Meet M. Grace

Meet Mara “Grace" McWilliams

Mara “Grace” McWilliams—known professionally as Minister Grace or M. Grace—is an ordained interfaith minister, wedding officiant, wedding planner, spiritual guide, wellness educator, Reiki Master, yoga therapeutics teacher, published writer, artist, event creator, and community advocate. She is the founder of Mountain Goodness & Grace, Ruidoso Weddings by Mountain Goodness & Grace, and Mountain Grace Sanctuary.

A first-generation American of Scottish and Italian heritage, Grace has always felt deeply connected to spirituality, storytelling, creativity, nature, and service. Today, she makes her home in the mountains of Lincoln County, New Mexico, where the beauty of the Sierra Blanca region inspires both her personal life and professional work.

Ministry, Weddings & Sacred Ceremonies

Grace has been an ordained minister for more than 26 years. Her ministry is inclusive, compassionate, and grounded in the belief that everyone deserves to feel seen, respected, and welcomed. She honors people of every background, belief, identity, and tradition, creating meaningful experiences that reflect each person’s values and unique path.

Through Ruidoso Weddings by Mountain Goodness & Grace, Grace serves as an officiant, wedding planner, and bridal concierge for couples throughout Ruidoso and the surrounding Southern New Mexico mountains. She offers everything from simple “Make It Legal” ceremonies and intimate mountain elopements to vow renewals, traditional weddings, spiritual ceremonies, and complete wedding-planning support.

Grace thoughtfully writes and performs personalized ceremonies that honor each couple’s relationship, beliefs, personalities, and love story. Her planning work combines genuine hospitality with thoughtful organization, local knowledge, trusted wedding professionals, and steady emotional support.

Whether she is standing beside a couple at Bonito Lake, guiding them through their vows in the mountains, coordinating their wedding day, or quietly helping an anxious bride find her breath, Grace approaches every celebration with warmth, reverence, and care.

Her philosophy is simple: all love is celebrated, all paths are welcome, and every love story deserves to be honored.

Healing, Wellness & Spiritual Guidance

Grace brings decades of study and lived experience to her healing and spiritual work. She is a Triple Disciplined Reiki Master, an Advanced Teacher of Yoga Therapeutics, and a Prajna Yoga 500-hour teacher. Her additional training includes Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Children’s Yoga, trauma-informed yoga, women’s holistic health coaching, life coaching, spiritual advising, herbal wellness, and end-of-life support as a death doula.

Through Mountain Goodness & Grace, she offers Reiki and energy healing, therapeutic and personalized yoga, spiritual guidance, Tarot, home blessings, ceremony creation, coaching, nervous-system support, women’s wellness, and earth-centered practices.

Her work is gentle, intuitive, and grounded in creating safe spaces where people can reconnect with themselves, their bodies, their inner wisdom, and the sacredness present in everyday life.

Published Writing & Creative Work

Long before founding Mountain Goodness & Grace, Grace was using poetry and visual art to explore healing, identity, resilience, and the complexity of the human experience.

Her book, Outta My Head and In Your Face, brings together original poetry and artwork in an honest and deeply personal creative collection. Her art and writing have also been recognized by Art Therapy Spot for their themes of hope, healing, emotional expression, and the powerful connection between creativity and recovery.

Grace’s work has additionally been published or featured by the San Jose Mercury News, Madrid Artist Quarterly, and in a Lambda literary anthology.

Whether expressed through poetry, paint, ceremony, teaching, or spiritual service, her creative work is rooted in the belief that honest expression can transform pain, nurture hope, and help people feel less alone.

Mountain Grace Sanctuary

Grace is the founder of Mountain Grace Sanctuary, an inclusive interfaith spiritual community devoted to healing, belonging, sacred learning, compassionate service, and a respectful relationship with the Earth.

The Sanctuary reflects her long-held belief that spiritual community should create room for people to arrive exactly as they are—without fear, exclusion, or pressure to follow a single prescribed path. Though still in the foundational phases, Grace looks forward to further sharing more about the Sanctuary in the near future.

At the heart of all Grace’s work is a commitment to helping people feel safe, supported, connected, and deeply honored. From weddings and sacred ceremonies to wellness, education, creative expression, community service, and spiritual companionship, every branch of her work grows from the same foundation: love, intention, compassion, and grace.

Rooted in love. Held in grace. Open to all.

May Your Love Only Grow.