In the late 1900s, the church baptized and ordained David Pendleton Oakerhater, a Cheyenne warrior and political prisoner.

Grace's activism included providing a home to one of the first Head Start programs, offering training for Peace Corps, and Vista volunteers, and holding meetings of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE).

In 1974, Betty Bone Scheiss of Grace was ordained three years prior to the Episcopal General Convention's recognition of women priests.

In 2008, Grace was one of the first diocesan parishes to participate in Central New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride.

Its congregation is of the most racially integrated in the nation, and Grace continues to be a welcoming parish to people of all races, ethnicity, theological backgrounds, sexual orientation and gender identity.