, 2025. We look forward to the ministry care and guidance she brings to our community.