who is leading our church
The Bible tells us that Christ has graciously gifted His church with shepherd leaders who feed, protect, and guide the sheep to greater purity, unity, and maturity in the Lord. Grace River is an Elder-led church that aims to govern the church by the biblical model. In the Bible pastors and overseers are in the same category of Elder. So our Elders share leadership responsibilities and come alongside our Lead Pastor to govern, direct, and feed the local church.
We refer to our Elders as Shepherd Leaders as they lead by sacrificial, careful, and godly leading of God's flock as undershepherds of our great Shepherd, Jesus Christ, to whom the church belongs.
The Shepherd Leaders work alongside our Lead Pastor to guide the church with biblical teaching and prayerful, Spirit-led decisions. Our church retains congregational voting and input on many major issues. Members are invited to voice their thoughts during our regular churchwide meetings and directly to our leadership, who are always available to listen.