In The Beginning
In June of 1992, I was appointed to the South Shreveport property and the possibility and purpose of new congregational development. I was given $3000 and told to go start a church. I rented an inexpensive office, got a phone and an answering machine to facilitate communication and presence, and purchased a computer for data base management and publication creation. In July, the Conference sent my wife and me to a training event in Denver, Colorado for new congregational development presented by the General Board of Church Extension. It was helpful training but not enough to really equip a minister for the task of new congregational development. Whether by accident, design, or the prevenient grace of God, I was blessed to receive additional practical training in the area of new congregational development.
Forming the Core
For the first six months, I worked to form a nucleus of people and to share with them a dream of a new work that was to become Grace Community, a United Methodist Congregation. I used personal networking to find people who were interested in meeting the new minister. At meetings in people’s homes, I shared the vision of a new kind of church. It was a time for painting a picture of a preferred reality that would hopefully capture the imagination of the people and inspire them towards the realization of that vision.
It was from these meetings that we formed the core group for the congregation. We wanted to “start big,” so we did not begin holding official public worship services right away; instead our core group of 25-50 people began meeting on Sunday evenings at Live Oak Retirement Community for Bible study, planning, prayer, and singing.
Getting the Word Out
One of the most helpful modes of getting the word out happened by accident. While I was working with a group of youth from the surrounding area gleaning in a field of collard greens, a newspaper reporter came by to write a story on the youth mission work. We started visiting about the origins of gleaning and the ways in which Christianity can really make a difference in the lives of individuals and the world. The reporter, herself an unchurched "bummer" (on the cusp between "buster" and "boomer") was very impressed by the informality, the honesty, and the passion of the people who were spending Saturday grubbing around in a farmer’s field to help others. After talking for a while, I told her that she ought to do a story on the church I was involved in starting. She was curious and motivated. We talked and I shared a vision of what could be.
The reporter wrote a story that allowed me to paint a picture of a church that did not yet exist, and to create a possible identity for that church in the minds of over 400,000 people. The story didn’t appear in the religion or living sections of the paper as I expected, but on the front page next to stories about Saddam Hussein and the Summer Olympics. I was amazed at the hand of God at work in the project.
In September of 1992, core group volunteers in a special telephone campaign contacted thousands of people inviting them to be a part of the exciting new work God was doing in south Shreveport. These calls were followed by a coordinated five-week mail campaign that led up to our first worship service.
The Launch
Much preparation went into getting ready for the first service. The band practiced. The greeters knew their places and the ushers were ready. Classrooms at the high school had been transformed into clean, well-staffed, top quality nurseries. The welcome center was set up and staffed. We had forms to record the attendance. We had prepared. We had prayed. We had done everything we could think of to do.
302 people came to the first worship service at Captain Shreve High School on December 5, 1992. Our attendance settled down to 175 average and grew from there. On February 14, 1993 we had a Celebration Service in which we opened the church for membership. That day we baptized 14 adults, received 150 adults from other denominations and other United Methodist Churches, with various levels of activity or inactivity, and 55 children into relationship with the church. Later that day, we held the Constituting Conference with the new District Superintendent, Rev. Bobby Potter, making us an official United Methodist congregation.
A New Phase Begins with Permanent Facilities
In March of 1996 we moved into our new 26,000 sq. ft. facility on 18 acres of beautiful church land. Now in our ninth year, our ministries and programs and staff have grown rapidly to meet the many needs of people in Shreveport. We strive to reach out in new ways in a contemporary style to reach people where they are with the message of the Gospel. Currently, people from 33 zip codes come to Grace. We average over 1000 people in three services each weekend. To a great degree, this growth is a result of people discovering a fresh way of worshipping and responding to God’s love at Grace Community.
