Grace Midtown

Insider's Guide

What is Grace Midtown?

Grace Midtown Church is a Grace Family Church affiliation. Started in 1983 by Buddy Hoffman, Grace Fellowship was the founding Christian church. The affiliation/vision of Buddy started with a focus on communities within a city. They identify as contemporary, non-denominational.

What’s unique about Grace Midtown is that its focus is on building churches in various communities within the city as opposed to a megachurch. Within these locations, “house churches” are established to facilitate the fruits of the church.

Grace Midtown is located on an ex-demolition company’s property. The property was purchased and renovated by the church; by the people. The seed was planted and it is growing; those seeds seem well-rooted, not to be plucked by the birds, and not to be consumed by the worries of the world. The actual life of the church is an example of its purpose, intention, and creed. The beauty is in the heart of the church. Grace Midtown is not a destination, per se, it is a lifestyle. There are sub-contextual aspects about how the church is building on a campus of what used to be a demolition focused-entity.

Church Size

Currently, there are over 1,000 partners (members). The church leadership is specific about the connotation aspect of ‘partners’ over the use of ‘members’. That’s a good conversation starter if you visit.

The geographical layout is a campus. On its 3-acre lot, the campus is relative in size to a small community college. There are multiple buildings utilized for varying purposes – there’s a cafe downstairs, administrative offices, and meeting rooms upstairs, and the auditorium can hold 1,000 people. As far as each service (9 am, 11 am, 5 pm). People visiting shouldn’t be concerned with elbow room. The sharing of assets is a norm. Get in and be comfortable!

Leadership

Rob Kaple is the Lead Pastor at Grace Midtown. Before that, he was a House Church Pastor and Associate Pastor and was one of the original leaders of FORM School of Leadership.

FORM is a mentor training program to provide upcoming leaders with the care and resources they need to live out their passion/mission. The partners benefit from the pastoral care received from the church. They are mentored and provided the resources necessary to take the creed back to their communities. This is manifested primarily through the home churches. Additionally, there are Kidtown teams and college ministry teams.

You can read more about Grace Midtown’s leadership on their website’s staff page.

Goals & Objectives

Grace Midtown Church has a specific vision. According to its website, it is “Together, Inviting All Humans To Become Awake To God” by making disciples, multiplying house churches, and planting city-centered churches. It achieves this by being a central church and support facility for the house church leaders to influence their communities. By that extension, the partners in the Grace Midtown body encourage and assist one another to become awake to God.

The House Churches are the main venue for Grace Midtown to “value real relationships and authentic community.” You can choose a house church that is at the same stage of life (or multigenerational), in your neighborhood, and who meet on nights of the week that work for you.

Dress Code

The style of dress is casual. Grace Midtown is “a come as you are” body for worship. There is currently one service on Sundays at 10am. The older crowd tends to dress up a little bit while the younger crowd dresses a little more modern. The point is to come in and worship, so don’t fret too much.

Worship & Music Style

There is a contemporary-to-modern worship style and music selection. The band will open up as the crowd continues to fill up the auditorium. There are about 20 minutes of worship as the auditorium fills and God is invited in. The music selection is contemporary. Amidst the songs and praise, band members will offer in-the-moment calls and prayers to God (the modern aspect). The band is composed of partners of the church. There is a mix of acoustical and electronic instruments. The band will play at the center stage. Typically, there is a drum set, keyboard, and two guitars as instruments to perform the music. The audience may have a light sway as they dance and move to the music. A small number of individuals will choose to raise their arms during worship.

What to Expect

The campus is gated. The gates open 30 minutes prior to service time. Families can park in the lot located off of Northside Drive. This provides immediate access to the Kidtown building. From there, it is a short walk to the cafe building. There is a nursing mother’s room and bathrooms located in the cafe. The coffee is free and served in mugs that can be carried into the auditorium. From the cafe, it is another close walk to the auditorium. The other parking lot is located by the cafe and auditorium.

As you travel to the auditorium, there may be several groups convening. Upon entrance to the auditorium, you are handed a communication sheet. On the back of this paper is room for taking notes. The band starts playing at the designated start time. Worship will be 20-30 minutes. The audience typically stands. However, sitting and worshiping are acceptable. Announcements take around 10 minutes once worship has concluded. The sermon will take around 45 minutes. The band will be invited back up. At this moment baskets are passed around for offerings. This is also the time for communion by the stage if chosen to partake. The total service will take 90-105 minutes.

Doctrine

For Grace Midtown, it isn’t about coming to Church as much as it is being the Church. It does not particularly mention any guidelines to other denominations as a creed. As a non-denominational institute, it can draw from various other denominations and resources as it sees fit to further its vision and reinforce its creed. Grace Midtown appears to see Scripture as inerrant and inspiring. For Grace Midtown, it is essential for individuals to remove the inner ‘dirt’ and invite the Holy Spirit in to become the best version of themselves. By using various resources and creeds from the history of churches, Grace Midtown can reach a larger group of individuals within the diverse communities amongst the city.

Messages

The daily reading focuses on a relatively short, single scripture. The speaker uses specific points of the scripture to relay the main message. The scripture is analyzed and utilized for culturally relevant teaching. The focus being, how all individuals can become awakened to God. It is common at Grace Midtown, for the speaker to discuss everyday, modern, relevant situations to assist in tying the message together in a way the listening soul can internalize the Christ-like principles found within the reading. Translation of keywords and the historical significance of the culture within the reading may be discussed. The main goal of the message is to get the soul to relate to the circumstances of the given scripture. Then WAKE UP! The Grace Midtown creed is about enabling and encouraging souls to live out their lives in a Christ-like manner. To enrich the community.

Demographics

Being located near the Georgia Tech campus, there is a significant percentage of the membership that is college-age. Primarily, Grace Midtown has a college to middle-age demographic. The body is mostly middle-class, with wealth and lower working class mixed in. It is mixed ethnicity. Primarily it is a Caucasian community. There are families, young professionals, middle-aged professionals, very few at or above the age of 50.

Atmosphere

The church is low-key and inviting. Depending on the weather, you may need an umbrella or jacket to get to the various buildings. There is a covered patio with heaters, a fireplace, and seating. The internal temperature of the auditorium is comfortable. The auditorium has an eclectic, comfy feel. There are exposed brick walls, an open ceiling, moderate lighting, a mixture of fold-up chairs, and wooden benches.

Find Your Community

The FORM School of Leadership is a seven-month-long training with on night a week commitment. It focuses on shaping individuals’ and couples’ inner lives in order that they can help others become awoken to God.

Other volunteer opportunities are available and committal on personal availability. Parking attendants, baristas, greeters are a few options. The true involvement is uniting with other Christians. Logs burn hotter when they burn together. The time volunteered varies on personal preferences. The production team is on a volunteer basis. The middle and high school volunteer opportunities are discipleship in nature.

You can find profiles on many more of Grace Midtown’s ministries and activities here.

Local Outreach

It is vital for the partners (members) of Grace Midtown to be involved within communities. There are various events held to address a wide range of issues relevant to the city and particular communities. There are connections between Grace Midtown and local elementary schools, adolescents, youth soccer clubs, other religious ideologies, to name a few. These are hosted in various locations, some at Grace Midtown, and involve meals and various activities. Grace Midtown uses 15% of every dollar to invest in missions.

Other Fun Facts

Rob Kaple’s wife, Kirby Kaple, is the worship pastor and helped launch the global worship movement in Housefires.

Contact

Website: gracemidtownchurch.com
Address: 579 Travis St. NW. Atlanta GA 30318
Contact: gracemidtownchurch.com/connect

Social & Other

Facebook: Click Here
Instagram: @gracemidtown
Twitter: @GraceMidtown
Yelp: Click Here

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