Above: Ladies' Paint Night: a colorful gaggle of gals
The GRACE FAMILY
MEMBERS of ONE ANOTHER
"...for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:25
WE'RE SIMPLE.
Quite frankly, we're normal folks (red and yellow, black and white) who desire to bring glory to God through our Sunday morning worship, our involvement in the world, and our love for one another. We are sinners saved by God's amazing grace, still learning (some of us, after 9 or 10 decades on this planet) how to follow Jesus.
Men from four churches help Grace Church
remove its pews to make room for some comfy
chairs instead. Come on in and sit on one!
THE GRACE FAMILY was once a very large tribe, nearly 1000 members, most of whom lived and worked in or near Lancaster City. Like many inner-city churches, the years changed the demographics in the neighborhoods surrounding Grace, and sometime in the 1990s the membership began to move out of the city. Many former members (and their subsequent generations) are scattered around the county in other communities and churches. But a remnant remained at Grace, still an active family in the faith.
In 2005, Grace Church gave its historic church building (on the corner of Shippen and Locust in Lancaster City) to In The Light Ministries, a vibrant multi-racial inner-city group more equipped to reach our old neighborhood. We passed the baton, but stayed in the house: one family with one Father and two expressions of worship. But in November of 2017, the Lord opened the doors for us here on Carpenter, and a NEW CHAPTER began for Grace Church as the congregation moved from its historic location in Lancaster to another historic location in the town of East Petersburg.
It is now 2024, our 180th year as a congregation, and the Grace family is doing well. But we are fewer, and some of the "old guard" are home-bound. Some are in nursing homes. We keep in touch with them all through visitation, phone calls, Internet, and through the mail.
Within the larger church of Christ, Grace Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Congregational Church, a denomination with local roots that go back to the late 1700s (eccenter.com/about-us/history). The denominational headquarters of the ECC is in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, just across the Lancaster County border into Lebanon County (www.eccenter.com.) The ECC is comprised of about 600 local congregations in 7 nations with approximately 100,000 members who support over 270 missionaries and operate several compassionate relief and development ministries in joyful response to Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations. We are a serious player (on a much larger global team) in God's grand plan to call this errant world back to himself. Locally, the ECC is affiliated with the highly-esteemed Evangelical Seminary (www.evangelical.edu) and oversees a retirement home called Stoneridge Retirement Living (www.stoneridgeretirement.com.) The denomination also is affiliated with three Christian camps (Camp Ecco, Rock River and Twin Pines) and three Christian camp-meeting grounds (Waldheim, Rosedale and Herndon.)
"...for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:25
WE'RE SIMPLE.
Quite frankly, we're normal folks (red and yellow, black and white) who desire to bring glory to God through our Sunday morning worship, our involvement in the world, and our love for one another. We are sinners saved by God's amazing grace, still learning (some of us, after 9 or 10 decades on this planet) how to follow Jesus.
Men from four churches help Grace Church
remove its pews to make room for some comfy
chairs instead. Come on in and sit on one!
THE GRACE FAMILY was once a very large tribe, nearly 1000 members, most of whom lived and worked in or near Lancaster City. Like many inner-city churches, the years changed the demographics in the neighborhoods surrounding Grace, and sometime in the 1990s the membership began to move out of the city. Many former members (and their subsequent generations) are scattered around the county in other communities and churches. But a remnant remained at Grace, still an active family in the faith.
In 2005, Grace Church gave its historic church building (on the corner of Shippen and Locust in Lancaster City) to In The Light Ministries, a vibrant multi-racial inner-city group more equipped to reach our old neighborhood. We passed the baton, but stayed in the house: one family with one Father and two expressions of worship. But in November of 2017, the Lord opened the doors for us here on Carpenter, and a NEW CHAPTER began for Grace Church as the congregation moved from its historic location in Lancaster to another historic location in the town of East Petersburg.
It is now 2024, our 180th year as a congregation, and the Grace family is doing well. But we are fewer, and some of the "old guard" are home-bound. Some are in nursing homes. We keep in touch with them all through visitation, phone calls, Internet, and through the mail.
Within the larger church of Christ, Grace Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Congregational Church, a denomination with local roots that go back to the late 1700s (eccenter.com/about-us/history). The denominational headquarters of the ECC is in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, just across the Lancaster County border into Lebanon County (www.eccenter.com.) The ECC is comprised of about 600 local congregations in 7 nations with approximately 100,000 members who support over 270 missionaries and operate several compassionate relief and development ministries in joyful response to Jesus' command to make disciples of all nations. We are a serious player (on a much larger global team) in God's grand plan to call this errant world back to himself. Locally, the ECC is affiliated with the highly-esteemed Evangelical Seminary (www.evangelical.edu) and oversees a retirement home called Stoneridge Retirement Living (www.stoneridgeretirement.com.) The denomination also is affiliated with three Christian camps (Camp Ecco, Rock River and Twin Pines) and three Christian camp-meeting grounds (Waldheim, Rosedale and Herndon.)
OUR PASTOR,
Mark Ammerman, and his family.
From left to right:
Jandy (Ammerman) Rivera,
Micah Ammerman,
Brooklyn (Ammerman) Negron,
Mark Ammerman,
Terri Ammerman,
Bethany (Ammerman) Green,
Jonathan Ammerman.
Not included in the picture
are three sons-in-law,
a daughter-in-law,
and five grandchildren.