Many of the readers of this blog know that I am the Pastor of Grace Foothills, a new congregation of Grace Community Church. We’ve been at it for just over a year now (our first service in the Tryon Theater was in March 2008). It has just occurred to me that Grace Foothills is a church for the un-churched, the de-churched, and the over-churched.
When we were dreaming of planting a new church in Polk County, we wanted to plant a church where believers could bring their unbelieving friends to church and their unbelieving friends would not be freaked out or made to feel uncomfortable during the service. Grace is a “seeker-sensible” church where folks, no matter where they are on the faith spectrum, can sit and process the worship service without the distractions of confusing Christian jargon. The music and the message are relevant to our culture and the goal of the message is to encourage the believer with the gospel and to challenge the unbeliever with the gospel. Both believers and unbelievers are in need of the gospel. Thus, Grace is a church for the un-churched. Someone who has no church background can walk in and comprehend what is being said and what is being lived out.
We also wanted to plant a church for the over-churched. Many churches run on the fuel of programs. Sunday school, Sunday morning worship, Sunday night church, Wednesday night suppers, choir practice, youth groups, VBS, Christian Karate, etc. All of that wears me out. What happens when churches operate under that kind of structure is that everyone, especially the staff, gets tired and they lose sight of the mission of the church that Jesus gave the church, to be a window of grace to the community that the church is in. Grace is a place that is intentionally low on programs. There are just a few things that we do: Sunday morning worship service, Community groups during the school year, discipleship classes in eight to ten week blocks, youth group and random events (we brought U2 to the Tryon Theater this past Spring). Thus, Grace is a church for the over-churched.
In the South, the majority of folks grew up in the church in some way or another. I grew up in a non-Christian home in Charlotte, but we still attended church. There is a huge population of folks who grew up in the church, but as they grew older they left the church all together. These folks are the de-churched. Grace is a church for the de-churched. Matt Chandler, a church re-planter in Dallas, explains the de-churched in this clip from the Advance Conference which myself and a few others attended in Durham a few weeks ago:
Our hope is that Grace Foothills would be a gospel-centered church (focusing on the Person and Work of Jesus and the welcoming heart of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit) and that Grace Foothills would be a blessing to the community, whether someone is un-churched, de-churched, or over-churched.
Hallelujah and Amen.
Great description of your church. I am struggling with how we see the role of the church today. I am a deacon, a teacher, and a lay-leader in a SBC church in Greenville, SC. Too many people see church as an event. Also, too few want to grow in the knowledge of God. Keep up the good work in Tryon. From my visit to that part of NC, Grace Foothills is the right type or style of church for that area.
That is exactly what our church is about… and it has been so amazing hearing the stories of people who are feel comfortable in a church setting, where they didn’t previously, and are then able to start or grow in a relationship with God! Love it!
If I lived in Tryon, I’d be there! That is exactly what we hope to be for the folks in Dahlonega, GA. Hope to come for a visit some day up from the nawth gawguh mountains.