Who is Grace?

WHO IS GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH?
We need to know who we are before we understand who we want to be and where we want to go as a church. The best way to identify “who we are” is to take inventory of what we value and to understand the demographics of the people who make us up.
 
What we value:

• Exposition of scripture in a relevant way as the answer to life’s questions and the key to knowing God (our highest value) and growing in faith. Our teaching is generally weighted toward exposition rather than topical, and topical teaching is exegetically and scripturally supported.
• Corporate worship that is joy-filled, Spirit-led, transcendently focused, and offers the very best of ourselves to God by using both modern and traditional tools and skills. We do not seek a concert type atmosphere, nor a formal, “high-church” liturgy.
• Family worship with age-appropriate education. We want to find the best ways to help every age group understand, apply, and enjoy the wonder of the gospel. We begin our services together as one body, then disperse for age-appropriate education.
• Mentorships, small groups and affinity groups. We encourage regular times of spiritual teaching and fellowship in one-on-one or groups, with the purpose of relationship and growth. We want to see as many as possible be a part of small groups of 8-12 regularly meeting for spiritual teaching and fellowship.
• Every member has a ministry. Not every activity is pastor or leadership driven. We desire participation in ministry from all our people in a variety of ways, hopefully finding the best and most rewarding fit for the people involved. We value grass-roots ministries which are thoroughly contemplated and planned, which have a clear champion, and fit the vision and purpose of our church.
• Growing as a disciple is a life-long process. It involves patterning our lives after Jesus and learning how to do life as a Christ-follower. It involves being filled with the Holy Spirit. It involves being investigators, critical thinkers, and willing changers predicated on Biblical discovery. It involves applying truth and grace in our lives, and so much more.
• A servant church community that is known and respected in our neighborhood and larger community. We desire to serve the needs and the needy of our community with our deeds in ways that show the kindness of God and give praise to Him.
• Local and global partnerships, because God is working outside the four walls of our church, and our mission is His mission.
• Authentic relationships within the body. We want our people to genuinely know one another, love one another, serve one another, extend grace to one another, support one another, strive together, and develop loyalty to one another.
• A multi-generational “family” which serves the needs of all generations from young to old. We desire outstanding children’s programming, youth programming, life groups, older adult groups, and more. We want to aid the development and inter-relational connections of every generation.
• Prayer-driven initiatives and people-bearing intercession. We want to be a praying church, bearing each other’s needs in prayer and making our corporate requests known to our God.
• God-directed change. Change or no change, we want to hear from God before assuming any idea is a good idea. We will explore, investigate, learn, discuss, and pray before making major changes to direction. We want to be a church open and willing to change (though not just chasing the next trend).
• Growth in all areas both spiritually and numerically, allowing for increased options and opportunities to impact and influence for God’s kingdom. Every organism that is alive is growing, and we want to be alive. We recognize that often growth comes from multiplying.
• New life through new believers. We desire that our people are ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within them, that they are doing the work of an evangelist, and that they are witnesses to their sphere of influence in word and deed. Sometimes that might mean intentional outreach to make connections, and sometimes it might mean simple, relational connections. Ultimately, we desire to see new people put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and become new Christ-followers among us.
• Using and sharing God’s resources. God has blessed us immensely with many resources – our present building, our older building, and our land, as well as other resources. Our desire is to share these generously and wisely with our community and with each other as needs or opportunities arise.
• Welcoming, grace-filled attitudes which demonstrate genuine interest in newcomers. We desire to become more deliberate in intentionally folding newcomers into our congregation.
• Equipping the saints during our Sunday services. Our desire is not to be a church designed for un-churched people, but a church where un-churched people like to attend because they are welcomed and invited to experience the life-changing gospel and the truth of God’s word.

What are our demographics?

• Age: Grace has added many younger adults and families in the last five years; the under-40 category has grown, with several babies being born each year.
• Education: The average attendee probably has some higher education.
• Occupations: These vary greatly, so that Grace could not really be categorized by some label (i.e. blue collar, professional, etc.). Incomes vary greatly also. Grace has people who might be considered wealthy and some who are in the poverty category. Generally, however, Grace is probably middle class to upper middle-class socio-economically.
• Marital Status: There are more singles, widowed, and divorced at Grace than in past years, but the largest percentage of adults are married.
• Diversity: Grace matches Loveland and Northern Colorado in terms of diversity.
• Beliefs: People at Grace are generally conservative, with some exceptions, but are not legalistic. People have a variety of denominational backgrounds but probably are weighted to more free worship than higher church, with a mixture of contemporary and traditional tastes.
• Where our people come from: Most people who come to Grace live in various locations in Loveland, but we also have people from Ft. Collins, Berthoud, Johnstown, and throughout Northern Colorado. Our online services regularly draw people from out-of-state.

The Culture at Grace:

• We are “narrow and in unity” on the essentials of doctrine and faith, but “broad and charitable” on the non-essentials.
  • We are complementary rather than egalitarian in leadership. We have female staff, but only male elders.
  • We are an elder-led church, and the pastors function as equals amongst the elder board.
  • We are of many persuasions regarding eschatology but agree with gusto in the literal second coming of Jesus, eternal bliss on the new earth for those in Christ, and eternal destruction for those apart from Christ.
  • We would not be described as charismatic, nor as “hard and fast” cessationists. We are open to the practice of spiritual gifts, so long as they are used in a biblical manner.
  • We practice believer’s baptism by immersion, but we honor the covenant baptisms (not sacramental baptisms) of other orthodox traditions. We do not require a re-baptism.
  • We have a desire to speak the relevancy of scriptural truth into our culture, but we do not shift the meaning of scripture to adapt to the culture, especially regarding marriage, gender, and sex.
  • We are not legalistic and desire to be grace-filled. Our desire is to understand and pursue what true holiness is as we live out the life of Jesus in us.
• Probably, people attend here because they highly value scriptural truth and teaching. We believe all scripture, both Old and New Testaments, are God’s word and should be used for instruction and edification.
• We tend toward a more blended worship, including some hymns with contemporary songs. We utilize contemporary tools, but do not employ an attraction model that leans toward a more production focus of staging, lightshows, or smoke.
• We live and worship together inter-generationally, and value a family atmosphere.
• Our people are generous with their time, skills, and money.
• We are trying to become a more inviting community, a community that is “salt and light” to its sphere of influence both corporately and individually. However, we know this is an area we need to grow in.