Two Year
Ministry Plan

After most of our students retreats last year got cancelled due to the pandemic, we were overjoyed to be able to host retreats for all our high school students this spring! Over 500 students and small group leaders participated in our high school retreats at Carolina Point this past month.

Our 9th and 10th graders engaged the idea of “energy” on their retreat—exploring the ways they can manage and deploy their energy for the glory of God. On the 11th and 12th grade retreat, students focused on the topic of “family.” They learned about and discussed what it means to be part of the God’s family and to unite around the mission of the Church.

What a blessing for these students to sit under biblical teaching, worship together, grow in the community of their small groups, and just enjoy one another! We are so thankful for the growth and life change that was sparked on these retreats, and we hope you’ll join us in praying for our students, their families, and their leaders. To learn more about Grace students, click below.

As we celebrated the resurrection of Christ this Easter Sunday, we also had the opportunity to rejoice with 58 members of Grace who were baptized across all of our campuses. Baptism is a beautiful picture of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and it is also an important step of obedience for a believer. We hope you’ll take a moment to watch this video and rejoice with each one of these men, women, teens, and children who identified with Christ through baptism. To learn more about baptism at Grace, click below.

Over the six weeks before Easter, over 1,000 people participated in Marriage Matters: From Conflict to Connection. This class, taught by David and Ruthie Delk, was designed to help couples not only understand the root of their conflict, but also to point each other to Christ as they grow in oneness as a married couple.

Some of the participants had this to say about what they learned:

“Working on a marriage is much like dealing with an illness. If you only focus on fixing the symptoms, you never really find a cure for the disease.”

“I learned that no matter how broken your marriage has become, it's never too late to recognize it, communicate, and take action. Sometimes you find success through struggle, strength through strife, and simplicity through sacrifice.”

“The idols, wounds, and sins in my life don’t affect just me, but have a direct impact on my spouse and our relationship as well.”

“Our differences are ordained by God and for our growth and benefit.”

This is just a glimpse of how many couples have moved over the past weeks. We hope you will celebrate the growth that these couples have experienced and pray for marriages at Grace Church to continue to grow in oneness and in honoring God.

You can now access all of the Marriage Matters videos, handouts, and other materials online. Click below to learn more!

Every year, the weekend before Easter, Grace Church Kids celebrates Seder with our Camp Grace students (grades 1-4). This celebration involves not only a lesson explaining the significance of Passover, but the children also get to participate in an actual Seder meal. They learn first hand about the different elements of the Seder meal, what they represented to Jews in Jesus’ time, and how they also hold significance for us as believers in Christ. As they eat the Karpas (parsley) dipped in salt water, they learn how the greens symbolize new life and the salt water symbolizes the tears of Israelites in their enslavement. The children also sample Matzah, Maror (horseradish), Charoset (applesauce), and grape juice. Just as the Jews celebrated the passover lamb’s atonement for their sins, so we also rejoice in the redemptive power of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

To learn more about Grace Church Kids, click below!

An important facet of our Care & Recovery ministry at Grace Church is re:generation. Re:generation is a 12-step discipleship process oriented around life change and hope through the application of God’s Word.

Over the past year, the isolation and disruption of the pandemic have had a significant negative impact on many who struggle with addiction. We have seen many who grapple with control, anger, pornography, and similar process addictions, as well as an increase in relapses to drug and alcohol addiction. We are so thankful that our re:gen ministry is in place to help those who are struggling in this way.

Re:gen has helped countless members of our church and community find help, support, and hope in Christ. We celebrate that this year alone, 130 people have graduated from the re:gen program. There are currently 360 participants and 30 mentors who are walking through this journey of hope and recovery.

We are also excited that re:gen is now available at our Pelham, Harrison Bridge, and Anderson campuses—we will also be launching soon in Powdersville! As you pray for this ministry, know that re:gen is not just for those struggling with addiction. It is for all who are broken and dealing with sin to find hope in the gospel—that is all of us. To learn more about re:gen, click below.

One of our partner organizations is Christ for the City International in Nicaragua. They have been working hard, along with local churches, to support the countless individuals who have been affected by the pandemic as well as recent hurricanes. Although we haven’t been able to travel to Nicaragua over the past year, we have closely partnered with our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua through prayer, virtual teaching, and financial support.

Through this partnership, we have been able to help provide food, water filters, clothing, medical assistance, and other vital supplies to those in need. Recently, our Nicaragua Partnership Lead Wes Cavin was able to have a conversation with Fabricio Mendoza, the director of the Christ for the City International Nicaragua base and get an update about how things are going. Watch a short clip from the update below. To watch the full conversation, click here, and to see related photos, click here.

One of our partners in Puerto Rico is Hunger Corp—a local Christian nonprofit organization that works to rebuild Puerto Rico well after natural disasters in a way that brings dignity to those who have experienced loss. Over the past two years, Grace has sent three teams to Puerto Rico, and Hunger Corp has helped train our volunteers and coordinate the work we do there so we can best serve local communities.

Last year, we were able to donate ten thousand dollars for them to purchase two shipping containers. These containers have been retrofitted to store basic supplies so locals can be prepared for the next hurricane season. Afterwards, the containers can be used as mobile shower units for people who have no access to water in the aftermath of a hurricane.

We are also excited to let you know that we have another mission team going to Puerto Rico on May 1! We hope you'll be in prayer for both our members on the team and the staff members of Hunger Corp as they work together to rebuild in Puerto Rico. Click below to watch a video from the folks at Hunger Corp as they tell about the work they are doing in local communities. If you’re interested in applying for a summer mission trip to Puerto Rico, click here.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been unable to send our usual mission teams to our outreach partners in Nicaragua. Thankfully, we have been able to pivot to virtual connections—proving that the fruitfulness of the gospel cannot be limited.

Using Zoom, we have been able to teach several courses—including Core Values of the Church and Leadership Values—and spend time helping pastors and leaders think through how best to lead their congregations during a global pandemic. More than 30 pastors and leaders participated in our video sessions each month and received training/equipping that helps them lead their churches and in their communities. What we learned over the past year is that while the significant benefit of in-person interaction was missed, the work God is doing through our teams in Nicaragua can still have an impact until he opens the doors for us to travel once again.

We hope you will join us in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua. As we rejoice in the opportunity to connect with believers around the world, we pray that God would continue to expand his kingdom.

Mosaic—our special needs and disabilities ministry—has some exciting new curriculum offerings for our Mosaic families. We recently had our first group of ladies complete Mosaic Ezer, a six-week curriculum designed for women who have special needs. These women came together and learned in community what it means to be an ezer, made in the image of God and loved by our Creator.

We have also recently launched Mosaic Family Grace, which is a 17-week curriculum care group for parents who have children, teens, or adults with special needs. What a sweet opportunity for these families to come together, share their stories, and encourage each other in their unique journeys.

If you are interested in serving with our Mosaic ministry or would like to learn more, click below.

God has provided buildings for Grace Church in unique and amazing ways throughout our history. 10 years ago, we began to restore the building that is now Grace Downtown. This historic building was originally constructed as First Baptist Church in 1854 on West McBee Avenue in downtown Greenville. Over the years, it has housed different congregations and has been renovated multiple times. When it came to us, we were able to undertake additional renovations that were faithful to its original, historic design. What a blessing to be able to steward and enjoy this beautiful building that is a piece of local history. To learn more about Grace Downtown, click below.

What is your job title?

Pastor of Biblical Community

What brought you to Grace Church?

I am originally from Lancaster, SC, and I moved to Greenville in 2000 to teach and coach at Mauldin High School. Soon after moving, I was invited to Grace by some friends, and the first week I attended, I met my future wife. We attended for eight years before I came on staff.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy using experiences that I’ve had to help other pastors—helping them problem solve and think through unique situations. No two days are exactly alike in ministry.

What campus do you attend, and what is your favorite thing about it?

I attend Harrison Bridge. Having taught at Mauldin and lived in the Mauldin/Simpsonville area, I feel connected to that part of the county and enjoy being at church with my immediate community.

What are you most excited about right now?

We’ve made a lot of progress in training leaders and equipping them over the past few years. Some things we’ve done recently and some things on the horizon are exciting to help our leaders be more equipped to make disciples.

What is one interesting thing about you?

I love sports, and I am the head baseball coach at Southside Christian School.

Our Travelers Rest campus has an exciting new building project in the works! We were recently able to purchase a 110,462 square foot building in northern Greenville County. The building is in the process of being renovated, and various spaces will be sold or leased for community use. Here are the details:

Grace will occupy 31,805 sq ft with an additional 3,870 of outside covered space.

30,433 sq ft is slated to be sold for use as a cabinet shop.

The rest of the building is broken into three tenant spaces that will be leased to the community.

Wow, what a big opportunity—both literally and figuratively! We are excited to see the ways God is going to use this building for discipleship in Travelers Rest and for the good of the community. Please join us in praying for this endeavor—we hope to complete construction late this summer. To learn more about our Travelers Rest campus, click below.

This month, over 500 participants finished Grace’s Institute class on 1 Peter, taught by Bill White. In this challenging, homework-intensive course, members learned how to study the Bible closely and apply the truths of 1 Peter to their lives. Here’s what some participants had to say:

“I have been challenged by what it means to be chosen, set apart. If I am in the majority, I am not in the center of what God is doing. The real power is outside the ‘city gates.’ The more I align myself with Jesus, the more I will be outside the culture.” - Cindy Watters

“I think this study has been transformative in how I think about my responsibility to my church, my culture, and what I should ‘be about’ in the world. . . . what happens in culture will happen, but I've gotten a lot more clear about what I should be doing myself.” - Alex Reynolds

What a blessing to hear how God’s Word is changing lives! We hope you will rejoice with us and pray for God’s continued conviction and restoration through both his Spirit and his Word.

We all know that developing the spiritual discipline of prayer is challenging—even for the most mature adults. This year, Grace Church Kids has provided an exciting new way for our kids and families to engage in prayer. The Grace Church Kids 2021 Prayer Calendar includes specific prayer prompts, activities, songs, Scripture passages, and other creative ways for children to establish the discipline of daily prayer.

If you would like a prayer calendar, you can pick one up at your campus! You can also contact your campus Children’s director about how to get one. To learn more about Grace Church Kids, click below.

We are so thankful that all of our campuses are constantly looking for ways to serve their communities. Earlier this month, while many of us enjoyed a day off on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, our folks in Spartanburg were busy serving Project Hope—one of our Outreach partners. Project Hope Foundation offers a lifespan of autism services, and they provide vital support to many families in our community.

Spartanburg members put together personalized care packages for Project Hope staff, worked on maintenance projects, and helped with landscaping. These are simple acts of service, but we rejoice in the opportunity to take ownership of our community and serve alongside a local organization. To learn more about our Outreach partnerships, click below.

The recent rise in COVID-19 cases has certainly put a strain on our healthcare system, and doctors, nurses, and first responders are bearing the brunt of the physical, mental, and emotional load. One way our Travelers Rest campus has sought to serve our medical professionals is by providing care packages to the staff at North Greenville Hospital. These bags are filled with useful supplies like hand sanitizer, along with other personal care items and snacks. This is a small gesture, but we rejoice in the ability to put feet to our prayers and show God’s love in a concrete way.

Another way we are serving our medical professionals is by hosting prayer times that coincide with shift changes. Our Anderson, Powdersville, and Taylors campuses are offering space, time, and prayer support for our doctors, nurses, and frontline workers who are facing a uniquely challenging season. We hope you will join us in praying for our local healthcare workers.

Last week, Grace Church had the opportunity to come alongside a group of people in our community who were facing eviction. When the Economy Inn on Augusta Road was condemned, the Greenville Homeless Alliance asked for our help, and we were able to work with other local organizations to provide a meal, temporary housing, and social support for nearly 30 people.

It was a privilege to work with other churches and local frontline service providers—North Hills Church, Fellowship Greenville, Salvation Army, Triune Mercy Center, Miracle Hill, FAVOR, and Community Fresh Start—all came together to serve our community. We rejoice that we could share God’s love in this way. However, this instance is a single situation that points to a greater problem in our community—lack of affordable housing. In order for us to answer God’s command to love our neighbors, we must continue to serve those around us, particularly those in need. Click below to watch the news story and hear Bill White’s vision for us as a church as we engage those around us for God’s glory.

JUMPSTART—one of our ministry partners—recently published a devotional for inmates in the South Carolina prison system. Comeback Stories: A Prisoner No More tells the stories of 30 men and women whose lives were transformed by the gospel while they were incarcerated.

We have been encouraged by the outpouring of responses to Comeback Stories. JUMPSTART has received dozens of letters sharing how these stories of gospel transformation are changing lives. One reader shared, "Seeing what God has done in the lives of people like me gives me assurance that my newfound faith in God is more than wishful thinking."

Another wrote to say, "I've been in and out of prison since I was a teenager. I lost hope a long time ago that I could get out and stay out. But now that I've seen pictures and read stories of people who were locked up with me—I have to sign up for JUMPSTART and give it a chance.”

What a blessing to see God’s redemptive grace and power flowing through his people to reach more souls with the gospel. We hope you’ll join us in prayer that this ministry will continue to change lives. To learn more about JUMPSTART, click below.