Welcome to Grace for the Journey

At Grace for the Journey Ministries, our mission is to empower women by providing them with the tools, resources, guidance, and education they need to embrace their inherent talents, gifts, needed to pursue purpose wholeheartedly.

Through our transformative workshops, conferences, and training, we support women in transcending hardships, fostering hope, and ultimately cultivating them into influential leaders within their communities.

Meet Athena C. Shack, MDiv

Chief Executive Officer | Author | Entrepreneur

Athena C. Shack, MDiv, officially became a “New Yorker” in 1996 after graduating from State University of New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology with her AAS degree in Fashion Buying and Merchandising and Bachelor’s degree in Marketing & International Trade.

With a passion for life-transformative teaching, Smith has spent the last 20+ years teaching various biblical studies in local church ministries as well as training and equipping.

In 2010, she made the brave, God-ordained, move from New York to Mississippi and graduated with honors from Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) with a Masters of Divinity degree. MTS not only gave her a degree but also the opportunity to meet and marry her husband and fellow MDiv student. Both serve faithfully as ordained Ministers at The Place of the Outpouring in Memphis, TN.

In 2014, she pioneered a new children’s ministry program in her local church creating an exciting place for children to learn, grow, and serve God together which ministers to over 180 families.

Following life-changing experiences, she authored her first book in 2015, Grace for the Journey: Navigating Back to the Land of the Living after Tragedy, Trauma or Loss. Under the same title, she created the non-profit Grace for the Journey Ministries and has led workshops across the country and the Caribbean designed to empower women, encourage grievers, and equip laity and leaders. She is the author of Becoming God’s Dwelling Place, and the scripture writing/prayer journal series, Write. Listen. Pray.™ With a longstanding entrepreneurial and teaching spirit, Shack has a passion for building a bridge between the marketplace and Christian ministry.

She is also the owner of Watersprings Publishing and as a Kingdom-minded, business owner, her mission is to deliver books and resources to the marketplace that refresh the spirit, renew the mind, and restore the soul. Rev. Athena Shack is a gifted and powerful teacher and proclaimer of the gospel with a prophetic anointing and a heart for the brokenhearted. However, at the end of the day, she is called ‘momma’ by an artsy young lady, two charming boys, and a wife by her amazing husband.

Meet Stacy Y. Thomas, MDiv

Vice Executive Officer | Author | Entrepreneur

Stacy Y. Thomas, is the youngest and only girl of 3 children and the proud mother of two beautiful young ladies. Born and raised in Castle Hill Projects in The Bronx, NY, Stacy gave her life to Christ at the tender age of 11. She worked hard to get out of the “P.J.’s” and in July of 1993 left The Bronx to attend Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. After obtaining her degree in Fashion Design from S.U., she fulfilled her life-long dream of becoming a licensed Cosmetologist. After years in corporate America, she decided to start her own beauty brand, I Design Beauty, LLC.

Out of the ashes of sickness, calamity and life lessons from the school of hard knocks, another passion within Stacy began to burn, which was writing. As her marriage began to unravel, she started to release her feelings by journaling. In her first book “Where Do I Go from Here? Redefining Yourself After Heartbreak and Brokenness” (released August 2, 2016), Stacy pens the tools and tactics she used to go from brokenness to being made whole and living an abundant life.

After 11 years, Stacy answered the call of God on Sunday, August 18, 2019, becoming a licensed minister at Morning Star Full Gospel Assembly, where the current Senior Pastor is Rubin S. Thompson. She is a part of the Ecclesiastical staff, serves on the Women’s Fellowship Committee Board, and is the Director of The Children of Holiness, which is a praise dance ministry for the youth ages 7-17, as well as the Liturgical Dance Ministry, which is a praise dance ministry for adults ages 18 & up.

With her professional career, entrepreneurial spirit, ministry duties; as a single mother of two beautiful young ladies, Stacy believes Romans 8:28 says it best, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

We Need Your Support

October 2024, we are traveling to St. Lucia, West Indies to impart, train and uplift women across various socio-communities with a variety of needs. Your support will help bring books, food, health, and beauty products and training and empowerment to 40 women. We have multiple ways you or your organization can make an impact in the lives of the women, their families and communities.

Tap a link to learn more about becoming a sponsor.