Grace Fellowship Church

Wild and Crazy Dreams

In 1980, four young couples gathered in a living room and dreamed of a new kind of church. They brought in Jim Dethmer and Walt Russell, two pastors who had been praying about beginning a church on the East Coast. These couples threw “BBQ services” over the weekends and invited their friends. Little did they know that God would use their fervent and persistent prayers to birth a large, thriving multi-campus church.

These thirty-five people committed to a church characterized by small groups that fostered authentic community; by knowing what you believed and why; by teaching that didn’t stray from their best understanding of God’s Word; and by a warmth that welcomed whomever came through the doors.

Growing and Planting

In the mid-Fall of 1980, this growing cluster of people moved out of the Cockeysville living room to Ridgely Middle School. Three years later, they outgrew this location too, and had to move again, this time to Roland Park Country School. By 1990, the school was packed with 1,100 adults on Sunday mornings. During those early years, the young church planted four churches in Columbia (Grace Community Church), Annapolis (Bay Area Community Church), Carroll County (LifePoint Church), and Kinston, North Carolina (Grace Fellowship Church).

In 1991, God amazingly provided funds to renovate and lease a former furniture warehouse in Timonium. Around the same time, Sandy and Margie Mason came and pastored for eight years. The first service at the Deereco location was held in May 1993. Two years later, under Sandy’s leadership, Grace embarked on another growth phase to retire debt, expand her facilities, and plant new churches. She partnered with Christ Community Church in Fallston and planted other churches around Baltimore including New Hope Community Church in Owings Mills.

New Campus Model

In 2006, Grace’s lead elder, Danny O’Brien, accepted the call of Senior Pastor. God deepened our desire to grow His kingdom, and restore life as He intended it in our families, neighborhoods, and region. Grace shifted from planting new churches to planting new campuses–making it easier for members to attend Grace without driving great distances. The first of these campuses was launched in Shewsbury, PA, in 2007, with the Baltimore City campus starting in January of 2009.

Future Ministry

In the next phase of ministry, it is our ongoing desire to partner with God and other churches so that the regional body of Christ might be empowered to be all that she is intended to be. As each of us grows and matures in our understanding and application of what Jesus means to us, we become more and more the people God intends for us to be. As this happens, one person, one family at a time, our neighborhoods, our places of work, our cities, and our region will be transformed. We long to see restoration in every area of life, and we are working to that end.

We are excited at what God is doing in and through this expression of His Church!