Associate Pastor for Engagement

317-726-5416 | GPayne@SecondChurch.org

Gracie is passionate about encouraging disciples of Jesus as they live out the mission of God for the good of our city and the flourishing of our world. As the Associate Pastor for Engagement, she delights in welcoming folks to Second's community and journeying with them in their discipleship.  

Gracie’s childhood was largely shaped by her passion for ballet which now informs her understanding of the Christian faith as lived out through our bodies in the dance of community. She believes – as followers of a God who took on flesh, moved into the neighborhood, and spread out those arms on the cross to embrace the world – it is our joy and our responsibility to show up for one another, form deep relationships, and join Jesus Christ in healing the world.

Gracie is a graduate of Indiana University (B.A. Communications, English) and Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.). Gracie previously served as the Associate Pastor of Young Adult Engagement and a Lake Fellow in Parish Ministry at Second, as well as in congregations in Carlisle, PA and Dayton, NJ. She also apprenticed with 1001 New Worshiping Communities, interned at the Office of the General Assembly, and completed Clinical Pastoral Education at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Gracie is married to Christian Payne; the couple met while working in Pennsylvania and married in 2017.
Gracie loves returning to the ballet studio, gardening, needlepointing, reading novels and poetry, and going on walks with her husband, Christian, and dog, Xylo.

Book recommendations: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde), Strangers and Pilgrims Once More (Addison Hodges Hart), Being Human (Rowan Williams), Let the Bones Dance (Marcia W. Mount Shoop)