How we got here...


Our birth as a church

God has blessed Grace Church in some amazing ways over our young life! We were launched under the leadership of Dr. Joel Cooper, who came out of retirement to join with the other United Methodist Churches in Conway to give birth to this new church that would eventually be called Grace. The vision for Grace was to reach some of the thousands of people in Faulkner County who didn't have a church home. Since we began as a birth instead of a church split, Grace has a different kind of spiritual DNA.

In October of 1992, 23 volunteers dialed 7,740 phone numbers and spoke to 4,329 households in an effort to get the word out to the community about our new church. The first worship service was held at the Wesley Foundation on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas on November 29, 1992. 128 people attended. Thirty-eight people present indicated an interest in becoming members. The following Easter Sunday in 1993, 44 persons were received into the membership of Grace United Methodist Church.

By June of 1994, Dr. Cooper requested that he return to retirement. The congregation had grown to 66 full members with an average attendance of 48 in worship and 29 in Sunday School. After retirement, Dr. Cooper and his wife remained active in Grace Church for several years.

In June of 1994, Dr. Robert Crossman was appointed to Grace. Bob led Grace through a remarkable decade of growth and ministry. Grace grew to 679 full members and an average attendance of 502 in worship, with 195 in Sunday school. Most remarkable has been the 272 persons who have either made a first-time profession of faith in Christ or reaffirmed their faith in Christ through Grace Church. God has indeed blessed Grace Church in amazing ways.

In December, 2003, Dr. Crossman finished his decade of ministry and growth as the Sr. Pastor of Grace Church. He moved to the Arkansas Conference office of the United Methodist Church to oversee the planting of 30 new United Methodist Churches throughout Arkansas in the next ten years. In June, 2004, Jim Lenderman became the third Sr. Pastor at Grace Church. And our vision to make mature disciples of Jesus Christ continues under his leadership.

Our ministry campus

Since moving to our current location on Hogan Lane in November of 1996, Grace has continued to have a passion to reach the new residents of Conway and those without a church home. And reach people we did. In 1998 construction began on Phase II to provide some much-needed space for the continuing growth and expanding ministry. Phase II included 10,500 square feet with a fellowship hall to seat 250, commercial kitchen, 6 additional adult classrooms, 2 additional children's classrooms, and more parking. Three years later, in 2001, construction on Phase III was completed to double the size of fellowship hall, add 5 more adult classrooms, and a youth recreation area.

Though we have completed the first three phases in our campus master plan to accommodate our continuing growth, Grace church is not about buildings. We are about people and ministry. This is probably the result of our church starting out in borrowed facilities for our first four years. From the very beginning our focus has been on people. Specifically, we are about spiritually transforming people's lives in Jesus Christ and meeting the needs of real people in real ways in our community and throughout the world.

What's ahead...

As incredible as our first decade was, our second decade will prove to be the best yet for Grace Church. We continue to reach persons without a church home. We continue to reach persons who profess their faith in Jesus Christ or who start over in their faith here. Members and guests continue to experience real spiritual transformation.

Grace Church has a place for you. A place for you to make great Christian friends. A place for you to grow in your relationship with God. And a place for you to make a real difference in this world for Christ