Our name accurately describes us:
Grace – The grace of God through Jesus Christ is the ONLY means whereby man can be saved (Acts 4:12)
Reformed – Our belief in the complete sovereignty of God in all things (Job 42:2; Psalm 135:6; Isa 46:8-11; Matt 10:29-30)
Family – Adults and children worship together as a single congregation. This is often referred to as Family Integration. (Deut 6:4-7; Deut 31:12-13; Josh 8:34-35)
Church – Encompasses both the visible (professing believers) and the invisible church (elect) through all ages. (1 Cor. 12:12-31; Rom 12:4-5; Col 3:15)
Grace Reformed Family Church has the unique vision of returning to the proven faith and practice of our fathers. To this end, we strive to:
- Return to the tried and true Reformed teachings of our church fathers
- Return to a more traditional service with an emphasis on verse-by-verse teaching
- Passionately pursue unity within the church
- Encourage fathers to lead their families
- Bring children back into the service to worship alongside their parents
100% Volunteer Staff
We, at GRFC, are committed to selfless service for the glory of God. We are 100% volunteer based; no one receives a salary or receives any proceeds from the congregation. All proceeds go to support our ministries, our facilities, and our activities.
Desiring to Unite the Church
Although the church is guided by the Westminster Confession of Faith we also embrace the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession. We see both sides of the baptism issue and will not force anyone to be baptized in a manner that violates their conscience.
Doctrinally Sound
We adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) as a guide for interpreting Scriptures. Most modern churches have deviated from the historic doctrinal positions and practices of the church’s great leaders. Without a solid, time-tested, doctrinal statement churches can and do run astray. Many of the doctrinal errors seen today are merely ancient heresies repackaged for the modern age. Most, if not all, of these doctrinal inconsistencies may have been avoided if churches adopted tried and true doctrines of the church from times past. We do not elevate the older confessions to the level of Scripture, but believe that a careful study of prior statements of faith will deepen our understanding of what “man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man.” We believe that the church benefits tremendously by returning to historic teachings of the church.
Traditional Service and Verse-by-Verse Teaching
With this goal in mind, our service is traditional with some modern elements, singing hymns, spiritual songs and even the Psalms (the forgotten songs of the Bible). We take communion weekly and teach verse-by-verse. Teaching through an entire book at a time (generally alternating Old Testament and New Testament) requires the pastor to teach tough doctrines. We pray for needs within the church and read Scripture together on a weekly basis. This service model, we believe, is most consistent with Scripture. If you’re looking for a reverent, traditional service you should check out GRFC.
Promoting Church Unity
Most importantly we seek to unite Christians of different backgrounds choosing not to divide over non-essentials. Our goal every Sunday is to worship the Lord with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength and anyone who wishes to do so may worship with us. Although families in our congregation may hold slightly different views on the non-essentials, we strive to avoid division and strife within the church. It is important that each church member is Confessional. This ensures they know what they believe and why. Although the church officially teaches from the Westminster Confession of Faith, we also embrace the Second London Baptist Confession and the Savoy Declaration. We expect everyone to find a Confession they are comfortable with and stick to it.
Encouraging Fathers to Lead their Families
All are welcome at GRFC. Our congregation is diverse and this point may not be applicable to everyone however for fathers with young children we stress the importance of the father’s leadership role in the family. We believe that in order for a family to thrive a father must actively lead the family. He must provide for and protect those under his charge both physically and spiritually because he is directly responsible to God for the health and safety of the family. We provide physical resources they can use to lead their families in worship (we are currently moving through a two-year study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism). We encourage fathers to actively demonstrate the principle of servant leadership. This type of leadership flows from a deep love for his family and an understanding of the servile role our Lord took while He walked among us.
Embracing Family Worship
Grace Reformed Family Church seeks to unite families rather than dividing the church on Sundays. Why do we do this? Evidence proves that removing children from the worship service negatively impacts their Christian worldview. While this model is commonly referred to as “Family Integrated” we are not affiliated with any family integration movement. For us, family integration is just how we arrange our worship To that end we do not have separate children’s programs on Sunday. However, we do have weekly activities for the children and a weekly potluck where the children (and adults) can develop life-long friendships.
Many of these distinctive are new to the 21st century Christian but the blessings from each of these aspects will have a profound impact on your Christian life.
| Reformed Covenantal Theology (Calvinistic and Non-Dispensational) |
Weekly Corporate Prayer (we lift each other up in prayer weekly) |
| Traditional Service (Psalms, hymns and a fixed order of service) |
Weekly Communion |
| Expository Teaching (verse-by-verse through a book of the Bible – alternating through both the Old and New Testaments) |
Weekly Fellowship Meal (potluck every Sunday and themed potluck monthly) |
| Adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith (except where the church government is concerned) |
Families Worshiping Together (family integrated service – no age segregated children’s programs – noisy children are NEVER a distraction) |
| Solid Theology Presented in an Understandable Way (utilize commentaries by M. Henry, J. Calvin, Systematic Theology by L. Berkhof and others) |
Encourage Family Worship at Home (we provide catechism studies for families and a brief catechism lesson during service) |
| Embrace other Confessions (Savoy Declaration and Second London Baptist Confession) |
Encourage Biblical Roles Within the Home (fathers leading their families) |
| Literal Six Day Creationists (Answers in Genesis and CRI) |
Support Local Pro-Life Ministries (support Refuge In the Desert) |
| Encourage Christian Education (We believe that the children of believers should receive a Christian education) |
Provide Doctrine Classes and Educational Materials (library with commentaries, AIG resources, and dozens of Puritan and Reformed works) |