About Us

Where the Free Grace of God Roots Us, Renews Us, and Reaches Through Us.

 

ROOTS US – NURTURED & SECURED IN GRACE THROUGH…

  •  We serve as a Message-Driven church with PREACHING that clearly exposits the Bible, relentlessly placards the good news of Jesus Christ, and creatively connects the message of redemption to the many crises of the human condition.
  • Participating in WORSHIP that is bound to God’s inspired Word, the two Sacraments, the creeds of the ancient Church, the Reformational liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer, and the steadying truths of the 39 Articles of Religion.
  • Embracing a biblical, winsome, and counter-cultural ORTHODOXY in matters of faith and ethics.

RENEWS US– HEALING & GROWING IN GRACE THROUGH …

  • Forging cross-generational, caring RELATIONSHIPS between residents and college students, adults and children.
  • Offering OPPORTUNITIES to deepen with Christ and his church through hospitality, cell groups, prayer, the arts, and recreation.
  • TRAINING people of all ages to digest the Scriptures, to pray individually and corporately, and to engage in other life-giving, biblical practices that free us and shape us as disciples of Jesus.

REACHES THROUGH US – EXPRESSING GRACE THROUGH …

  • DISPERSING biblically-equipped, gospel-enriched lay-students and residents, ministers, missionaries, and church planters as compassionate carriers of good news.
  • ENGAGING Grove City (both the town and the college) with a warm, imaginative Gospel-witness by creating accessible ‘on ramps’ for those who have yet to encounter Jesus Christ.
  • RESOURCING churches in our Diocese and beyond with theological, financial, and personal assets.

GRACE.

Foundational to our Vision and our Core Values is the concept of Grace.  Grace could be adequately and simply defined (to quote the psychologist Carl Rodgers) as ‘unconditional positive regard’ — that is to say, Grace is when you are loved, forgiven, and regarded as exceptionally good.  We at Grace Anglican Church (GAC) believe that the Gospel (which is God’s ‘unconditional positive regard’ toward hurting and hurtful people through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) is the heartbeat of the Christian religion.

Many people (even some Christians) are terribly uncomfortable with the message of Grace.  It makes them nervous.  It sounds too good to be true, or even irresponsible.  In fact, some well-intentioned religious people teach that God’s Grace is the ‘starting place’ for a Christian, but after a person believes they ‘move on’ to some other teaching in order to create some sort of progress.  But we at Grace Church have a different view.  We know that the only message that can make a lasting difference is the Gospel.  When we come to the end of our ropes (that is, we lose the illusion of our control and our innate greatness) and there discover that we are rescued and treasured by the Infinite God in the midst of our deep, dark inadequacies, we are changed, we are energized, we are relieved, we try new things in new ways.  Virtue, morality, and goodness are wonderful and deeply needful (would you want to live a day without them?), and these gifts spring from the heart that is touched by Grace.  It is the great change agent in life.

At Grace Church, you’ll hear the happy and heartening refrain of the wounded, saving God who claims us before we’ve cleaned up our lives, or got interested in religion, or before we could mutter a ‘yes’ to anything remotely righteous. In short, you’ll hear about unflinching, inexhaustible Grace.  It is for you.