About

Reach Grace Community (The Church of Grace Community, Atlanta, Inc.) at PO Box 190523, Atlanta, Georgia, 31119-0523

That was then. THIS IS NOW!

Presently Grace Community meets where ever two or three are gathered together in His name. Grace has evolved. Once a traditional parish church where people gathered for discipleship and worship, Grace Community is now a missionary church taking the Good News to the incarcerated, those behind prison walls. Grace is all about “Grace and Truth Inside”.

From a recent grant request:

“That is enough for now about mechanics and dollars. More important is to communicate what I do. The elevator talk would be built around this:

What do you do? Communicate grace.

Why communicate grace? Because grace transforms lives.

What is your role? To communicate grace where others can’t or won’t.

What is lost is if you don’t communicate grace? Hope.

God has blessed me with an ability to disarm the most hostile to Gospel ministry. Part of that is who I am, the way God made me. Part is circumstantial. An older man willing to listen to incarcerated youth is a rare thing. And the common denominator for incarcerated youth is 85% have no father. He is absent because he himself is incarcerated, addicted, a deadbeat, or dead often having died a violent death. After five years I am still amazed how quickly I know more about the youth sitting across from me than anyone with the exception, perhaps, of the youth’s mother. Showing up with an ear is where my ministry begins.”

Look for an upcoming article on the Evolution of Grace, from parish church to Church of Grace and Truth Inside! April 6, 2024

WELCOME VIDEO!

Grace Community – Gospel Born, Mission Driven Community Bound

How will it get started?

What’s the Plan?

This is the ever present question surrounding the planting of Grace Community here in Northeast Atlanta. What is the plan, John?

The first step in the plan is to pray. This is the premier step in discerning the will of God as opposed to the will of man, even my most considered plans for launching a church. Unless the Lord builds Grace Community, my efforts and those of other men will surely be in vain.

The next step is to meet people and build relationships. The old way of doing church was to open a franchise. Demographics suggest that there is a need for a church generally and our flavor specifically. So we build a building or these days rent space in a strip center. We open for corporate gatherings. Those that were raised Anglican look for an Anglican church. Likewise for Methodists, Lutherans, and Baptists look for the corner church with their flavor.

And in many ways we continue to operate the same way, out of an aging and failing model. Churches attempt to draw a crowd to a flavor. Traditional, contemporary, formal, casual, liturgical, and free form – these are many of the ways in which we describe church. Distinctions are made in the way we worship, what happens when we gather the assembly. The distinctions in worship assume we all believe the same thing about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That may not be an assumption we should take for granted.

Regardless, using a flavor to create a crowd (or church) makes something other than the main thing the main thing. How we worship is what unites a people (call it church or community) fashioned in this way. By design, what should be universal in scope is reduced to something very specific, and that something is fleeting. As Dean Inge said, he who marries the spirit of the age finds himself soon widowed. Flavors change. I once love chocolate ice cream. Then it was praline almond crunch. Now, when I allow myself to indulge, it is chocolate chip cookie dough or better yet, Cherry Garcia. Tastes change.

Church growth or planting should be rooted in the eternal, the one who was, and who is, and who is to come. The Body can only be built out of members who have a deep relationship with Jesus. The Body is first and foremost the assembly of people who have been called out of the world and into a relationship with Him. Believers are then drawn into a relationship with each other. We are the called out people undivided by race, gender, socioeconomic class and certainly undivided by flavor.

Don’t get me wrong. I have a personal preference for worship. This is unavoidable and perhaps should not be avoided at all. But our relationships with Jesus and with each other should transcend flavors. “I don’t like the kneeling.” “I really don’t care for the drums.” “I think the music is too loud.” I think the band members should wear khakis not jeans.” “I” and my flavor become central to the equation as opposed to Jesus and our fellowship in Him. Unfortunately I’ve experienced this often throughout the years.

The Apostle Paul helps us here. In the opening verses of Romans 12 Paul is revealing what our response to the great mercies of God should be. To offer ourselves as living sacrifices, this is our reasonable worship. Living daily as a sacrifice is a 24/7 (read “universal”) proposition and can never be captured by finite flavors.

As a planter the Lord has put it upon my heart to keep the main thing the main thing, or first things first. While the Lord will dictate where Grace Community goes, I imagine one day that one of the called out people, a people He has forged beginning with a life-giving relationship with Him, will suggest all the called out people gather corporately to worship. If so, we will have been followers, individually and together, before we pursued a means of corporately expressing that we are fans.

So pray and build relationships. That is the initial plan. Remembering all the while, that while we plant and water, it is God Himself who gives the growth.

So What Can You Do?

Pray

More than we could ever understand, we need many, many people to pray for the birth of Grace Community.  We believe the spiritual realm is real and that our enemy is not happy about new churches being planted. Our lead pastor and our eventual launch team will have to endure many attacks and much spiritual warfare, so please pray.  Pray for the Richardson.  Pray for our children.  Pray for the formation of our launch team.  Pray for Atlanta and specifically the Brookhaven area.  Pray that we could build relationships that will open up doors for the gospel.  Pray for our neighbors and neighborhoods, that people would be sensitive to the Lord’s calling.  Pray that, despite our current economic climate, God would raise up generous individuals and organizations who will give financially.

Join

Maybe you should consider joining us on this wild ride of planting a new church.  Do you have hopes of living for something greater than yourself? Are you a dreamer, a builder, a risk taker?  Pray. Pray and ask God if Grace Community is where he wants to use you to reach your world.

Give

Our goal is for Grace Community to be completely self-sustaining by the end of our second year.  Presently we are funded through a gracious grant from the Church of Jesus Our Shepherd and the fundraising efforts of our lead pastor.

Presently gifts will go toward salaries and benefits and will eventually cover administrative costs, staffing strategic leaders, promotional resources, and facility rental once we launch. As the community comes to stand on its own, its financial planning should include generous giving for outreach and mission.

We’re looking for individuals and churches to consider prayerfully joining us as financial partners. Some have the resources to give boldly and consistently throughout our first year, others can only commit at this time to a one-time gift.  In the life of a young, mission church plant, every dollar truly makes a difference.

To give, make checks payable to:

The Church of Grace Community, Atlanta, Incorporated

3272 Lynwood Drive NE

Atlanta, Georgia 30319