About Us

Grace Community Church was established in 1980. Several local families had been impressed with the ministry of Camp Spofford (also affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America). They sought to form a local church with the same distinctive emphases on the Bible and on a personal relationship with Christ which were evident in the camp's ministry. After meeting in the Spofford Grange Hall for a number of years, we moved into our present building on Old Swanzey Road in 1988.

Grace Community Church is an Evangelical Free Church, a denomination which traces its American roots back to the 1880's. There are over 1200 Evangelical Free Churches in America and about 50 in New England.

"Evangelical" refers to our emphasis on the Evangel (which means Good News) message that God loves us and offers us a personal relationship through Jesus Christ. "Free" refers to our form of church government as being congregational. In other words, Free Churches depend upon the active participation of the lay people in the decisions and directions of the local church.

Grace Community Church is located on Old Swanzey Rd. in Spofford, New Hampshire (10 minutes from Keene, NH & Brattleboro, VT). For a map and complete driving directions, please click here .

Our Purpose Statement

To Know, Grow, and Show God’s Grace through our lives.  

 

The purpose of GCEFC is to make disciples who are honoring God by:

• Actively seeking to Know more about Him through studying the Bible (Jos. 1:8)
• Supporting one another as we Grow in Christ (1Cor. 12-13; Eph 4: 11-16; Eph. 5: 31-32, :8-10)
• Showing his love with those who have not yet experienced it (1Peter 3:15; Gal. 6:10, :14; Eph. 4:22-23, :29-32; Col. 1:9-12)

 

Our Philosophy of Ministry 

 

Each ministry of our church will contribute to the overall process of developing fully matured disciples of Jesus Christ.  We will seek to provide an atmosphere in which each believer (through the power of the Holy Spirit) can respond to God with his or her whole being through thoughts, words, and deeds (spiritual gifts).  This will be accomplished

• By a corporate worship /celebration service focused on glorifying God;
• By providing/offering fellowship sized groups like SS to encourage ministering to one another; and
• By organizing / forming smaller groups (within the community) that focus on developing intimacy, accountability with one another and teaching members how to “feed themselves” spiritually

 

Our Mission  

• We will seek to challenge believers and non-believers through systematic preaching of the scriptures
• We will model prayer and praise during worship / celebration services
• We will provide opportunity to praise God in singing relevant music
• We will foster the use of the gift of encouragement through special music and drama
• We will be responsible for giving spiritual direction, leadership training, teaching the word of God, and model disciple making through our pastoral team.

 

Our Vision 

• We will offer nurturing / equipping ministries at multiple commitment levels through Small Groups to develop sequential growth for disciples 
• Each member will be responsible to grow as a disciple, to be trained to use spiritual gifts and to be empowered by the HS to minister to those in and outside the Body of Christ 
• We are committed to the principle of multiplication by;

·       Evangelizing. We will provide community outreach events that attract those who do not know Christ

·       Discipling, train others using the method of apprenticeship

·       Training, servant gifts and leadership gifts are equally as important in building a healthy disciple making Church.  We will provide specific training to reach our neighbors and family for Christ.

·       Delegating ministry to others who are faithful.  Leaders will be recognized by considering both Character and giftedness

 

 

Our Values 

• The Bible.  The absolute authority for all we do
• Prayer.  A vital important spiritual discipline of communication
• Worship.  Our creative response to the greatness of God
• Stewardship.  Recognition that all we have came from and belongs to God.
• Evangelism.  The starting point and indispensable catalyst to all disciple making