Today ... It's Off to Winona Lake, Indiana.

Grace Church at Willow Valley is not an independent church. We are a member (and have been since the church was started back in 1976) in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. The FGBC is not a particularly large fellowship of churches. Compared to some church groups (like the Southern Baptist Convention or the United Methodist Church) we are quite small indeed. There are approximately 350 Grace Brethren churches here in the United States and about 3,000 or so overseas (with the bulk of those being in the Central African Republic). Now I point this out because I believe God has used our fellowship to impact our world far beyond what one would think, given our small numbers. The number one piece of evidence I would point to substantiate this claim would be Grace College and Seminary.

Ever since 1937 (Grace Seminary) and 1948 (Grace College) the two schools have been training Christian men and women to serve God in a variety of vocations (click here for Grace's Story). Over these years, thousands have taken their Grace education and applied it to living out their faith in a variety of places where God has seen fit to plant them. We as a church have sent numerous students to Grace across the years. One of the more notable is Pastor Shannon Hollinger who oversees our impact ministries in our church. After graduating from Hempfield HS, Pastor Shannon earned his undergrad degree from Grace College and his graduate degree from Grace Theological Seminary. While at Grace he met April Bonham (also a Grace College grad) who is now April Hollinger, Shannon's wife and our Director of Children's Ministry here at Grace.

All this to say, for a small fellowship of churches, through the mission of Grace Schools we have impacted the evangelical church (and the world) in a way that is truly amazing given our small size (Zechariah 4:10). Today I will be traveling to Winona Lake for two days of our spring board meetings. Our board consists of men and women from all walks of life. Several Grace Brethren pastors, an attorney, an OB-GYN physician, several business men and women make up the board of trustees. As you think of me the next two days, please pray for us. These are challenging days for all institutions of higher education. And Grace is not exempt. But God is leading us through these times. We have several exciting initiatives to discuss. All of which will continue to assure Grace College and Seminary's influence on the Church of today!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj