THE GRACE RENEWAL STORY
God is bringing Grace Church through a powerful season of revitalization. In 2017 the congregation at Grace did not have a full time pastor, had dwindled to a few dozen people, and were carrying $2.5 Million in debt on the church building they had recently completed. Unable to pay the mortgage, the congregation was facing foreclosure. However, instead of closing or selling, the church prayed and trusted that God would provide. Today Grace regularly welcomes between 100-150 in weekly worship and has growing ministry programs for children, youth, young adults, men and women. Grace’s contributions to missions giving has grown significantly to partner with gospel organizations beyond the walls of our church, and we enjoy a rich, hospitable community life together. We also went “Debt Free in ‘23.”
God is at work at Grace Church and we believe he is just getting started.
INVESTING IN A SUSTAINABLE GRACE
Our next step is to gather a staff team to join our lead pastor to fulfill the mission we believe God has called us to for the sake of our valley and beyond. However, this comes with significant challenges. The extremely high housing costs of our valley present a barrier to hiring the team we need. Despite growing general contributions and a growing operational budget year over year, the housing hurdle is still too expensive to bring in the people we need from outside the valley.
Therefore, we are launching a capital campaign to address this barrier for good.
Our goal is to raise $2.5 Million to invest in housing for our second pastor along with a few other important investments.
The Elders and other leaders at Grace believe the most pressing needs of our congregation are to deepen discipleship, reach valley families, and structure the systems of our organization to promote a healthy community life together. We are in the process of hiring a second pastor to invest in these and other key priorities. By purchasing a home that the church owns and having the second pastor and his family live there for free, we reduce the “sticker price” of his role by 45% and can fit the rest of his compensation comfortably into our operational budget. Additionally, Grace will be in a much more flexible position for any future pastoral transitions, church-size changes, or economic seasons that may come.
We plan to invest in the gospel today to be prepared to share the gospel in whatever seasons may come.
Please consider what God may be calling you to contribute toward this project. Everything helps.
Thank You
Thank you for considering investing in the gospel at Grace church for generations to come through this initiative.
If you have any questions or would like to hear more about the Sustainable Grace campaign, please reach out to Pastor Luke Miedema: luke@graceroaringfork.com.