Fifty years ago this month, on a frosty Sunday morning, it was standing-room-only inside a small church on the outskirts of Tempe. That’s when 355 souls gathered for the first-ever service at Grace Community Church.
Ken Seegren, coordinator of men’s ministries at the church, wasn’t there, but he’s heard all about it.
“The whole thing started out in a very amazing way,” Seegren said. “They didn’t buy enough chairs for the first service.” From its humble beginnings as the brainchild of two childhood friends and their wives, Grace Community Church has mushroomed into a large congregation with buildings that sprawl across 18 acres.
Seegren and his wife met at the church’s singles group in the late 1970s and have been members of Grace ever since. “Our passion is that people find our church warm and welcoming just like we did when we moved here,” he said. “That’s what attracted us.”
Founded by the late Pastor Guy Davidson and his wife Martha plus former Tempe Mayor Elmer Bradley and his wife Ellen, the non-denominational Grace Community Church has flourished even as secularism in the culture has advanced. In addition to groups for men, women, children, teens and young adults, Grace also boasts a ministry for the disabled and for senior citizens. There’s also a pre-K to 8 school, Grace Academy, founded in 1975 and situated on the church campus.
“For a church to stay vibrant, lots of things are necessary,” Seegren said. “Our church has adapted and adjusted through the years.” That might be an understatement. Grace’s flourishing has driven the congregation to build three sanctuaries, each one larger than the last. By 1972, its larger sanctuary held 1,000; today’s, built in 1981, seats 1, 600. There’s also a full-size gymnasium with a basketball court. The Connection Center boasts a multi-media library and cozy coffee shop, perfect for gathering with friends or for fellowship groups.
“Our middle name is ‘community’ and so we are a church that desires to reach out
and provide a sense of community for the people who call Grace their home,” Seegren said, a view emphasized by lead pastor, Des Wadsworth.
The native of Australia who grew up in England came aboard in the summer of 2015.
“Today, Grace is a church becoming increasingly outward focused—where every generation matters and where we’re placing a priority on the next generation,” Wadsworth said. “We’re a community of people here for the
community of Tempe, a church where everyone from every walk of life is welcome.”
Even from its earliest days, Grace has also been driven to reach beyond Tempe and into the developing world, to places like India, where they’ve planted numerous churches. During the weeklong 50th anniversary celebration, that zeal to spread the Gospel was on display in an interactive museum the church set up in one of its former sanctuaries. Tables spread throughout the room held photographs and memorabilia from earlier times, including a tribute to the church’s global outreach program.
“There’s a whole world out there that needs to hear about Jesus,” Seegren said as he guided Wrangler News through the exhibits where Bob Beck stood reminiscing about earlier times at Grace. He’s belonged to the church for almost 40 years and said his fondest memory is an experience he had at Camp Grace in the 1970s. The church owned a camp in the Pinetop area back then. “My greatest memory was going to a men’s retreat there in
1978,” Beck said. “That’s when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.”
“There are people all throughout the community who have been touched by Grace through the years,” Seegren said.
That includes Mayor of Tempe Mark Mitchell who attended preschool at Grace.
Mitchell videotaped a greeting for the 50th anniversary celebration and declared Sunday, Jan. 8, Grace Community Church Day.
“The City of Tempe honors Grace Community Church for its significant and positive impact for good in Tempe during the past 50 years,” the proclamation read in part.
A weeklong celebration of Grace’s half-century anniversary was packed with everything from a Throwback Thursday party to a pancake breakfast and “fiesta of faith.” Amid it all was the sense of connectedness Grace is known for in Tempe.
“People make friendships here that last a lifetime” Seegren said. “Some of our adult Sunday-school classes have been together for 30 or 40 years.”
