Grace Community Church, later to become Grace Raleigh, was born in 2000 as the dream of dozens of our families with a shared desire to impact the Raleigh community with the beauty of the gospel for decades to come. For 16 years through seasons of growth and contraction, Grace occupied a large space that was not ours, but was intended to be a temporary location until a permanent home could be built. In January of 2017, we moved into our current space maintaining the hopes that one day we might finally have a place we could call our own. Although we could not be more grateful for our current space, we also recognize that this space is not the best long-term facility for Grace. It simply isn’t home.
When we dream about our permanent home, we dream of a unified children’s space all under one roof. We dream of a devoted space for students they could call their own. We would love to have larger children’s rooms to accommodate our burgeoning population of young families already attending on a Sunday morning as well as the families we anticipate reaching in years to come. We envision comfortable meeting spaces for small groups that aren’t just repurposed children’s spaces, but are intentionally designed to serve the needs of small groups, committees, and community members who need a place to gather during the week. Our hope is for these comfortable meeting spaces to further our vision of connecting people to one another as we seek to connect with Jesus. To this end, we dream of having a larger lobby with plenty of space to linger, meet, laugh, and pray. We picture a larger, more inviting auditorium (perhaps free of mid-room poles) so that Grace can feel inviting both to the long time partner and to the first time guest. We want Grace to feel like home.
Now as we sit amidst a church body that is growing and thriving, we believe it is the time to pursue these dreams initiated 20 years ago by our faithful partners. We believe that our season of wandering is over and it is time for Grace to go home.