Our history

The early church, as recorded in Acts, began by meeting in homes. They did not start with a grand building or with a stone cathedral. They started in humble homes, devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, and to prayer. They broke bread together, praised God together, and enjoyed the favor of all the people. The Lord added to their numbers daily. Grace Evangelical Church started in very much the same way. It all started with five couples in a modest home in a small, suburban town south of Atlanta, Georgia. As the Lord blessed and added to the early church, so He has blessed and added to Grace.

It all started in 1973, when the Lord called five couples from separate churches to begin praying together about the condition of churches on the south side of Atlanta. Through much prayer, the Lord led these five couples to endeavor to develop a balanced church, true to the New Testament—one that would be a teaching church with evangelistic outreach. There was also a desire to be friendly and acceptable to all whom God sent to the church.

These five couples—Tom and Rheba Akins, Sid and Melba Cook, Joe and Barbara Ivey, Jim and Donna Mathis, and Jim and Dot Patrie—were led to begin worshipping together in May, 1973, at the Ivey’s home on Highway 279 in Fayetteville, Georgia. The first meeting included ten adults and ten children; Joe Ivey was the first Bible study teacher. Mr. Ivey was an airline pilot, a home Bible study teacher, and the president of Fellowship of Christian Airline Personnel (FCAP).

Shortly thereafter, the name of Grace Evangelical Church was submitted, approved and registered with the state of Georgia. It was incorporated at a later date.

The name “Grace” was chosen because of scriptural references to being saved by grace, walking by grace and having grace to meet our needs (Ephesians 2:4-9, Ephesians 1:7-8). “Evangelical” was chosen because of the belief in the authority of the Word of God and the desire to practice missions (evangelism) at home and abroad.

In obedience to the Scriptures (I Timothy 3:1-16 and Titus 1:1-16), a Board of Elders and a Board of Deacons were chosen, submitted, approved and ordained. A “Statement of Faith” and a “Constitution and By-laws” were also written, submitted, approved, and adopted. These serve to guide the body as it functions today.

This body of believers met regularly to worship and pray. As the numbers increased, it became increasingly obvious that the Ivey home was no longer sufficient to house Grace Evangelical Church. In October, 1973, the church began to meet at Gresham Chapel on the campus of Woodward Academy, at 1662 Rugby Avenue in College Park, Georgia.

At this time, Carl Wilson was called to be the interim pastor. Carl, a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, had been pastor of several Presbyterian churches. He had recently left Campus Crusade as the high school director and was beginning a new ministry called Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA). Carl Wilson remained pastor/teacher until September 1975. Joe Ivey handled the pastoral duties during Carl’s time away with WDA.

William T. Waldrop was called to be the first full-time pastor/teacher of Grace Evangelical Church in September 1975. Bill Waldrop graduated from West Point Military Academy and embarked on a twenty-year career with the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, he was called by the Lord into ministry with Officers Christian Fellowship and he ministered as a lay person throughout his Air Force career. After his retirement from the Air Force, he attended and graduated from Gordon Theological Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts.

The numbers of Grace Evangelical Church continued to increase. After much prayer, a decision was reached to geographically relocate to an area even further south of Atlanta. In 1980, Hood Avenue Elementary School, at 490 Hood Avenue in Fayetteville, Georgia, was chosen as a meeting place.
Bill Waldrop remained as pastor/teacher until August 1985. The associate pastor, Steve Martin, assumed the helm at this time. Steve was a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

In 1986, the church moved their meeting place to the Tri-City Realty Building at 135 Bastille Way in Fayetteville, Georgia. The church continued to meet there until 1987, when the present building was built on previously purchased property at 164 Flat Creek Trail, Fayetteville, Georgia. A very capable deacon, Deryl Bullington, was the building coordinator and spent many hours with the builder. Another church member, Harold Lauer, was in the excavation business; he donated many hours to the construction of the church. Shortly after Harold’s death in 1989, the church building was dedicated to him.

Steve Martin remained the pastor/teacher until March of 1989. Joe Ivey, with the assistance of some very able elders, again became the interim pastor of the church until July 1990.

At that time, Gary Franklin began as pastor/teacher at Grace Evangelical Church. Gary graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, had been a youth pastor and assistant pastor in Dallas, Texas, and had been the pastor of Faith Bible Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina, for several years. He was pastor/teacher at Grace until August 1997.

In September 1997, Mike Stachura, a member of Grace Evangelical, was asked by the elders to assume the position of interim pastor of the church. In April 1998, Mike accepted a position as full-time pastor/teacher of Grace Church, and he was ordained in May 1998. He is a graduate of Wheaton Theological Graduate School in Wheaton, Illinois. He served with Operation Mobilization (OM) for over twenty years; his final position at OM was president of OM U.S.A., whose headquarters are located in Tyrone, Georgia. Mike Stachura also served as president for Advancing Churches in Mission Commitment (ACMC).

In August 2000, Bruce Hebel accepted the position of Senior Pastor at Grace Church with Mike Stachura moving into the role of Associate Pastor. Bruce, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, has held pastoral positions in Medford, New Jersey, Harrah, Oklahoma, and Norman, OK. He was pastor/teacher at Grace until March 2006.

In May 2007 Gary Franklin once again joined Grace Church as its Teaching Pastor.

Grace Church continues to grow as a faith community, both vibrant and balanced in our emphases on Worship, Integration, Fellowship, Evangelism, and Sacrifice, both locally and globally.