What’s in a Name?

We hope to tell you a little bit about us by explaining our name “Grace Community Presbyterian Church.” Each word in our name is “shorthand” for who we are, what we believe, and what we hope to become.

“GRACE”

We believe that the one God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is saving people, not because of what they have done, but based solely on grace. Grace is undeserved love. God saves through the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. God’s relationship with us is a covenant, like the perfect marriage. God’s covenant faithfulness extends not just to individuals, but to families , for successive generations, as God has promised. God’s grace touches all areas of life and society, so that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God.

“COMMUNITY”

You might have heard (or said yourself) that “religion is a private matter.” We believe that Christianity is something that cannot be lived out alone. As Christians, we are united to Christ, and are therefore united to each other and called to live in a community of faith . By following the example of Christ, we learn to share in one another’s joys, sorrows, strengths, and weaknesses. We seek to deepen our relationships with one another, not based on whether we like each other (which we do), but based more importantly on our union with Christ. Living in community can be challenging today, as we all get tugged to “go our own way.” But we recognize that our unity is real, so we seek ways to build our community every day, not just on Sundays. We seek to build a culture of peace in our church, families, and communities, and we seek wisdom from the Bible to transform ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods, and our world.

“PRESBYTERIAN”

“Presbyterian” literally means that our church is governed by elders , who are elected by our members. At a deeper level, the word also signifies our celebration of our connectedness to the church throughout the centuries. Although our church is new, in one sense it is not. Our beliefs and practices are rooted in the great history of the New Testament Church, including the churches founded by the apostles and the great churches of the Reformation. As a part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), we support its vision to be “true to the Scriptures, the reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.” The PCA has over 1500 churches from New York City to San Francisco, over 500 missionaries around the world, and over 80 college campus ministers.

“CHURCH”

We believe that the worship of God is the most important thing we do. We pursue ways to glorify and worship God every day, but worship together each Sunday is a privilege and duty that we treasure even more. On Sunday mornings, we pray, sing hymns (another form of prayer), hear from God’s word, and regularly participate in the sacraments of the church. We take seriously the “Great Commission” to “go and make disciples of all nations” and so we seek ways to be joyfully obedient here in our community, and elsewhere in the world!