The history of Grace Bible Church is intertwined with that of Open Door Bible Church, located in Port Washington, WI. In 1976, a Bible study began that grew to be Open Door Bible Church in January 1977. The area served by Open Door extended north and was as far as the Oostburg, Adell, Random Lake areas and was continuing to expand. As the church grew, the leaders were faced with a dilemma. Should they build or should they begin another church? Over a period of months, the leadership of Open Door prayed and sought God’s guidance in establishing a new church.
In January 1987 the board of Open Door Bible Church decided to establish a new church in the Random Lake/Adell vicinity to meet the need for a local Bible church. Trusting God, twenty-three area people left the Open Door congregation to begin Grace Bible Church in Adell. The first Sunday service with fifty-one people was held at the Adell Municipal Building (the former grade school) on April 26, 1987 in what we call the Upper Room. It was the only room available to us at the time. Pastor Sid Litke from Open Door juggled his schedule in order to preach at both churches for the first six months. After that, the GBC elders, deacons, and staff members from New Tribes Mission Training Institute shared the preaching responsibilities.
As the church congregation grew, more room was needed. By the summer of 1988, GBC leaders approached the Village Board. They offered to rent the gym to the church. In October 1989, Gary Nock came with his wife, Dawn, and daughter, Angela, to join the leadership team and take on the duties of pastor-elder full time. Pastor Gary was ordained by GBC in January 1990.
With the congregation’s conviction not to go into debt, space needed for the growing congregation was a real matter of prayer. In fall of 1994, the Village of Adell approached GBC with an offer for us to purchase the grade school where we were meeting and approximately three acres of land. The congregation voted to purchase the property and paid for it in full at the time of purchase. Since then, we have accomplished various renovation projects: remodeled the gym walls and windows, replaced heating facilities and added air conditioning in the gym, remodeled the kitchen, and remodeled the offices.
Since the beginning, Grace has had a heart for evangelism and missions. In 1996, we distributed free “Jesus” videos and made follow-up calls afterward to interested people in Adell. In 1998, we distributed the book “Stranger on the Road to Emmaus”. We currently support twelve missionary families and Campus Life, a local ministry to teens. A number of our people have traveled on short-term mission ministry trips.
Pastor Gary and Dawn resigned from the ministry at Grace in December 1998 to move to a church in Ephratha, Washington which would be closer to their families as well as afford new ministry opportunities. After Pastor Gary left, the elders, staff from New Tribes, and visiting speakers shared the preaching schedule. The Grace leadership team shared the shepherding responsibilities among the congregation.
As is true in many churches, Grace went through some painful times. In the providence of God, a group of families left Grace in the summer of 2000 to begin a new church called Living Hope Bible Church. The primary issue was church leadership. God is faithful and a healer of hearts from heartbreaking situations. A new leadership team was chosen to shepherd, preach, and care for God’s people at Grace. The new team also began the search process for a new pastor.
In June 2002, the congregation extended a call to Dr. Paul Thyren and his wife Marsha. Pastor Paul was associated with Grace from the early years of its existence in his role as Director of Wisconsin Church Extension for IFCA International and ministered on various occasions through the years.
In 2007, the leadership team considered adding an additional staff member to share in the work of the ministry of Grace. The board through some recommendations asked Daniel Wiersema, a senior at Calvary Bible College, if he might consider the opportunity. Pastor Daniel agreed and came to Grace in August 2008 for a one year internship with no promise of being hired on as the associate pastor upon completion of the internship. This unique opportunity gave the congregation at Grace the chance to know Pastor Daniel more thoroughly before extending the call to him as an associate pastor. In July 2009, the congregation voted on the associate pastor position to accept Pastor Daniel and his wife, Michelle.