Who We Are

We exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ across the street and around the world.

Our Mission

We exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ across the street and around the world.

Our Priorities

  • increase the impact of the Gospel locally and globally
  • make outrageous efforts to reach and disciple those 0 to 18
  • maintain commitment to biblical teaching and spiritual depth

Our Strategies

  • children at risk
  • marriage
  • small groups
  • generosity
  • multisite locations

The Word of God

The Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, alone is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and having supreme authority in all matters of faith and life.

The Trinity

There is One living and true God, eternally existing in three Persons. They are equal in every divine perfection, and They execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.

God the Father

God the Father is the infinite, eternal and almighty personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love, and is the first Person of the Trinity. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of people, He hears and answers prayers, and He saves from sin and death all who come to Him in repentance and faith through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and is the second Person of the Trinity. He was miraculously born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and performed miracles. We affirm His incarnation, teachings, substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and His personal, visible return to earth. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God the Father and humanity.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity and is sent from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. At the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit, as the abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide, indwells every believer in Christ and endows each believer with spiritual gifts for ministry to the family of God and the world.

Salvation

The central purpose of God's revelation in the Bible is to call all people into awareness of their sin, the availability of God's marvelous grace, and the need for repentance and faith that results in complete forgiveness and fellowship with God. All people are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under the judgment of God. Those who call on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness, believe in His resurrection and receive Him as their Savior are granted salvation, forgiveness of their sin and are regenerated by the Holy Spirit into a new life in Christ. This act of salvation is based solely on the grace and mercy of God and is not the result of human deeds or goodness.

Future Destiny

The Lord Jesus Christ will come again to earth, personally and visibly, to establish His kingdom and fulfill God's eternal plan for creation. Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. For each person, there will be a resurrection of the body, the final judgment before God, the eternal bliss in heaven for those who are in Christ Jesus, and the endless suffering in hell for those who have not received salvation.

The Church

The Church consists of a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. It exists as both a world-wide fellowship of the family of God as well as in specific local congregations consisting of a community of believers in Jesus Christ who are committed to obedience to Him. Believers in a local church are called by God to gather together to devote themselves to worship, prayer, the teaching of the Word of God, observance of baptism and communion as ordinances established by Jesus Christ, and to fellowship and to minister to one another through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts. God has laid upon the members of the local church the primary task of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, beginning in their own communities and reaching cross-culturally to the ends of the earth.

The Ordinances

The Lord Jesus Christ has instituted two ordinances for obedient observance by the local church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism does not constitute salvation but is a public profession of faith that a person has already experienced salvation. The Scriptures teach that the elements of Communion, or the Lord's Supper, have no mystical or supernatural power, but were given by Jesus as symbols of the sacrifice of His body and blood as an atonement for the sins of the world. These two ordinances are to be observed and administered by God's family until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For information about Grace Church Bylaws, click here.

Bringing Faith to Life Through a Legacy of Faith

“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church . . .” Ephesians 1:22

Bringing Faith to Life . . . an apt description of what the people of Grace Church have been doing for more than 80 years. By God’s sovereignty, what began as a home Bible study in 1928 has grown to a congregation of thousands.

Our First Church Home

Two lots at 55th and France in Edina were purchased for the bargain price of $800. Soon a white-frame chapel (30 feet by 36 feet with a full basement, 19 pews, and bell tower) was erected for $3,500. It was called the France Avenue Mission. Inadequate heating made the chapel an invigorating place in which to worship during cold weather — the choir had to keep their hats on while singing! Church members carried water from nearby homes and brought wood to stoke the furnace.

Our First Pastor

Frank Shortridge became the first pastor of the France Avenue Mission. In describing Pastor Shortridge, one church leader wrote that “Heaven and earth could not stop him from the mission field!” Pastor Shortridge traveled to Morocco, Africa, as the church’s first missionary.

Edina Baptist Church Is Born

The church filed Articles of Incorporation on April 15, 1942, and the France Avenue Mission became Edina Baptist Church. Glenn D. Anderson, a young student at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, became the church’s pastor, first serving part-time. Upon completing his studies in 1945, he assumed the full-time leadership of the church. He remained as pastor for 21 fruitful years.

The Chapel Gives Way to a Church Building

The congregation acquired property at 5300 France Avenue South in Edina, two blocks north of the chapel building. On April 11, 1948, they broke ground for a marvelous, two-story sanctuary building that would seat 300 people for worship, with Sunday school in the lower level. The new church building was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1950.

The 1950s and 1960s

In 1955, they began a $90,000 Sunday school addition, which expanded those facilities to a capacity of 600 people. The Rev. Eugene B. McAllister, a traveling evangelist, became the senior pastor of Edina Baptist Church from February 2, 1964, until August 1967. During this time, the church added a second worship service to accommodate the 400 people who attended regularly, and they made plans to build a 500-seat sanctuary on land adjacent to the church. On February 4, 1968, Rev. Harold Carlson succeeded Rev. McAllister for two years.

 The 1970s

In 1970, God called Pastor Bob Ricker from California to become senior pastor. Under Pastor Ricker’s leadership, the church introduced Grace Groups, a cassette tape ministry, a bookstore, faith promise commitments, missions festivals, and an Awana program. The church was renamed Grace Church. In 1974, the church dedicated a new 1,000-seat worship center. And in 1979, Faith Promise giving increased to $435,000, resulting in proportional increases in missionary sending and support. The Lord called Pastor Ricker to another ministry in 1982, but the fruit of his leadership is still evident. In recognition and appreciation of his faithful service to Grace Church, Pastor Ricker was given the honorary title of pastor emeritus in 2004.

The 1980s and 1990s

Following a brief two-year pastorate by Dr. Rick Yohn, the Lord called Dr. John Eagen as the next shepherd of Grace Church in March 1987.

During Pastor Eagen’s 15-year time as pastor, he refocused ministries around evangelism and missions, with a focus on Lima, Peru, the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, and Cuba. Significant expansion of the Edina facility took place, including a new worship center in 1992. Even so, the church building was not large enough to hold the increasing numbers of people attending. God was leading the people of Grace to step out in faith as never before—to build and relocate to a larger church home that would provide for an unhindered expansion of the ministry.

A New Church Home

After three years of prayer, planning, and construction, the first services were held in the new church building on Sunday, August 18, 2002 — a beautiful 350,000-square-foot facility that included a 4,200 seat worship center. It was built on 62 acres of rolling prairie land in Eden Prairie, about 11 miles from the previous location in Edina.

A Period of Transition

Not long after Pastor Eagen’s resignation was announced on October 13, 2002, Pastor Bob Ricker returned as the interim pastor for 13 months. In February 2004, the Lord called Dr. Daniel Henderson to become Grace’s next senior pastor. Pastor Henderson cultivated a culture of humble dependence on the Lord through prayer, with the introduction of 40-Day Spiritual Discoveries, worship-based prayer services, and prayer summits. Worldwide outreach efforts continued with the construction of new sister churches in countries like Vietnam, Cuba, and Iraq. Pastor Henderson was called to full-time missionary service in June 2007.

In August of 2008, Pastor Troy Dobbs — a passionate preacher with strong vision and leadership ability — accepted God’s call to shepherd Grace Church as its senior pastor. Pastor Troy continues an eight-decades-long legacy of Bringing Faith to Life at Grace Church, through faithfulness to God’s Word, fervent prayer, and worldwide evangelism. To God be the glory!