Oceans of Grace Spiritual Life Center is an outreach ministry of First Lutheran Church of East Greenwich. It was created in 2004 as the doctoral project of Pastor Linda Forsberg, who worked along with a team of about 20 people from First Evangelical Lutheran Church. The team came up with the name in a brainstorming session. We are in Rhode Island, the “Ocean State.” If we want to share one thing from our Lutheran theology with the world, it would be all about “Grace.” Our brainstorming team put those two concepts together, and “Oceans of Grace” was born. Our guiding bible verse is from John 1: 16: “From God’s fullness we all have received, grace upon grace.”

Oceans of Grace was designed to reach out into the community where we are planted, especially to those who have no church community, to those who perhaps have been wounded by “church,” or to those who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious.” The team decided that our mission would be two-pronged, “Ministering to peoples’ physical and spiritual needs.” We minister to people’s physical needs through our food, clothing, shelter, and health and wellness ministries. We minister to people’s spiritual needs through our worship, partnerships, and spiritual formation programs, including classes, workshops, retreats, and spiritual direction ministries. Since the goal of Oceans of Grace is to meet the needs of the community in which we are planted, like the ocean, Oceans of Grace is constantly renewing itself, to meet the waves of change in our community and the wider world.