Grace Community Church is a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

founded in 1956 and located in Sun Valley, a neighborhood in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Noted speaker and radio evangelist

John MacArthur John MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: *J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984), American businessman *John MacArthur (American pastor) (born 1939), American evangelical minister, televangelist, and author * John Macarthur (priest), 20th-century pro ...

is the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. As of 2008 the average weekly attendance was 8,258.

History

The church was founded as Grace Community Church of the Valley as a mission of

First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood has had a significant impact on both the Presbyterian Church and evangelical Christianity around the world. The church was founded in 1903. A large brick gothic sanctuary was built in 1923, and seats 1,8 ...

. The congregation held its first public service on July 1, 1956, calling Don Householder (former associate pastor of Trinity Methodist Church and pastor of Country Church of Hollywood) to be its founding pastor. Within a few years the church had moved to its present location on Roscoe Boulevard and the decision was made to hold two Sunday morning services to accommodate the growing congregation. Following Householder's death in 1965 Richard Elvee was called to be pastor and the church continued to grow under his leadership until he died in 1968. In February 1969,

John F. MacArthur John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program ''Grace to You''. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Chu ...

assumed the pastorate. During the early days of MacArthur's ministry the church doubled in size every two years which led to the building of the Family Life Center in 1971 and a new Worship Center in 1977. In 1972, ''Moody Monthly'' magazine published a feature article about the congregation titled "The church with nine hundred ministers". In August 2020, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the church leadership permitted defiance of local health orders by not wearing masks or social distancing. "The good news is, you're here, you're not distancing, and you're not wearing masks," Pastor MacArthur told the congregation. "And it's also good news that you're not outside, because it's very hot out there. So the Lord knew we needed to be inside and unmasked." The State of California and Los Angeles County attempted to prevent the church from holding large indoor services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the legal battles that started as a result of the faith driven defiance, Grace Community Church was represented by

Jenna Ellis Jenna Lynn Ellis (born November 1, 1984) is a conservative lawyer known for her work as a member of Donald Trump's legal team. She is a former deputy district attorney in Weld County, Colorado and a former assistant professor of legal studies a ...

, Senior Legal Advisor to the Trump 2020 Campaign. In early September 2020, the county of Los Angeles Public Works Department sent a notice to the church advising them of the termination of the church's parking lot lease along the water

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

which the church had held since 1975. Lawyers for Grace Community said this move by the county was in response to the church's decision to hold indoor worship services during the pandemic. Restrictions were lifted November 12, 2020. On October 22, 2020, three cases of COVID-19 cases were reported among Grace Community Church attendees. In a statement, Jenna Ellis admitted that the positive COVID-19 cases had been confirmed but disputed the use of the word "outbreak" based on the fact only 3 had been reported. The Department of Public Health, however, defines an outbreak as 3 or more cases. Grace Community Church continued with in-person services the following Sunday in defiance of a court order requiring the church to stop. In March 2022 during the annual Shepherds' Conference, it was announced that Grace Community Church would produce The Essential Church, a feature-length documentary about the church's response to COVID-19 restrictions.

Distinctives

Grace Community Church is elder-ruled and being within the Evangelical Protestant tradition is not to be confused with mainstream evangelicalism. It teaches

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theology although it is not aligned with a denomination. Grace Community Church holds to the beliefs of the cessation of supernatural spiritual gifts,

Lordship salvation The lordship salvation controversy (also called lordship controversy) is a theological dispute regarding a soteriological question within Christianity on the relationship between faith and works. This debate has been notably present among some non ...

, and the sufficiency of Scripture. The church teaches

believer's baptism Believer's baptism or adult baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word meaning "I believe") is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing ...

immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux * ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian group Pendulum * ''Immersion'' (film), a 2021 ...

References

External links

Grace Community Church
website
Grace Books

Grace to You
media ministry of John MacArthur Evangelical churches in California Christian organizations established in 1956 Evangelical megachurches in the United States Megachurches in California Churches in Los Angeles 1956 establishments in California Sun Valley, Los Angeles {{LosAngeles-struct-stub

History

Distinctives

See also

References

External links