Grace Church receives donated building, launches new Brewster campus

Two years ago when Grace Church developed a sister church and moved into the tiny River Tree Church in Navarre, their leadership team knew it wasn’t going to be a long-term solution to what Grace wanted to do in the Navarre and Brewster communities.

While the church has blossomed over the past two years as relationships have developed, the church was ready to bust at the seams. The ministry has included working with Fairless Local Schools’ family support specialists, who work with families struggling through difficult times.

However, as the church remained faithful and patient to God’s calling, an opportunity came to fruition they believed to be a perfect fit.

Grace Church Navarre Campus Pastor Paul Mullet said he and his wife Cindy have spent much time getting to know the people of neighboring Christ Community Church near Brewster and have developed a neat bond with the pastoral team and people there, as well as building a bond with Brewster Mayor Chuck Hawk.

Thus, when the leadership team from CCC paid a visit and told them their plans, Mullet said they felt God’s leading in a big way.

“After many years of faithful and fruitful ministry, Christ Community Church decided they are entering a new season for their church,” Mullet said. “They said they’ve been watching Grace and appreciated what we’ve been doing in the community the past two years. They were at a place where they felt they couldn’t go on and wanted another Gospel-preaching church to take over. They asked us if we would like the opportunity to advance the Gospel from their location, and they generously donated the property to us.”

Grace Church Lead Pastor Larry Kaufman said Mullet was very wise in making a simple decision, that being to accept the offer and worry about contacting Kaufman afterward.

“We recognize how hard it is to do what they just did,” Kaufman said. “For them to recognize what we are trying to accomplish and to gift us a church like that, which perfectly fits our needs, is humbling and inspiring.”

To honor CCC’s incredible gift, Grace Church donated to Kentucky Mountain Bible College, an institution to which CCC’s founding pastor is on the board.

Mullet said the new building is much larger, has a terrific property, and is ideally located for them to serve the families and communities they have already invested in. He said their new home is in great shape and needed only minor updates.

Grace will have a soft opening on Sunday, Aug. 31, with an eye on its official opening Sunday, Sept. 7.

“The people at Christ Community Church have been amazing in helping us through this,” Mullet said. “They’ve been incredibly supportive and have graciously come alongside of us as we continue to build the foundation they’ve laid.”

Mullet said they are eager to reach out into the Brewster community to the people there to make fruitful connections.

“This is only a story that God can put together,” Mullet said. “You see this take place, and you know he’s up to something big. It came at a perfect time because we were so full in our small church that I could pretty much shake hands with everyone from the pulpit.”

Kaufman said one of Grace Church’s main objectives is to branch out from its home church in Berlin to expand its ministry into various smaller communities.

“This has grown out of a larger vision to plant churches in rural communities,” Kaufman said. “We are there to serve and meet the needs of the communities and to promote our mission of ‘providing a healing place for a hurting world.’ We are truly grateful to Christ Community Church for its faithful 50 years of proclaiming the Gospel. This church facility really checked all of the boxes for future growth.”

Kaufman said as is the case in each of their campuses, they desire to make disciples, equip couples and parents to build godly lives at home, and present local outreach ministries in the community as they build relationships.

Mullet said one of the ministries Grace will continue to promote is the weekly drive-thru food operation, as well as the Alcoholics Anonymous group that meets in the fellowship hall.

“We felt those were two important programs that they had developed that are two community outreach ministries that are extremely valuable,” Mullet said.

Grace Church Brewster Campus is located at 4263 Manchester Ave. SW, with the church service starting at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday.