Two Year
Ministry Plan

For five weeks this summer, we joined together as a church to memorize Scripture. Thank you to all who participated and encouraged others along the way. It’s been great to see the fruit of God’s Word in our hearts, and we hope you will continue this important discipline in your own life.

Colossians 1:11b-12 says, “May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.” What a gift from our Good Father to be able to “live in the light” and to have the light of his Word in our hearts!

To learn more about the Scripture Memory program and find resources to help in your own Scripture memory journey, click below!

Miracle Hill is one of the local ministries that Grace Church has partnered with over the past several years. The Miracle Hill Overcomers Center—a residential, biblically-based recovery program—exists to help men suffering from life-dominating addictions.

In a new facet of our partnership, a team of leaders is helping facilitate the Overcomers’ Saturday morning chapel service. Teachers and worship leaders from Grace are coming alongside these men to offer hope, resources, and biblical community. Working through our Men’s Round Table curriculum and leading in worship are just a few ways we can support Miracle Hill in their mission to lift up the marginalized in our community.

We hope you will join us in prayer for this exciting ministry opportunity!

To learn more about the Overcomers Center, click below!

There are both hard and beautiful parts of parenting within transracial families. Many foster and adoptive parents are ready to receive a child into their home with open arms. However, parenting a child of a different ethnicity often brings unique challenges and unexpected difficulties.

One way that Grace has striven to bridge that gap is by offering a training session—Raising Children of Color—with Brenda and Toney Parks. Both Dr. and Mrs. Parks have years of experience in dealing with this topic, from both a pastoral and welfare perspective, and we are so thankful for their wisdom in this area. Over 40 parents were able to attend the training and learn about topics such as the Black experience and identity neglect in a biblical context.

Are you interested in becoming a foster or adoptive parent? Want more information about being a guardian ad litem? There are also many ways you can help support our foster and adoptive parents—donate to our resource center, support a specific family, or be part of a wraparound group. However, the most important thing you can do is lift up these families in prayer.

If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent or moving towards adoption, click here to learn how we can support you in that journey. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, click below!

Thank you Grace Church! We were able to collect 875 backpacks filled with school supplies for children in foster and kinship care across three counties. There were also many school supplies collected for League Academy and Bryson Middle School, and we are thankful for a tangible way to support these community partners too!

Each backpack will be delivered with a bracelet attached that reads “You are Loved Forever—Romans 8:28.” We hope and pray that these children will know their value in Christ and that they are loved.

We hope you will celebrate with us and pray for these children as they begin a new school year!

We can’t believe our Kairos interns are wrapping up their summer! While the interns have served in numerous ways over the summer in their specific ministry areas, they were able to come together in July for Kairos Outreach Week and serve our Foster & Adopt ministry. Over the course of this week, interns helped sort donations in the Foster & Adopt Resource Center, went to various foster families to help with yard work, cleaned car seats at local DSS offices, and even hosted a story hour for children.

We are so thankful for these interns and their ministry of love this summer. Be sure to reach out and thank them for their hard work and dedication to serving our community! To learn more about internship opportunities, click below.

Mosaic—our special needs and disabilities ministry—is finding new ways to continue supporting families even in the midst of a pandemic. Recently, Mosaic hosted a virtual family festival to provide an opportunity for fun and community! Fourteen families participated, and each received a box with snacks, prizes, and supplies for games. After playing games together, each family got to participate in a talent show, watch a video of campus pastors sharing their unusual talents, and enjoy a magic show!

We are all facing difficulties in these uncertain times, and we hope you will lift up these families in prayer as they deal with some unique challenges. If you’re interested in serving as a volunteer in Mosaic, please email [email protected]. To learn more about Mosaic, click below.

Serving in Allendale County has been a long term gospel investment for Grace Church, and we are excited to share how God has worked this summer. Our Camp Impact Staff—six Grace college interns—have returned with stories of life change not only from their own lives, but also from the lives of others. In particular, our Junior Staff have experienced spiritual growth and developed leadership skills. These Junior Staff members are students from Allendale County who have come up through the Camp Impact program over past years, and now they have had the opportunity to serve alongside Grace staff and influence the lives of children in their community.

What an amazing blessing to see God’s hand at work over years of prayer, sacrifice, and personal investment. Click the video below to hear Bill White talk about the gospel impact of Grace’s ministry in Allendale County.

To learn more about our ministry in Allendale County, click below.

One facet of caring for our community is through our Dignified Crisis Housing ministry. When an individual or family finds themselves without a home due to financial need, abuse, or any other crisis, we want to come alongside and lend strength and support. We currently have 17 fully furnished apartments that provide housing for over 30 adults and children in need.

This housing project is provided in partnership with Miracle Hill, SWITCH, Jasmine Road, and United Ministries. Along with a full-time housing director, Grace has volunteers serving through donations, setups, job placements, and medical assistance.

We hope you will rejoice and pray along with us as we strive to show Jesus’ love in concrete ways to those in need. There are several opportunities to serve within this ministry—if you are interested in serving or have gently loved items to donate (from furniture to kitchenware and everything in between), please email [email protected]

Click here to learn more about our Care and Recovery ministries and partners. Click below to see how Grace is partnering with United Ministries to provide housing for those in need!

Due to the spread of Covid-19, our Senior Honor ministry looks a lot different these days. However, we are excited to share some of the ways volunteers have adapted and gotten creative to continue ministering to those in our Senior Honor partner facilities.

Currently, we are partnered with eight senior living facilities to serve 700 residents through Senior Honor. Grace volunteers and some pastoral staff record a 20-35 minute teaching or devotional, and it is uploaded to a YouTube playlist every week. Our volunteer site coordinators are also provided with a packet of worship material including printable song lyrics and accompaniment MP3's for the weekly worship service. In this way, our Senior Honor members can still attend Grace every week!

Since many of our Senior Honor members are isolated from family and friends, volunteers are offering encouragement by sending cards and gift bags. Also, our PALS (People Actively Loving Seniors) are continuing to connect through FaceTime.

If you’re interested in learning more about Senior Honor, click below! To learn more about volunteer opportunities, please email Julia Eldred.

One way we have been able to serve our Grace En Español community this summer is through offering a free medical clinic on our Taylors / Español campus. Fifty volunteers, including seven doctors and ten nurses, participated in caring for local Hispanic, low-income families. Medical personnel offered consultations, blood pressure and diabetes testing, and resources for preventative care.

Another clinic will be offered in September, and we hope you will join us in prayer as we continue to show Jesus’ love to our Hispanic community. If you’re interested in serving or have questions about this ministry, please email Christian Ruiz.

To learn more about Grace En Español, click below!

No parent ever foresees or is prepared to receive a terminal diagnosis for their child. Unfortunately, this is a reality that some parents face. One of the most difficult aspects of this journey is explaining death to your child.

Grace has recently published a children’s book that addresses this complex issue. In Caterpillar Coach, we follow the story of Sam, a young boy who is terminally ill. Sam is able to have open conversations with his parents and think about the transition from death to eternal life by talking about his caterpillar, which transforms into a butterfly.

This narrative is rich with gospel truth, and the book also provides reflective questions to help parents and children talk about death with openness and hope in Christ. If you or anyone you know could benefit from this book, click below to purchase through Amazon.

This July, our Care Ministries were able to provide a summer camp—Ascend—for teens and children who are experiencing the loss of a loved one or the divorce of their parents. Through Ascend, teens and children going through a difficult period in their lives were able to experience community, learn biblical truths, discuss coping skills, and find hope, all in the context of a safe, loving environment.

The campers worked through age-appropriate curriculum, and leaders were able to come alongside them to help them process their thoughts and emotions. In addition to seeing personal growth in their individual lives, these kids were also able to simply have fun with each other and their leaders through various outdoor activities.

We are so thankful for our leaders and volunteers who made this ministry possible. We hope you’ll join us in prayer for these kids as they move forward.

To learn more about Care Ministries at Grace for children, teens, and adults, click below.

After several weeks apart, we are excited to resume baptism at many of our campuses! Baptism is an outward testimony to the grace God has given us by uniting us with Christ in his death and resurrection and raising us to new life in him. It is a beautiful picture of the gospel, and we rejoice with those who are taking this step of obedience to Christ.

If you are ready to be baptized or want to learn more about baptism, click below.

Mission Upstate is a local outreach program for our high school students. This past week, 17 high school students and 7 leaders partnered with Griggs Memorial Church, pastored by Mitch Miller, in the Poe Mill area of Greenville.

Grace students participated in service projects such as yard work and deep cleaning for local churches. They also provided a day sports camp for children ages 5-13 in the neighborhood. These opportunities not only provide our students with a way to support the needs of our community, they also help build the credibility of the local church.

Next month, another group of high school students will be participating in Mission Upstate. We hope you will join us in prayer around this ministry!

For the past three years, a ministry focus in Allendale County has been summer camp. Grace Church partners with two local churches to host Camp Impact—a community effort focused on engaging the children and youth of Allendale County, who we believe are its future leaders.

In order to provide more educational resources for campers, teachers from Grace Church are serving as tutors each week to help with remediation efforts. Allendale County, like the rest of the state, has faced unique challenges from school closures, such as lack of adequate childcare and access to reliable technology. Serving families through tutoring is a practical way we can meet the needs of these families.

Ultimately, Camp Impact exists to build up the church. As we work with students, pray that Camp Impact will be a place where they can find support, leadership opportunities, the gospel preached and lived out, and dignity as humans—made in the image of God.

Meet the third round of our Kairos summer interns! Be sure to say hi when you see them around. They’ll be with us until August, working with various ministries and campuses while serving and taking internship classes. Watch this video introducing each of them!

Through the Financial Peace University curriculum, Grace Church has been able to provide guidance for those working to get out of debt and take control of their finances. This course not only gives sound financial advice, but it also supports couples in growing their communication around giving, saving, and working as a team.

Here are some exciting stats from this spring’s participants:

Total Debt Paid Off: $38,180

Total Saved: $23,150

Class Turn-around: $61,330

Proverbs 22:7 says, “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.” Debt can be enslaving; however, financial freedom can enable us to be courageously generous.

We are celebrating ten years of the Ezer ministry, and in those ten years, we’ve seen God do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. Many women have shared stories of how the Ezer discipleship studies on shame, sexuality, identity, our speech, and our bodies have resulted in life change. Watch as Laurie shares her story of being in community, learning to release control to God, and resting in his sovereignty.