On October 8, 2024, six days short of 34 years since his installation as the Bishop of New York, the Rt. Reverend Richard Frank Grein passed away. He retired as Bishop in 2001 after making an indelible imprint on the Episcopal Diocese of New York including, notably from our perspective, overseeing the creation of Episcopal Charities of New York. 30 years and $25 million of grants later, we are still doing what we were created to do: addressing acute need throughout the vast footprint of the Diocese.
Bishop Grein was born and raised in Bemidji, MN, and it was in bucolic Minnesota that his ministry began. Although urban life in New York City featured later in his life and career, perhaps it was his rural roots that enabled him to so ably straddle the needs of a diverse Diocese, which stretches from Staten Island through the Hudson Valley to the outer reaches of Ulster and Dutchess counties.
Bishop Grein had some important collaborators in the formation of Episcopal Charities, including Cecil Wray, David Callard, Sandra Johnson, Bill Herrman, Joyce Dinkins, Peter Gevalt, and Robert Dyson, among others. Behind the legal complexity of starting a new non-sectarian charitable organization was a simple and enduring concept: that the 160+ churches of the Diocese, with their local community outreach work, provide a unique network through which Episcopal Charities can access those suffering from hunger and homelessness, vulnerable youth, the elderly, the displaced and others in need.
We are grateful for Bishop Grein’s wisdom and vision. The whole Episcopal Charities community, including our grantee partners, benefits each day from his care and affection for our work. And now, at his passing and in yet another act of charity and love, his family has asked that gifts in his memory be made to us. Please consider making a gift in Bishop Grein’s memory here: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/form/2BX3nA?vid=18dslg
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