The
title may say "Lead Pastor" - but the only One I encourage people to follow is the head of the Church, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you....
Some
years ago, a friend at a church I was on staff with in Reno NV gave me a notepad that said, “If you want to make God laugh, make plans!” Somehow, over the years, I think I have given God plenty
of chuckles.
I am a 1972 graduate of Flint Southwestern High School (now Academy). I escaped, uh, I mean left Flint MI in 1973 when I headed for Los Angeles California thinking "I guess I'll never be coming back here to live." My father painted cars at Fisher Body, my Mom worked at Buick
City but I had dreams of being in the entertainment field. But after nearly 20 years as a performer and having the opportunity
to travel and perform all over the world, God began to change my heart 1989 - a difficult change that would take another
3 years to complete.
Two divorces in the 1980's had left me a hurt and discouraged man but a head-on car crash
in 1991 refocused my life; I knew I wanted to make a difference in this world and especially in the life of my then 4 year
old son, James - now 22. [Note: the above current picture is with our 8 year old Josh.]
In August of 1992 I married Luanne, one of my best friends
from high school (with whom I had never been romantic till then); four months later, although I was a partner and bass
singer in the 50's group The Diamonds (hits of "Little Darlin'", "The Stroll", etc) - I sensed
God was telling me to get off the road.
God took me through
a process of humbling before 'dragging' me into music ministry. Music Pastor Dan Whittemore discipled me at Reno Christian Fellowship and Sr. Pastor Greg Kuehn encouraged me at Sierra Bible Church (the former 1st Evangelical
Free Church of Reno) to consider
ministry as a full time calling. Could God really use a twice divorced person who loved Him? YES!
With Pastor Greg's encouragement and support, I returned
to college to earn my BA. I had quit school 20 years earlier thinking I didn't need a degree to perform; I was right...then.
Shortly after graduation in 1997, Pastor Greg encouraged me to continue on and get my Masters in theology. Mind you, I had
just come off an intensive accelerated degree program during half of the time I had been holding down a full-time job and
deeply involved music ministry (subsequently serving on staff for 1 year before graduation). But Pastor Greg's reasoning
was, "With a Masters, you can go anywhere." Luanne and I prayed about it and decided that if I
was going to get my Masters, I needed to do it full time and discovered Michigan Theological Seminary (www.mts.edu).
We
quickly began to make plans to return to Michigan. Even before leaving Reno, Luanne was offered a position in Midland MI. We
arrived two days before seminary started and 'literally' moved in with Mom and step-Dad in Flint. After few months,
we moved to Midland.
We had been trying to find a church home in Midland for almost two years when
we discovered a small church called Midland
Christian Church. The very first Sunday
it felt 'like home' to us. We then learned that the Sr. Minister was leaving in a few weeks and they were in
the process of finding a new minister. I looked at the qualifications and thought "I'm about to graduate from seminary
and they are looking - God is there a connection
here?" I submitted my resume and
told them "I don't meet all of your qualifications - but I'm available." Being
an unknown, the committee wanted to make sure I was 'above reproach' and continued to search - for six more months.
Finally, I was invited to interview, preach a message and be voted upon for Sr. Minister. On September 12, 1999 I entered
into my first pulpit thinking "I'll be living out my ministry here at MCC" not realizing I had given God another
opportunity to laugh.
In May 2005, God was making it clear that after 6 years, a
more than triple sized growth and two successful building expansions - "It's time to go." God had called us in the past to "Walk by faith, not by sight"
and so we shared this with the leadership and the congregation and asked them to pray with us to discern the plan that
God had in store for us as well as for them.
To truly walk by faith
we made several choices that would remove any potential roadblocks; we put our house up for sale, sold off as many
possessions as possible, packed our remaining items into storage and moved to...my Mom's...again!
Resumes went out but the response was silence. This was puzzling because God was still giving indicators that I was 'making
a difference' in people's lives. It was a hard wait, but we had no choice.
As the silence continued, I had the opportunity to go out as Associate Director with The
Young Americans in Europe, Germany and USA. I loved being involved in these young people's lives and sensed again
I was making a difference - although being away from my family was hard. On break from one of the tours, the Pastor of the
church we had been attending in Burton gave a message on the spiritual condition of Genesee County. Being curious, I
did some checking on my own. What I discovered astounded me;
Of the nearly one
half million people living in Genesee County;
- Over 274,000
residents are unchurched
- If
every church in Burton (where we lived) had 1,000 attending, it still would not cover the entire city.
- Within a 20 mile radius of where we lived,
there are over 320,000 residents
This information got Luanne
and I asking; "God, is this Your plan?"
Randy Penwell was the Director of New Churches of Christ Evangelism (NCCE) and a friend. In past years he had questioned me about planting a church on several occasions but I never
took it seriously. I had not sensed a call to plant a church, but in March 2006 I called him and shared our vision; "Luanne and I sense that God is calling us to plant a
new church in Burton MI" and so we met.
That meeting led to a NCCE Board presentation and subsequest approval to have NCCE come on board and help us fulfill this
vision.
I believe that there is not only a need, but a hunger for a relational church that helps people find God and make a positive impact in the community. This world
is ever changing but God's message "I love you!" has never changed. He is not far off and distant but close and ever urging people to turn to Him for answers.
With this goal in mind, Luanne and I went through a four day intensive Church Planters Assessment Center in Johnson City TN in the summer of 2006. Although we were the oldest couple there,
it was affirmed what we had discerned - we were positioned to plant a church.
GRACE held it's first service in our home the Sunday before Thanksgiving 2006. After four months
of services in our home, we began holding services at Vern Van Y Elementary in
February 2007. In September 2008 we purchased the building where we currently are. God has taken us through each and every
step and to Him goes the glory! It's been an adventure.
We offer Biblical teaching, uplifting worship and the opportunity to develop freindships
in a fellowship of people. Our Mission Statement at GRACE is simple; "A Place to Love God, Love People, Serve in Community" and no matter your situation, God's Grace is available to all, 24/7 - that is what we are about.
Questions? Contact us and let us know at Gary@Grace247.org
Blessings!
Pastor Gary & Luanne
