At St. Marcus, Milwaukee, Wis., members are encouraged to embrace a mentality of “radical withness.” Kate Krieger, ministry coordinator at St. Marcus, explains, “The concept behind this is that one of the best ways we can witness is by showing Christ’s love through our interactions with others—walking alongside them through the ups and downs of their life.”

The congregation aims to do exactly this through its involvement in Embrace Grace, a nationwide program that works through local churches to support single women experiencing unexpected pregnancies. Twice each year, St. Marcus runs a ten-week Embrace Grace session, during which expecting mothers—often referred to St. Marcus by a local pregnancy center or word of mouth—attend a weekly dinner followed by a lesson and discussion.

Once the program is complete, the congregation throws a baby shower for the entire cohort of mothers. “Our church members are encouraged to come to the baby shower and bring gifts,” explains Krieger. “But the aspect of the baby shower that I really love is that we integrate worship and prayer. There is a point during every shower when each pregnant mom is surrounded by a group of church members that prays over her and provides spiritual encouragement for the journey ahead.”

The Embrace Grace program has provided congregation members a multitude of opportunities to serve. Members can sign up to attend weekly sessions as “encouragers,” pairing themselves with an expecting mother to build a relationship and help ease her into conversation. Members also can lead sessions, prepare or serve dinners, help with baby shower planning, or donate gifts. One member even makes a cake for each baby shower, and others donate their photography skills to help capture lasting memories.

After each session has run its course, Krieger and leadership at St. Marcus work to keep participants engaged. For example, the follow-up to Embrace Grace is Embrace Life, a 20-week session that focuses on supporting single moms. Weekly lessons include topics like financial stability, identity in Christ, and co-parenting.

St. Marcus is currently wrapping up its third cohort of expecting mothers in the Embrace Grace program (and first cohort in Embrace Life), and a beautiful community is beginning to form. Because Embrace Grace and Embrace Life meet at the same time on Tuesday nights, the expecting mothers and single mothers get to know and encourage one another over dinner.

For some of the women, the Embrace Grace program and baby shower are conduits for experiencing Christlike love. “I know it doesn’t come close to Christ’s love for us, but to them, it is the closest thing to experiencing relentless and abundant love in their life,” says Krieger. “It’s incredible to see how that outpouring of love can impact people.”

Author: FIC
Volume 112, Number 03
Issue: March 2025