History of Grace Community Church
From 1986 to the present (2024)
Grace Community Church (GCC) had its humble beginnings around February of 1986. Gary, a pastor from "down South", founded the work and held its first meetings in the Westmark Whitehorse hotel in one of the rooms the Frantic Follies were using. Shortlyafter that, the small but growing group of believers rented one of the theatres in the Qwanlin Cinema building and began holding Sunday services in the afternoon.
Music and fellowship were an integral part of the new community as was a focus on the grace of God. After six months, Gary left and members assumed responsibility for the church. In September of that year, the group purchased the old Jehovah's Witness building at 801 Wheeler Street and Doug was ordained as the pastor. The community continued to grow, developing strong music and children and youth ministries, gaining acceptance in the wider Whitehorse Christian community. In 1988, Doug met Salt and Light Ministries and the community's relationship to this organization began. Because of a desire to have an elder-lead church, an Elder's Council was established.
In the 1990's, the community began to develop several ministries that became some Grace trademarks: music ministries, community dinners (relieving the Salvation Army), family camps at Marsh Lake, spontaneous giving to other churches and groups, and a willingness to embrace the wounded and world-weary. Through this, the community became known as a place where people care and in which, over the years, many have come to GCC for a time of rest and healing. A Statement of Faith was established in 1997 and the loan for the purchase of the church property was paid off in 2003. In 1997, Simon was ordained as an elder.
When the pastor moved away in 1999, an Elder's Advisory Council was established, which enlisted a variety of members over the years. A new constitution was passed and approved in February 2003. The 2003 constitution outlined a formal process for ordaining elders. In November 2005, an Elder and ordination process review was undertaken, resulting in an updated protocol. This was a time of soul searching for the church, prompting an initiative called the ‘Face of Grace Survey’ (Exploring questions such as: "What about GCC encourages you? What about GCC discourages you? Where would you like to see GCC in one year? In five years?") Reflecting insights from the survey, the church adopted new purpose and vision statements. Small group ministry (CARE groups) were started and flourished for a time. Missions and relief expanded locally (New Life FM, food bank food drives, community dinners) and globally (The Dye's in Mexico, the Goertzen's in Paupa New Guinea, the Arancibia's in Chile, S. Green in Ethiopia, and V. Kostyorny in Eurasia).
Over this time it became increasingly clear that operating as a 100% volunteer church was unsustainable. In 2008, Andrea was hired as the ‘Minister of Pastoral Care,’ responsible for administering church programs especially tending to providing pastoral support to the GCC congregation and the wider community. Andrea stayed until early 2013.
Andrea’s departure once again brought the challenges of managing and guiding GCC into sharp focus. Drawing on connections with Vision Ministries Canada (https://vision-ministries.org/), Jay came in April, 2013, to guide GCC through the Vision Ministries Natural Church Development Survey (NCD). The NCD measurers a church's relative health in eight areas that correlate to healthy church growth. GCC scored highest in "loving relationships" and lowest in "effective structures".
Based on those findings, Jay suggested hiring a transitional pastor equipped to help with a restructuring process, putting the church in touch with the Sharpe’s. They came to Yukon in October, 2013, for six months, during which time they led GCC through a process intended to enable the church to build a strong and sustainable ministry and organizational foundation. By the end of their tenure, the following structural changes had been embraced:
- Rather than being non-denominational, GCC joined the Evangelical Free Church of Canada (EFCC).
- Rather than being elder-led, in keeping with EFCC polit, GCC adopted a congregational form of government, with a Leadership Team (Board of Directors) being elected by the congregation.
- A Pastoral Search Committee was struck to secure a full-time pastor, following the EFCC pastoral search guidelines.
During the pastoral search process GCC was served by an interim pastor. The Sagers were a balm in a challenging time of organizational change, graciously serving the church, providing pastoral care, and sharing their wisdom with the Leadership Team and the Pastoral Search Committee.
The conclusion of the search process was the appointment of Jim as full-time pastor of GCC on April 1, 2015. Barrett, Carol, Dawn, and Simon were named as Elders, appointed by the Leadership Team to help support the pastor and the congregation. As well, in September of that year, GCC was accepted as a full member of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada.
Between Jim’s installation and the onset of the COVID crisis, the church continued its historic ministry path, with a few baptisms, some joyful family camp events, occasional church BBQs and monthly church potlucks. There were occasional book club initiatives and small group Bible studies. Yukon being Yukon, folks arrived to become a part of the fellowship and some folks moved on to other locales.
A much appreciated strength of Jim as pastor was his commitment to solid expository preaching, moving week by week through an entire book of the Bible. Over a period of months an OT or NT book would be explored in depth, taking context seriously while drawing out practical lessons and applications for the present moment.
The COVID crisis from 2020 through 2022 had a significant impact on the church. For many months it was not possible to hold physical meetings in the church building. As it gradually became possible to gather together, numbers were severely restricted. Nonetheless, it proved possible to meet together virtually via Zoom. Services continued online, with music, sharing prayers, and Jim continuing to provide expository teaching. But participation understandably dropped off and some folks have not returned to Sunday morning services.
Post-COVID, GCC has gradually resumed its historic rhythm with occasional new folks joining and some folks moving on. The church continues to offer Zoom connectivity on Sunday mornings, but mostly as a service to members who are otherwise unable to join on Sunday due to illness, weather, or other circumstances. The church has been encouraged by a small number of young families who are now part of the fellowship and efforts have been made to provide a Sunday School ministry for them.
Besides Jim’s careful preaching, other encouragements have included an early Sunday morning Bible study, a mid-week viewing of Season One of the Chosen series, the after-service (and quite popular) ‘Church Café’ with coffee, tea, and other snacks to encourage conversation, some creative special services around Christmas and Easter, monthly church potlucks, monthly ‘craft socials’, and an increasingly ethnically diverse congregation.
After careful consideration Jim resigned, the church congregation was sad to see him move on, and grateful for his faithful service as pastor. So once again GCC has convened a Pastoral Search Committee and begun a process of seeking and discerning whom the Lord may call to serve as pastor. By God’s mercy GCC looks forward to continuing as a witnessing community of brothers and sisters in Christ, caring for one another and expressing the grace of God to Whitehorse and the Yukon.
October 10, 2024