About

Our History.

Learn more about Grace Community Church’s journey in East Texas.

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History of –

Grace.

Grace Community Church was born out of the desire of a few families to passionately learn and apply the Bible to everyday life. A staircase in the home of Bill and Rickey Fisher served as pews for children on Sunday mornings in 1964, the year Evangelical Methodist Church of Tyler (now Grace Community) was formed.

As time passed, Grace moved from a home to the YMCA and eventually to what is now our Old Jacksonville Campus.

In 1973, the church began a christian school which was dedicated to expanding the kingdom of God through educating and equipping children. One year later, the Evangelical Methodist Church officially changed its name to Grace Community of Tyler. And by 1984, the large Auditorium on Old Jacksonville Road was completed.

In 2001, Grace pursued a multi-site model that led to a campus meeting at Grace Community High school on University Blvd.

In 2004, there was a realization that numerous people who lived north of I-20 were attending our Old Jacksonville campus.  Since eleven small groups met north of I-20, we began to have discussions, and those groups formed the nucleus of what has now become our Lindale campus. For quite some time, they met in the E.J. Moss auditorium before moving into the current funeral home. We began construction in spring of 2008 on a new campus for Lindale.

Seeing a growing need for a Gospel-centered, Spanish-speaking church, Grace began making preparations in 2013 to launch a 4th campus.  In January of 2015, Grace Community launched Grace Español.

Development Highlights

1964

Establishment of Evangelical Methodist Church (now Grace Community Church) in the home of Bill and Rickey Fisher

1965

Church growth was on the rise and moved into the YMCA until the construction of the first building on Old Jacksonville was complete

1973

Grace Community School was formed

1974

The Evangelical Methodist Church officially changed its name to Grace Community Church of Tyler

1984

The large Auditorium was completed

1993

A nursery and youth building was added

2001

Grace launched the University Blvd. Campus

2004

Grace launched the Lindale Campus

2008

Lindale Campus construction was completed

2014

New Chapel designed to facilitate life events such as weddings and funerals completed at the Old Jacksonville Campus

2015

Grace Community launches Grace Español in order to meet the growing needs of a Spanish-speaking, Gospel-centered congregation

Watch –

some of our “end of year” videos.

Watch these compilations of stories, and get a glimpse of what God has done through the years.

New to Grace Community?