We aim for the following six strategic outcomes across all of our departments. The first three are explicit deliverables planned and executed in the ministry year. The second three are implicit goals baked into the DNA of ministry and contextualized in each department and campus.
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Biblically accurate, culturally attuned, and relevant teaching of God’s Word shapes our large group gatherings. We aim to promote genuine worship, not merely the attainment of knowledge, and to challenge our people to take their next steps in following Jesus. We also know that we always have people in our gatherings who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, we make sure that our gatherings consistently have an evangelistic, or gospel clarifying, moment.
The best environment for lives to change is one of both truth and love (1 Thessalonians 2:8). We want every attendee and member to be deeply engaged in relationships with other believers. And we strive to create groups that are always inviting, with a clearly communicated mission to foster personal discipleship and spiritual multiplication.
The following are the unifying foundation of every group:
CGE provides a balanced framework for group health. Every group and member is challenged to:
Our job as staff is to model and equip our people for ministry rather than doing ministry for them. Our goal for all our members and attendees is to help them identify God’s unique callings on their lives and provide them with the equipping and resources to influence others where they live, learn, work, and play by leveraging their spiritual gifts. We also must prioritize the development of people fit for key roles (starting with teachers and worship leaders) to keep up with expanding campuses and stages.
Our Become a Disciple-Maker webpage contains basic resources and videos that describe our disciple-making process along with six key Engage Tools for reaching people that don’t know Jesus. On this page, you will find the following key resources…
As our people make disciples and call them to multiply their lives into others as well, we want to provide a clear pathway for people to be developed as leaders as they discover and grow their full array of God-given gifts to serve within Grace Bible and within our community. This includes character and competency development, acquisition of ministry skills, as well as how to develop as ministry leaders. As a result, we are creating a training program to identify potential leaders, equip them to lead well and empower them to multiply themselves into other leaders. We will be creating and developing more tools and resources in the coming months.
Our volunteers give in many ways, and we are so thankful for all these men, women, and kids who choose to serve Grace! The process to volunteer has some elements that are set for departments in order to allow volunteers to serve across different departments and even different campuses, to have meaningful discipleship and training elements, and to hold high standards for the protection of our volunteers and those they serve. To help reach this goal, each level of lay roles includes the appropriate level of application, interview, and background checks/child safety training where required. Departments are also able to tailor parts of their process to their needs, sharing their resources and winning with others as we continue to grow and refine this process.
<aside> <img src="/icons/thought_gray.svg" alt="/icons/thought_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “If a volunteer could do it, then a volunteer should do it.”
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Our work includes shepherding and caring for people who are hurting, in need, and struggling with challenges of many kinds. Grace Care Ministries has put together a Care Drive containing many helpful resources so please check that out. We especially want to highlight our Counseling Referral Process and Minister of the Day (MOD) Rotations and People In Need (PIN) Fund processes so that as a staff member, you know specific ways we can help people who have physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
We aim to be outwardly focused. It is natural for individuals, families, and church communities to become inwardly focused on their resources unless there is an intentional effort or a cultural catalyst to turn outward.
One catalyst for Grace’s multi-generational outward focus has been our passion for the next generation. Since our earliest days, the high percentage of students in our midst has motivated a selfless attitude in our most faithful members.
Another catalyst has been our emphasis on reaching the nations. These 2 catalysts combined have motivated the sending of hundreds if not thousands from Grace to the nations. Our Global Outreach budget has grown from $360 a year in the 60s to nearly $1 million a year in the mid 2020s. An atmosphere of selflessness in a setting of sending will catalyze lavish launching…it certainly has here in Aggieland.
So…we have always been a church that is known for being generous – historically among those who are reaching the nations, and more notably in recent years, here in our community. Every campus now has a global AND a local partnership. This enhances our members’ relationships with fellow-members who run a local outreach AND with those who have been sent and are being supported by us. That connectivity mobilizes more and more of us too engage ministry, here and abroad.
And that engagement has grown more courageous through the decades. Not satisfied to send to the most comfortable or popular places, we strive to go to those place that are least reached and potentially most uncomfortable. Locally, ministries like Youth Impact have, for 50 years, brought light and the gospel to some of our community’s most under-resourced families.
<aside> <img src="/icons/thought_gray.svg" alt="/icons/thought_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “We don’t lose people, we send people.”
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