History of Grace Bible Church

Grace Bible Church, under the leadership of Pastor Eric Sipe, had its first service on June 5, 1994 as a daughter church-plant of Heritage Bible Church in Greer, SC. The first service was held in a leased office complex on East Blackstock Road in Spartanburg, where the church met for approximately three and a half years. Previously, Eric Sipe had served as an assistant pastor in several churches before going to Europe as a missionary in 1987. When Eric returned to the States in 1993, he served atimages/history.jpg Heritage Bible Church in preparation to plant a new daughter church in Spartanburg. Through Heritage God also provided a piece of property off Highway 290. When Grace began it had an initial, regular attendance of about 40 people from both Heritage and the Spartanburg area. In June 1997 Grace Bible Church began construction on a new 9,200 square foot building. Through the sacrificial labor of many members and other friends of Grace, the building was finished for its first service on December 21, 1997. On February 8, 1998 the building was dedicated, and five years later, by the grace of God and the generosity of His people, the building and the property were completely paid for.

The Lord continued to provide for His flock by sending men to serve the church as staff . Kris and Andrea Stephens came to Grace in September 1996. After several years of working with the music and youth ministries, Kris was hired as Pastor of Worship and Youth in August 1998 and served faithfully in these and othercapacities until being called to serve at a church in Michigan in the summer of 2004. Ken and Denise Huff came to Grace in February1997, and in June 2002 Ken left a career at Denny’s Corporation to become the Pastor of Administration and Discipleship.

In 2002, Eric began to feel the Lord leading him to help Heritage Bible Church mentor young men to plant other churches. The Lord had already provided for that need as well, and in January 2003 Champ Thornton became the second pastor of Grace Bible Church. Champ and his wife, Robben have been members at Grace since 1995.