Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. (Acts 20:28)
While we believe the New Testament norm is for local churches to be led by a plurality of Biblically qualified pastors, or elders, we currently have one pastor who labors bivocationally. Our hope and prayer to God is that He will raise up more faithful men from our midst who, out of a genuine concern for the church's welfare (Phil. 2:20), will "care for the church of God" (Acts 20:28). Please refer to our pastoral prayer guide.
We live in a day when countless churches have lowered the standards for pastoral ministry, taking their eyes off the Biblical qualifications given by God for the good of His church. Many churches are eager to ordain and lay hands on almost any man, as long as he’s gifted and good with words. Like ancient Israel, the church can be quick to fall over for men like Saul who are attractive, gifted, and successful according to worldly standards (1 Sam. 9:1-2). Like Saul, many men creep their way into positions of church leadership to “take and take and take” in order to benefit themselves (1 Sam. 8:11-17).
Our God is infinitely more concerned with a man's personal godliness than with his public giftedness, which is why He gave the church clear requirements with regard to pastoral ministry (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). In the hands of a patient, perceptive, and prayerful church, these qualifications serve to weed out the selfishly ambitious (Phil. 1:17), the secretly idolatrous (Acts 8:18-20), the wickedly adulterous (2 Pet. 2:14), the proudly imperious (3 John 9), and the inwardly ravenous (Matt. 7:15), men who are more concerned with holding an office than "[holding] firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it" (Titus 1:9).
These Biblical qualifications safeguard the church from being swayed by self-serving shepherds who have no genuine desire to labor for the joy of Christ's people (2 Cor. 1:24). Like divinely appointed gatekeepers, these qualifications guard the church from men like Diotrephes who are swollen with self-importance and stubborn resistance to Biblical authority (3 John 9).
In addition to meeting and maintaining the qualifications of a pastor as specified in the New Testament, all current and future pastors of Grace Community Church must be in agreement with our Elder Affirmation of Faith (adapted from Bethlehem College and Seminary).
Current Leadership
Justin Trevino