Grace (Merle Dandridge) has only been in town for a couple of days, and she's already shaking things up.
While Jacob (Lamman Rucker), the bishop's (Keith David) only son, reluctantly agrees to head the deacon board, his wife, Kerissa, is feeling out whether Grace, once the most promising pastor of the Greenleaf children, is a threat to her husband's ascendency.
Grace, however, isn't focused on climbing the ladder. When she isn't serving parishioners, she's trying to uncover Uncle Mac's dark secret, which leads her to a taped confession of a teenager named Danielle, who shares a disturbing story about Mac's alleged crimes. Later, when Grace pays a visit to Danielle's family, it soon becomes clear that she is unwelcome.
However, Grace's office job is not without its own set of challenges. On her first day, she discovers that David Nelson, a police officer who was recently accused of killing an unarmed African-American teenager, has been trying to contact the bishop. Grace sits down with David, who is looking for some church support as Black Lives Matter protests threaten to upend his life.
Back at Calvary, the bishop resolves not to give an inch to Bob Banks (guest star Ali Mitchell, "Survivor's Remorse"), the senior senator from Tennessee, who has launched an inquiry into whether large churches like Calvary are taking advantage of their tax-exempt status.
Kevin Satterlee (Tye White), a Greenleaf in-law, invites a homeless-outreach group to use Calvary's space a few times a week to feed and house their clients. Kevin, however, seems to have something else in mind when he converses with the young, attractive leader of the organization.
Meanwhile, Grace's daughter, Sophia, struggles to fit in at her new school, Excellence Academy. As she copes with the strange environment, she begins listening to CDs of her aunt Faith preaching as a young woman.
Finally, Mac catches wind of Grace's snooping--and vows to put an end to it.