Grace Abounding

Our church planting team has completed our first full year of church planting near Washington D.C. Christ is building his church just as he promised! (Matthew 16:18)

A Growing Church
After a year, our church now numbers 40+ regular attenders. Our church is ethnically diverse, and we have many more singles and families with children of various ages. March 1, 2009 is our Dedication Sunday. That means we’ll be accepting members for the first time and adopting a constitution & statement of faith. To prepare for Dedication Sunday, we’re going through an 8-part membership class called Inside Grace Church for all who regularly attend the church. We are encouraging every regular attender to join the church. We are firmly convinced from Scripture that relationships in a church and the purposes for the local church are best achieved when individuals and families are in relationship together through membership.

Highlights From Our First Year
In 2008, God blessed our church by his grace. Here are some highlights:

- met in an apartment in Alexandria, then a home in Washington D.C., then a church basement near the U.S. Supreme Court, then a public elementary school (our current location);
- started a women’s Bible study that meets the first Monday of each month;
- our first baptisms (in a joint baptism service with Engleside Baptist Church);
- launched our web site & blog (www.graceofalexandria.org);
- continued an assisted living home ministry on the 3rd Tuesday of each month;
- speaking at the Engleside’s Missions Conference in October;
- teaching our membership class, Inside Grace Church;
- sent out the Scheiderer family to pastor a Bible church in Ohio;
- numerous non-Christians and visitors to our Wednesday night community group;
- speaking in Chapel and teaching a Bible class at a local Christian school;
- a unified Leadership Team (comprised of Garrett Lee, Peter Beninate, Shayne McAllister, and Jonathan Matias);

Pray For Grace Church
- Give thanks for the many reminders of God’s grace listed in the highlights above;
- Pray for the conversion of neighbors, friends, and church visitors;
- Ask God that relationships in the church will lead to growth in Christ.

Blogging More Actively
I’ll be more active in blogging about church planting and about God’s grace at work in our new church family. Thanks for reading!