Grace Community Church
| Theological Tradition | Non-Denominational Baptist, Calvinist |
|---|---|
| Date Founded | 1956 |
| Elders | John F. MacArthur (teaching/preaching), and others |
| Website | GraceChurch.org |
Grace Community Church is a non-denominational, evangelical church founded in 1956 and located in Sun Valley, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Speaker and radio evangelist John MacArthur is the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. As of 2008, the average weekly attendance was 8,258.[1]
History
The church was founded as Grace Community Church of the Valley as a mission of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. The congregation held its first public service on July 1, 1956, calling Don Householder (former associate pastor of Trinity Methodist Church and pastor of Country Church of Hollywood) to be its founding pastor.[2] Within a few years, the church had moved to its present location on Roscoe Boulevard, and the decision was made to hold two Sunday morning services to accommodate the growing congregation.
Following Householder's death in 1965, Richard Elvee was called to be pastor and the church continued to grow under his leadership until he died in 1968. In February 1969, John F. MacArthur assumed the pastorate. During the early days of MacArthur's ministry, the church doubled in size every two years, which led to the building of the Family Life Center in 1971 and a new Worship Center in 1977.[3] In 1972, Moody Monthly magazine published a feature article about the congregation titled "The church with nine hundred ministers".[4]
Distinctives
Grace Community Church is elder-ruled. It teaches Calvinist theology, although it is not aligned with a denomination. Grace Community Church holds to the beliefs of the cessation of supernatural spiritual gifts, Lordship salvation, and the sufficiency of Scripture.[5][6] The church teaches believer's baptism by immersion.[7]
See also
External links
- Grace Community Church website
- Grace Books
- Grace to You media ministry of John MacArthur
