Grace Community Church has always been engaged in the effort to both provide and equip pastors for the church around the world. Over the past twenty-five years we have trained men at The Master's Seminary for the global ministry of faithfully building the church. This emphasis has defined our church, and has been multiplied many times over as our graduates carry this same commitment to pastors and leaders around the world. Our objective has been to provide leadership for existing churches with an occasional opportunity for the establishment of new local assemblies.
Despite an increased access to biblical truth, the church of the twenty-first century continues to succumb to the wasting cancers of cultural accommodation, historical isolationism, entrepreneurialism, and imprecise doctrine. The very institution commissioned by Christ to bring the remedy of the gospel is surrendering itself to the infirmity of worldliness. This spiritual infection spreads with such deceptive influence as to be lauded as “progress". Yet, in the face of danger, the church is left with leadership which remains fixated upon seeking new and experimental methods of treatment.
There is an exploding interest on the part of true Christians committed to Scripture to develop churches that are biblically sound. In an effort to respond to this groundswell, we have expanded our efforts to include an initiative called Grace Advance. This is a ministry of Grace Church that seeks to administer God's simple prescription: "Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding" (Jer 3:15). The establishment of leaders who feel the burden to equip the people with biblical knowledge and understanding has always been the bedrock of a healthy assembly. By way of contrast, corrupt and deceptive administration is the source of instability. In Jeremiah 23:1, God pronounces a resounding denouncement upon those who mishandle His flock. "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!"
Because many of these churches look to us for resources, Grace Church desires to serve developing churches in the body of Christ by providing leadership committed to biblical principles of ministry. Previous to Grace Advance we have not had a specific training program geared towards equipping men to be involved for the specific challenge of establishing churches. Grace Advance has faithfully been fulfilling that need.
From the first days of Christianity, the model for the spread of the church has been simple. Vibrant assemblies are to send gifted, called, and trained men out of their midst for the purpose of encouraging, edifying and establishing Christ’s church. At Grace Church, these distinctive serve as our heartbeat, we desire to instill this biblical philosophy by establishing or revitalizing local churches where the Word of God is faithfully taught, and the congregation is shepherded according to carefully cultivated biblical principles and practices.
Church leadership is about men called by God and ordained by the church working to shepherd people who desire to be nurtured and linked with the redemptive history of God. While compromise is rampant in ministry, Grace Advance will not lower the bar in order to admit desperately needed leadership. Instead we hold the biblical qualifications high for the sake of the church (1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). There can be no substitute for having holy men in the leadership of the church. Because it is difficult for many developing churches to find a man qualified for the work, it is our desire to provide such churches with biblical leadership in order to execute a biblical philosophy of ministry.
We acknowledge that the Lord is the one who builds his church using individuals gifted and called for that purpose. Grace Advance is not simply planting churches at our own discretion. Rather, our passion is to prepare men for churches which the Lord is raising up. He has promised to build His church (Matt 16:18), and it is our responsibility to remain sensitive to His leading.
The primary vehicle by which we are seeking to identify and train these men is through the Grace Advance Academy. The Academy provides the specific training necessary for men to successfully lead and develop churches. It serves as a practice and proving ground for the development of faithful men through instructive interaction, active mentoring, and additional hands-on ministry at Grace Church. Selected pastoral candidates take the Academy classes in the summer before or after their gradation.
Seasoned elders and lay leaders from Grace Church also work with interested groups who are seeking a pastor (more info on the Help for Your Church page). These opportunities could include other churches who are seeking to begin daughter churches in their area, struggling churches that need revitalization, or committed groups of believers who are looking to establish a church.