Two Year
Ministry Plan

We are a family of local congregations, and there’s a lot going on across all our campuses right now. Grace Church exists to make mature followers of Jesus, and God has opened pathways for us to pursue this mission in many different ways. Click the video below to hear several of our campus pastors give updates about what’s happening at their campus. Stay tuned for the remaining updates!

Summer is fast approaching, and while ministry in Allendale County is ongoing throughout the year, summer is a focused time when we serve alongside our partners in Allendale through Camp Impact.

This past month, we were excited to host our annual Junior Staff Retreat. Junior staffers are high school students from both Allendale and the Upstate who are paid staff members that help run Camp Impact. During this retreat, camp staff came together to plan for the summer, build relationships and team unity, sit under biblical teaching, and prepare their hearts for a summer of service. The retreat took place in Anderson this year, and teaching and discussions focused on the idea of trust—are we trusting in ourselves, the world, or Jesus?

Our Anderson campus Just Serve volunteers helped lead the retreat participants through some team-building exercises, and they also got to attend church in Anderson on Sunday. Overall, it was a weekend full of learning, fun, community, and anticipation for the summer ahead.

41 people attended:

• 6 Camp Staff members (college age leaders)
• 8 Forge Junior Staff members (high school students from Grace)
• 13 Allendale Junior Staff members (high school students from Allendale)
• 14 leaders (past camp staff and junior staff members)

This retreat represents years of investment in young people—both here in the Upstate and in Allendale County. Our desire is to disciple the next generation not only to lead themselves well, but also to lead others and point them to the transformative power of the gospel. Will you join us in praying for God to work through all the ministry happening in Allendale County this summer?

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

Last month, our Greer campus hosted a movie night for the special needs community. This event was volunteer driven, and they pulled out all the stops! Individuals from our Mosaic community and friends of our serving partner David’s Table, along with their families, arrived to a red carpet, amazing decorations, concessions, and an all around great time enjoying one another. While participants got to watch Sing 2, their families also had an opportunity to connect with one another and enjoy some down time.

Over 50 folks got to experience this event, and over 35 volunteers made sure it was a special night for all involved. The bulk of volunteers for the movie night were young adults in their 20s and 30s, and it was also a unique opportunity for them to get to know each other as they served their community.

A few volunteers had this to say about the event:

“When I saw the big smiles on everyone that walked through our doors, I knew that every minute of preparation was well worth it. God creates everyone in his own image, and that night, we were able to celebrate that.”

“It was a night of perspective for me—just taking in all the joy through their laughter and spirit was absolutely contagious. It was a reminder of how encouraging it is to let His joy spill over into my life each day because He is that good!”

This is how discipleship happens—in community, life on life, serving one another. We are thankful for our Greer campus and all they do to pour God’s love into the community! To learn more about Grace Church Greer, click below.

We have staff members in both campus staff and support staff roles all over the Upstate! We want you to get to know some of them as you stay updated with what’s happening at Grace Church.

What brought you to Grace Church?

My wife Lauren was worshiping and serving at Grace when we got engaged. I joined her and became a member in 2012. We spent a year at the Powdersville campus before I did our residency program at our Harrison Bridge campus. And I’ve stayed around since.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

My favorite part of my job is seeing members of our church plug into serving and leading roles, being equipped for ministry, and using their gifts and faith to impact others around them.

What is your favorite thing about your campus?

I love the energy of our Downtown campus. We have such a committed group of members that are eager to own the cause of the church, serve, and help make disciples of those God is bringing to us.

What are you most excited about right now?

I’m most excited about the upcoming outreach opportunities our campus will have through the Grace Housing efforts, and other ministry partners that are so close to Downtown. I know it’ll change our members' lives as we sacrifice to create pathways into the Kingdom of God.

What is one interesting thing about you?

My favorite hobby currently (when we are not renovating our house) is men's league soccer. It’s a competitive outlet for me that reenergizes me for family and work life. It’s also producing a lot of injuries for me currently. It seems I need to stretch more.

Exciting things are happening at Grace en Español, and one facet of their growth is the launch of re:generation. Those going through re:gen are among the first Spanish speaking participants ever to experience the curriculum, and we are very thankful to be working with Watermark Church in Dallas, TX to pilot the Spanish version of re:gen. To hear the full update from Robby Richard, our Grace en Español campus pastor, click the video below. To learn more about Grace en Español, click below.

Just Serve Day is becoming a special focus in the spring for Grace Church, and it has grown exponentially over recent years. It’s a day we invest in coming alongside community partners, Grace ministries, and members within our church body to show them the love of Christ in tangible ways. Here are some fast facts about this year’s Just Serve Day:

Five weekends

Ten campuses

Serving over 60 organizations, Grace ministries, and Grace families

1500 members participating

One of our service sites was Neighborhood Focus in Berea, and Director Keith Groce shared this about their experience:

“This weekend we were blessed to have this awesome crew from Grace Church TR come in and tackle several projects at Neighborhood Focus. They did lots of outdoor maintenance, assembled our new soccer goals, fixed our (extra strength) water fountain, built raised beds . . . the list goes on and on! It was 42 degrees when they arrived, and everyone came in with such a joyful spirit.”

This is just a small glimpse of how Just Serve Day impacts our community, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those around us. Will you join us in celebrating how God has worked through these connections and pray for continued outreach into our local communities? To learn more about Outreach at Grace, click below.

One of our ministry partners is JUMPSTART—a gospel-centered organization that disciples current and former prisoners and assists with re-entry to society. One of JUMPSTART’s current initiatives is the construction of Restoration Village located in Spartanburg county. The Village will provide a community for those re-entering society from prison in a setting that prepares them to be productive citizens. In this type of supportive community setting, participants will have more intimate discipleship opportunities and be better equipped to both serve one another and grow in spiritual maturity.

The grand opening for Restoration Village is quickly approaching—three of the 22 homes will be open by mid June, and JUMPSTART is currently raising funds for the remaining homes. To watch a full update on the project, click below to watch a news story from WYFF4.

We are thankful to be a small part of this project through financial support and the volunteer contributions of many of our members. Please join us in prayer around this new community, both those serving and those being served. When complete, Restoration Village will be able to house 126 individuals. What an exciting opportunity for life-on-life discipleship to take place in our communities.

One of our local partners is Jasmine Road—a two-year residential program for women recovering from human trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. Last month, we were excited to celebrate along with Jasmine Road as they opened a second safe home, tripling their capacity from 5 to 15 beds to serve female survivors.

Supporting this endeavor along multiple fronts, Grace donated $125,000 towards the renovation, and many of the contractors were Grace members who offered their services free of charge. We were blessed to come alongside Bon Secours, North Hills Community Church, NewSpring Church, Fellowship Greenville, and other local organizations to make this safe haven a reality. At the ribbon cutting, teaching pastor Bill White took part in blessing the house along with a Catholic priest from Bon Secours.

Beth Messick, Executive Director of Jasmine Road, had this to say about opening the new facility:

“The need is great for women in our community as Greenville County continues to be in the top five counties in the state for reported human trafficking cases. . . . We are incredibly grateful to see churches, hospitals, and community partners come together to bring the opportunity to heal and flourish to more women in our community.”

The new site includes a residential safe home with space to safely house eight women. There is an additional building on site with two transitional and independent living apartments as well as a workspace where women can learn job skills to help restore their independence.

Please join us in thanking God for this opportunity to serve the vulnerable in our community and pray for the women who will live here—that they would experience physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. To learn more about Jasmine Road and other local partners, click below.

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “yes!” 2 Corinthians 1:20

What do five Old Testament characters have to do with Good Friday? Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jeremiah all represent different facets of God’s promise to restore fallen creation and bless his people. And ultimately, God’s promise is fulfilled in the perfect life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Last week on Good Friday, our church family got to experience Promises: Kept in Jesus. Families across all campuses explored these Old Testament characters and their stories, learned how they point us towards God’s faithfulness, participated in interactive activities, and took communion in remembrance of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It was a unique, helpful way to process and engage the Easter story, and we are thankful for the opportunity to experience the Bible in a new way.

Celebrating baptism at Easter has long been a special time for our Grace family. As we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus and the hope we have in him, we also celebrate those who identify with him in baptism. This year, 79 individuals across all campuses owned their faith by obeying Jesus’ call to follow him in baptism. As Christ was buried and raised to life, baptism represents that you have died to your old life (burial) and have been given a new life (resurrection). We hope you’ll take a moment to watch this video below 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.

Last month, we were thrilled to release No One Else, a collection of four original songs that we recorded live with our church body. This collection includes “To The King,” “No One Else,” “Mercies Have No End,” and “The Lord’s Prayer.” As with all our original music, our hope is that these melodies and lyrics will bring encouragement and clarity to you as we declare our faith in Jesus and all that he's done.

All songs are born out of unique circumstances, and the title song of this collection is no exception. The inspiration behind “No One Else” came from a desire to minister well to an audience in Paupa New Guinea on a mission trip. Click the video below to hear some of our worship leaders tell the story.

To learn more about Grace Church Worship and see all our original songs, click below.

Throughout the month of March, students from Fusion (5th-6th grade), 24Seven (7th-8th grade), and Forge (high school) got to experience retreats at Carolina Point. Over the course of four weekends, over 1,000 students and 600 leaders, staff, and volunteers participated. Along with the usual camp fun and activities, students got to hear biblical teaching and spend time discussing God’s Word in their small groups. Our Fusion students focused on the gospel through their Pivotal teaching series, and 24Seven students learned about Blueprint—God’s design for our energy, dating, and sex. Untethered was the topic for 9th and 10th graders, and they dove into what our lives look like if we are cut off from God’s family. And our 11th and 12th graders heard teaching on Secrets—Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you know a student who attended a retreat, be sure to ask them how God worked in their life through that focused time away. We are so thankful for God’s hand on our students and their leaders, and we hope you will join us in praying for continued life change. To catch a glimpse of what retreats were like, click the video below. To hear teaching from the retreats, click below to access the Grace Resource Library.

Over the past several years, we have offered re:generation—a 12-step discipleship process oriented around life change and hope through the application of God’s Word. The re:gen program has been a valuable tool, and we’ve seen many lives changed as participants have found freedom from sin and hope in the gospel.

Re:generation originated from Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, and we were excited to be able to host their re:generation Regional Conference this month here at Grace. Nearly 200 people representing 28 churches from 13 different states attended the two-day conference.

Sessions covered several helpful topics: launching re:gen, managing group dynamics, building a re:gen culture, leadership development, and more. Both Watermark and Grace leaders were able to offer insight and experience to participants, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to connect with believers from around the region.

If you would like to learn more about re:generation or sign up, click below.

Over the past month, hundreds of Grace students have been at Carolina Point for retreats. Each weekend, a different age group has gotten to hear God’s Word, discuss the teaching in their small groups, experience camp life, and just have fun together.

One facet of retreats that makes all this possible is Work Crew! Families and individuals from different campuses made the trip and gave up their weekend to work behind the scenes. These folks got up early and stayed up late to set tables, wash dishes, keep things clean, and in general help keep the camp running so our students could experience the retreat.

Check out these pics of some families pulling together on Work Crew to minister to our students. This is what church is all about, and we hope you will join us in prayer that students who experienced life change on the retreats would continue growing and changing more into the image of Christ!

Earlier this month, our Nicaragua team faced disappointment as their trip was canceled at the last minute due to an airline cancellation. After finding no alternative flight plan, the team met to grieve, process, and pray together. God graciously reoriented both our partners in Nicaragua and our team here in Greenville, and they decided to move forward and serve “where they were.”

For our partners in Nicaragua—Christ for the City International—this meant they continued with their plan for the week. They taught a class for pastors and leaders, delivered 50 bags of food and staples to those in need, and worked on projects for two different schools supported through CFCI’s Hope School program. Grace funded the food bags and school projects, and CFCI team members made the deliveries, prayed with family members, and joined in the work. Mary Ezzell, a Grace member currently living in Nicaragua, represented us in all these projects.

Our team here in Greenville had already taken time off for the week, so they jumped into serving through various projects here in town. They did yard work at one of the Grace Housing rental units, helped with organizing at the Housing Warehouse, delivered Meals on Wheels for Greenville County, and did a clothes sorting/packing project at the Spartanburg Espanol Campus. Team members were even able to help a family deal with a last-minute, unplanned move. And over half the team ended their week serving at the Fusion student retreat on the work crew!

It was amazing to see God’s sovereign hand at work in each of these situations, and even more so, God worked in hearts through this unexpected circumstance to teach prayerful dependence. We hope you will join us in celebrating what he has done both in Nicaragua and here in the Upstate. We do have mission trips scheduled to Nicaragua and Puerto Rico in the coming months. If you would like to learn more about our international mission opportunities or apply, click below.

Twice a year, we come together for Night of Prayer—a special evening dedicated to acknowledging our dependence on God for all things. Over the past month, over 1,700 people across all of our campuses were able to participate in Night of Prayer.

This fall, we began a new Night of Prayer series, Teach Us to Pray. In Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer, one of the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” In response, Jesus provided a model of how to draw close to God in worship and make requests in humble dependence. Like the disciples, we’re asking God to teach us to pray. As we work through each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer over the next two years, we’ll ask Jesus to instill in our hearts that same humility as we come to him with our praises and burdens.

We have a web page dedicated to Night of Prayer. There, you will find past teachings, prayer prompts, recommended books, and more. We hope you’ll take advantage of these resources. Click below to learn more.

Having a family member with special needs or mental health challenges can not only be difficult from day to day, it can also be incredibly isolating. Many members of our church family are walking this road—taking their loved one to countless appointments, tracking treatments, and working tirelessly to help them through unique challenges.

This year, we have been excited to offer The Caregiver’s Journey, a class and care group for those caring for loved ones with mental health difficulties or special needs. This curriculum is designed to help participants understand their own brokenness and find hope in the gospel, which will equip them to care for their loved ones better.

One couple had this to say about their experience:

"For the last few years, we have felt a bit isolated as we have tried to navigate the challenges of parenting a child with special needs. We were longing for a community of believers who could relate to our situation.

To sit in a room with others who truly understand and to spur each other on in our own personal relationships with the Lord so that we can be better equipped to love and serve our children has been so helpful. Our group members not only empathize with our parenting journey, but they also challenge our way of thinking through the lens of Scripture, lift us up in prayer, and encourage us."

What a blessing to see the gospel at work in people’s lives! We hope you will join us in celebrating this new ministry and pray for all those involved—leaders, participants, and family members. To learn more about The Caregiver’s Journey and when it will next be offered, click below.

OVC Kenya is a partnership program that provides sustainable support and promotes long term relationships with orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya. Through our partnership with Bernard Kabaru and local churches in Limuru, Kenya, we are helping expand an existing program that provides physical, academic, and relational support to children in need within each church’s local community.

Grace individuals and families have the opportunity to partner with children in Kenya by becoming advocates! Each advocate not only contributes financially to help provide for their child, but they also send letters of encouragement and support. We currently have advocates for 116 children in Kenya.

Pelham members Matt and Christy Knarr, along with their three daughters Haley, Brooke, and Mackenzie, have advocated for two children in Kenya over the past eight years. They had this to say about their experience:

Being an advocate is an opportunity for our family to share the blessings God has given us with others. Our two Kenyan children are so woven into our lives that our family prays for them regularly and our children eagerly await their letters and want to share pictures, notes, and artwork of their own in return. It has helped our children to see ways in which we may be able to help others in more challenging circumstances. This ministry has also given all of us someone tangible to pray for and then witness how God works in their lives.

It has been a blessing for us to be a part of their lives for so many years. This ministry walks alongside and supports the entire family to have a lasting impact on not only them, but our entire family as well. We have enjoyed being part of their life journey and are excited to see both our OVC children move into adulthood very soon.

What a blessing to see the gospel work through individuals in tangible ways. Will you join us in prayer for the children and families represented in this program? To learn more about OVC Kenya, click below.