Rockwall church focuses on families, majors on missions

Posted: 6/22/07

Rockwall church focuses
on families, majors on missions

By Jessica Dooley

Communications Intern

ROCKWALL—Grace Fellowship of Rockwall built its church around a simple but uncommon approach. It doesn’t split up families when they enter the church building.

Grace Fellowship believes this helps nurture the relationship between the children and parents.

“It is important for our church to be focused on families, because God considered families important and modeled the church after it,” Pastor Ken Lovelace said.

Grace Fellowship started in May 2004. Before it officially became a church, Lovelace and his wife, Lygia, met with a small group for Bible study and worship at a restaurant in Mesquite.

From there, a site-selection team began seeking God’s will about where to locate Grace Fellowship. The group sensed God closed all possible locations except Rockwall, and Lovelace became convinced this was God’s calling.

“We just try to stay out of God’s way and let him do all the work,” he said.

Intrigued with the family-focused aspect and the new church’s commitment to missions, Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas helped sponsor Grace Fellowship shortly after Lovelace approached them.

“Rockwall is a growing area with lots of families, and with Ken and Lygia’s focus on missions and family, we knew the church would be attractive to folks there,” said Jeff Byrd, associate pastor of missions at Park Cities Baptist.

Grace Fellowship’s leaders want their church to meet the needs of families of all ages and sizes, and the congregation remains committed to the church’s motto of being family-focused, mission-minded and Christ-centered.

“We are designed for the whole family, from babies to teenagers to those in their 60s and 70s. It provides an opportunity for younger families to gain wisdom from the older families,” Lovelace said.

Lovelace and his wife team-teach a class on Sunday mornings, where families have the opportunity to study the Bible together.

In the youth and children ministries, parents lead the Bible studies and fellowships, creating an opportunity for children and their parents to strengthen their relationships.

The church also provides other activities for families such as Wednesday night home fellowships and Sunday night activities like Super Summer Sunday—an opportunity for families to eat and play games together.

Along with the family-focused aspect of Grace Fellowship, the church also is mission-minded. And to bring together those two goals, Grace Fellowship offers several family-oriented mission trips.

“Mission-minded is about getting outside the four walls of the church. Jesus said ‘go tell,’ not ‘come hear.’ It’s been enlightening, getting out of the comfort zone, and it has blessed us greatly,” Lovelace said.

Grace Fellowship has monthly missions events geared for all ages of the family, along with two national events and one international event a year.

For more information on Grace Fellowship of Rockwall visit the congregation’s website at www.gracerockwall.com.