The National Church encourages every diocese, congregation and organization in the Episcopal Church to collect, preserve and organize its records and to share its history and encourages us to join the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists. The Grace Archivist, Susan Cooper used their book, Archives for Congregations; A practical Guide to Developing Church Archives, 2^nd edition. The Vestry approved this work in 2015.

As for all ministries, storage space is limited and recently archived papers, photos, reports and albums were moved and reside in 3 small and unsuitable cabinets. Architectural plans reside in boxes on top of a cabinet without protection. An immediate action plan is being written for leadership review; it includes:

• Description of suitable space needs for both processing and storage.
• A proposed budget.
• Preservation supplies and equipment list.
• Necessary preservation practices will be suggested.
• Plan for scanning photos and documents. This does not apply to original documents that need to be kept.
• Indexing and inventory of the materials that are available.
• Detailed descriptions will be written for incunabula and other items preserved in the original.

Our history is in the process of being updated and written for the website. Resources currently reside in several documents in archives. Examples of these documents include the following:

• A founding of Grace and its various locations.
• A 20th Anniversary Bulletin for the 20^th Anniversary of Grace.
• The Story of Grace written in 2011 for a Gala Celebration and Silent Auction.
• The Gala swag 2012 Photo Calendar presented to participants is also being mined for history.
• A Clergy time line.
• 2013-2021 documentation of Fr. Shannon’s tenure at Grace.
• On November 15, 2014, Grace celebrated 25 years and those documents are available for this more comprehensive history as well.

Communication at Grace is both internal (our congregants) and external (attracting new members) and encompasses an array of media platforms that range from our Website, weekly E-News, internal email communication, print media, and social media outlets including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.

Church communication is a challenge. Trying to find a balance between confidentiality and transparency requires strategic planning and commitment. Preparation of a comprehensive plan is in the works.

Other areas of responsibility include communication with the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada and our outreach partners.

Grace in the Desert has a communicate team, a calendar subcommittee and external communication subcommittee. All are dedicated to attracting potential newcomers. Mostly especially young families with children.

Several tools are dedicated to communicating inwardly with the congregation including the weekly bulletin and the weekly E-News using the Constant Contact app. The Parish office e-mail uses our comprehensive Servant Keeper database. Lastly, the Website describes, in detail, the workings of our church.

External Communication and Rebranding plans include:

• Rebranding and creating a new outward-facing design for the website present a more adaptable format for multiple device types (e.g., iphones, ipads, tablets, computer screens) and appeal to a broader audience.
• Reactivating and rebranding our Facebook page
• Increasing our visibility on YouTube, Twitter and other social media outlets.

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