FAQ's

How do I know the leaders at Grace Gathering have integrity and are authentic?   In today’s world, integrity and honesty are not only appreciated, they are expected when it comes to the church. If leaders are teaching one thing publicly, and then living a different way privately, the church will not be a place of God’s power but a place of shame and deception. Throughout the Bible God never tolerated hypocrisy among his people, and he does not tolerate it today. Leaders are never perfect, and they will always stumble and fall at times. However, integrity means leaders admit their shortcomings and resist the temptation to pretend they are someone they are not. God calls all his believers to be leaders in his church. Leadership integrity means all leaders in the church are genuine, honest, and have the humble understanding that we are all imperfect people trying to follow a perfect God. God has blessed Grace Gathering over the years with leaders who are men and women of integrity.

What if I didn’t grow up in church, am I going to feel out of place at Grace Gathering?
Many people at Grace Gathering did not grow up in church. In fact, many people who begin attending the church have never read much, if any, of the Bible. Rather than expecting people will have a biblical foundation when they first start coming, we assume the opposite. We assume people have no foundation, and we help people build from the ground up. If, on the other hand, someone comes to the church with a biblical foundation, that just means they will start ahead of where most people begin at Grace. There are plenty of opportunities to challenge even the most mature believer. We certainly have a place for people no matter where they are spiritually. The best tool that we use to help people begin a foundation of understanding the Bible is a study called, Seeking God, available at our bookstore. Even if you have never attended a church service before, you will feel very comfortable attending a Grace Gathering service.

What are mission churches?
Grace Gathering is a community of mission churches.  A mission church is a group of people (typically ranging 4 to 10 families) who meet together regularly to fulfill all the mandates of church life.  They are in a sense, small churches.  They practice Bible teaching, communion, baptisms, prayer, singing, social gatherings, care, eating together, service to the community, and outreach to unbelievers.  Rather than offering dozens of centralized ministires within the larger church, most ministry is accomplished by mission churches out in the community.  This allows people to be connected, have ownership and vision, and pursue the life of the church within developing relationships. Click here to read more about mission churches. 

What does the church teach about money?
There are two extremes churches take when it comes to money. Some churches talk about money at every turn. In these settings it seems like people constantly hear sermons on money, letters are regularly sent out regarding the church needing more money, and often the common motivation the church uses is guilt. Many churches are too focused on money. The other extreme is that some churches, in response to the abuse, swing the pendulum over too far the other way and vow to never discuss it. In these churches money is never discussed or taught from a biblical perspective. Grace Gathering attempts to have a balanced and biblical view on money. We will hear a periodic message about financial giving, the church offers classes and counseling for those who want to become better stewards of their money, and people are taught that the handling of money is a spiritual issue. Many checks and balances are in place, however, within the church to make sure all church finances are handled with integrity. No leader in the church has access to any bank accounts, funds, or even knows how much anyone in the church gives. Confidentiality and multiple safeguards have protected our church from ever having even one incident of money mismanagement. By the mercy of God, Grace Gathering has had decades of integrity in the area of money.

Does Grace Gathering have all the answers I am looking for?
Grace Gathering certainly does not have all the answers, but we believe the Bible has all the answers we need. As a church we are committed to helping people draw closer to God and understand what he says in his word. We believe everyone is on a journey to find significance, purpose, and a way to make sense out of a confusing world. As we draw closer to our creator and as we understand that his ways are above our ways, we begin to find answers to our deepest questions. Grace Gathering is a place where people are genuinely seeking and experiencing the greatness, holiness, and love of God in a personal and life changing way. It is far from a perfect place, but people are pursuing meaningful relationships with each other and a life changing relationship with God through Jesus.

What is unique about your church facilities?
If you have attended a service, you have already seen how unique our facilities are. If not, we invite you to come. God has given Grace Gathering a vision for utilizing church facilities in very non-traditional ways. We believe there is nothing sacred about buildings. We believe people and relationships are far more important than bricks and mortar. We grew out of our own building in 2002 and began meeting in a high school. In amazing ways God provided us with 83 acres. Therefore, from 2001 to 2004 we researched, read, interviewed, and traveled the country in the pursuit of developing a plan for church facilities that would focus on relationship building. Our building was completed in June of 2006. When you walk in you will feel a sense of warmth, see couches throughout the building for conversation areas, a café bar, a large fireplace to gather around, café tables and chairs to have specialty coffees and meals, pool tables, basketball court, other recreational games, patio, and much more. It almost feels like a large home. The bottom line is that we have built our facilities with one goal in mind: creating multiple environments to build relationships.

What if I am not sure I believe in the Bible?
Because everyone is at a different stage of his or her life and spiritual journey, it is reasonable to assume that not everyone who begins attending Grace Gathering even believes the Bible is from God. We have no problem with this. For those who are in the more investigative stage of their journey, we simply want to help facilitate that. It is O.K. to ask questions and to even question the authenticity and legitimacy of the Bible. While we clearly believe and teach that the Bible does come from God and has no errors whatsoever, we believe that people must come to that conclusion on their own. No one should ever be forced to believe in something just because other people do. If you would like to come as simply an investigator of the Bible, not necessarily a believer of the Bible, we invite you to come. We don’t soft pedal or sugarcoat what the Bible says, but at the same time, we give people the space they need to make their own decisions and conclusions.

Are the services at Grace Gathering targeted for seekers (investigators) or believers?
Our services are focused on believers in Christ worshipping an awesome God. While we welcome those who are investigating, and while we work hard at communicating to people wherever they are at spiritually, we don’t apologize or hold back our love and worship of God. We never put anyone on the spot, nor do we force anyone to do anything in a service but observe. In that way we are very accommodating and hospitable to those who come as simply an investigator. However, we teach the Bible with boldness, we worship God with passion, and we love one another with authenticity. As we do this, we have experienced that both believers and investigators are inspired, feel comfortable, and desire to come back again.

What denomination does the church follow?
Grace Gathering does not follow a specific denomination like Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, etc. We are not opposed to denominations, as many times denominations have benefits. However, we also believe there are benefits to not having a denominational affiliation. Sometimes people have unfair assumptions and stereotypes about churches that follow specific denominations. We want to avoid people having preconceived ideas about our church, and that is one of the biggest reasons we are nondenominational. Our official doctrine and teaching is from the Bible, and we encourage people to own and bring a Bible with them to church. Our desire is not that people will simply believe the official teachings of a church or a pastor, but our desire is that people will learn how to study their Bible and center their lives around its teaching. Therefore, we encourage people to question the teaching of the church, the message of a sermon, or the position of a doctrine. We are all students together in our quest of imperfect people trying to understand and live out a perfect Word of God. Our elders do oversee our doctrine and teaching, but we do allow a great deal of freedom around the nonessential teachings of the Scriptures.

What should I expect if I attend a service for the first time?
The first thing you should expect is a warm welcome. We have people in the parking lot, people at the doors, and people inside who are ready to welcome you and assist you if needed. We have a children’s check in area, you can go the Great Room if you are there for one of the corporate services, you can go the Family Room if you have come for the Kidstuf Family service. If you are early you can get coffee at the café and/or something to eat. The styles will be a little different between the Blend (9:00) and the Edge (11:15), but in either you can expect to hear a message from the Bible that is easy to understand, challenging, and applies to your life.  If you come to the Kidstuf Family service (10:25) you can expect to walk into a place with a great deal of energy, excitement, and drama. This is a place children and parents love. When you come to any of our Grace Gathering services expect to feel welcome and expect to be moved by God.

What is the church’s leadership structure?
Many churches have different structures. Our structure can be summed up in the following way:
The ministry of Grace Gathering is:

• Fulfilled and accomplished by the congregation
• Lead and equipped by the staff
• Served and assisted by the deacons
• Protected and governed by the elders

The roles of each are defined in the following way:
Congregation: God calls the congregation to do the work of the ministry, not just the leadership. It is the body of Christ at large that advances God’s kingdom in ministry.  This is done predominantly through house churches.
Staff: God gives various leadership gifts to both paid and non-paid staff for the purpose of equipping the people to do the work of the ministry. The goal of our church staff is to help coach and assist the house churches to impact lives for God's kingdom.
Deacons: God calls deacons to serve those who have physical needs such as widows, single mothers, orphans, and people who struggle with the basic necessities of life (food, shelter, clothing).
Elders: God calls elders to shepherd people’s souls, oversee the doctrine and teaching of the church, have a vital ministry of prayer, and give protection and overall accountability in the church.

What is the process of getting involved?
The first thing a recent attendee should do is take the Welcome Class. Whether you have attended one service or dozens of services, the Welcome Class is the best place to start. This will give you a feel for the future of the church and help you evaluate whether Grace is a good fit for you and your family. From the Welcome Class we encourage everyone to go through the Seeking God Bible study. This will help people evaluate where they are spiritually and how to move forward from here. Getting involved in a house church, however, can be the quickest way to start meeting people. This can be done at any time by choosing a house church from the profiles listed on our website.

Grace Gathering is a large church. How do I prevent getting lost in a crowd?
Sunday morning services are the large gathering times. This is the time frame that hundreds of people gather together to worship God on a regular basis. The Bible, however, teaches that church life is far more than attending a large gathering once a week. There are four levels of church connection that most people fit into:

• Casual Attender (someone who attends church a handful of times a year)
• Regular Attender (someone who attends a weekend service at least 75% of the time)
• Family Member (someone who not only attends once a week but also pursues relationship building in other venues throughout the week)
• Sacrificial Family Member (someone who not only attends regularly, develops relationships, but also sacrificially invests back into the church through time, talent and treasure)

If people only attend the service on the weekend, it is difficult to feel connected to the church or really fulfill the purpose of the church as we see described in the New Testament. The goal of church life is to develop family relationships. People don’t get lost in a family. The best way to do that is by getting involved in a mission church. Building relationships is the only way someone will not feel lost in a crowd. This is true whether a church is 30 people, 300, or 3,000. We would love to assist you in pursuing one of our many mission churches.