Detailed
History
Grace Baptist Church was organized in 1981.
Most of the original membership worked for Accelerated Christian
Education (A.C.E.) in Lewisville. Donald Howard, president of
A.C.E., was the founding pastor. It was his desire to have a
fundamental church that also had a philosophy of Christian Education.
The church was named Grace Fundamental Church. The Christian
school associated with A.C.E., Lewisville Christian Academy, became a
part of our church ministry from the very beginning.
The church began in an upstairs conference room
at the Spanish Trails Motel in Lewisville, but quickly outgrew the
space. The church moved to the cafeteria at A.C.E. and then worked
out a 99 year lease for an acre of land to build a permanent structure
on the A.C.E. property. This church building was built in 1983. That
same year Lewis Bridges became pastor. Not only did our church
have a Christian academy, but during this time our church took oversight
of The International Institute, a college program to train young people
to serve the Lord.
In 1986, Robert Crosthwaite became pastor.
It was during this time that A.C.E. requested that The International
Institute of A.C.E. be placed under A.C.E. rather than the church.
For 14 months in 1989 our church was without a
pastor. The next year our church changed its name to Grace Baptist
Church of Lewisville. Most of the membership were Baptist and felt
that the church should be so identified.
In 1990 Robert Woosley became pastor. Our
church began seeking a way to have a greater impact in the community.
We voted to move off the A.C.E. property where our church could have a
greater community outreach. A.C.E. purchased our building so that
we could move into town. In 1993 we purchased our current
property. Building plans were made and the name of our church was
changed to Grace Baptist Church of Flower Mound.
With the sale of our old building to A.C.E. and
their need to use the facility, it was necessary for our church and
school to locate to temporary facilities until a new building could be
built. The church met in Timbercreek Elementary School for
services and our school met in the Atrium Mall for a year.
Finally, the church received a building permit in 1995. Once
received, our current building was constructed in record time and we
began services and our school in October of that year.
In 1997 John Gillespie became interim pastor for a
year, and then in 1998 the church extended the call for him to be our
pastor. Under his leadership, God has blessed abundantly. Our
church ministries now include: Grace Christian Academy (K-12), Missions,
Awana, W.O.W. (Women of Worth), Men's Fellowship,
Soul-Winning/Visitation, Discipleship, Adult and Junior Choirs, and Deaf
Interpretation ministries. Our church has experienced steady
growth and abundant blessings from the Lord.
