Meet Our Archdeacon, The Ven. Janice Grinnell

Jan first sensed a call to ordained ministry as a child in her parent’s church in Pennsylvania.  This was a protestant church which actually had a few women ministers. She did not pursue this call until years later when she became a recovering alcoholic, and discovered a God of unconditional love for all people.  She was passionate about helping others understand this unconditional love, and found her call to help those suffering from addiction and mental illness.  Jan completed the RI School for Deacons in 1990, and was ordained a Deacon on March 16,1991 by Bishop George Hunt.

Jan has served liturgically at St. Michael’s, Bristol; Trinity Church in Newport; St. Paul’s, Wickford; and currently at St. Augustine’s at the University of Rhode Island.  Over the years, her ministry has evolved as she has continued to strive to discern God’s call to her in the world beyond the physical walls of the church.  In 1998, she became interested in Parish Interim Ministry and was trained in the Appreciative Inquiry model for this work in our diocese.  She and The Rev. David Dobbins have formed the first Priest/Deacon Interim team in Rhode Island and have served together in this role in each of her parish assignments.  One of Jan’s passions is to help individuals and organizations discover, define, and articulate the ‘passionate purpose’ that God has called them to pursue. This has been successful in each parish in which they have served.

Currently, Jan and David are engaged in campus ministry for the University of Rhode Island (URI) with the parishioners of St. Augustine’s, Kingston.  Together, they have created a “Feed a Friend” program to engage students with parishioners through home cooked meals.  They also joined the others in the Diocese in outreach efforts to take the church into the world.  They participated in “Ashes to Go” on Ash Wednesday, and as a result of this success, offered “Hot Cross Buns To Go” on Maundy Thursday along with an invitation to join St. Augustine’s during Holy Week and Easter.  This was followed by combining Smartie Candies and a prayer for final exams and creating “Smarties to Go.”  Another amazing discovery was uncovering campus hunger at URI in the student community.  This has led to establishing a Food Pantry in collaboration with the Johhnycake Center in Wakefield, and the Feinstein Foundation and the University Administration.  The food pantry will be open twice a month to distribute food to those in need.

Jan’s secular employment over the years has focused on IT consulting.  She has worked for several large companies, and now owns her own certified Woman Owned Enterprise (WBE).  She provides software consulting services to state government agencies throughout the country for system testing, training, and project management.  She has people working in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.  She has also begun to bring Appreciative Inquiry consulting to several large corporations.

In January, 2013, Bishop Knisely appointed Jan to serve as Archdeacon of our Diocese.  Jan’s enthusiasm for building the diaconate in our diocese has been well received by the current deacons.  One of her focal points has been to try to identify opportunities to share with others the bishop’s vision of revitalizing the Diaconate in Rhode Island. 

Jan says of her years in active ministry, “I have been blessed to be able to serve God through the ministry of the Diaconate.  I began with the vision of sharing God’s unconditional love with those who would listen.  For me, the result has been that those I have ministered to have held up a mirror to reflect this concept back to me through their love and support for me and my family.  I am thrilled to be part of this diocese at this time.  We embrace God’s call for his whole church to reach out to those who still need to hear, understand, and accept this love; and ultimately, experience the joy of living in God’s kingdom right here in Rhode Island!”