A Very Special Day!

After planning, praying, and preparing for months to open our doors to Grace Chapel's Wilmington Campus, the day finally came!

Scores of volunteers had the place all set and ready - parking teams and greeters, Kidstown workers and youth leaders, balloons and cake – we pulled out all the stops! When the services began, people started streaming in. The services were worshipful and amazing. Pastor Bryan opened the Bible and spoke with relevance and passion. The parking lots were full to overflowing! It really felt like Grace Chapel!

By the end of the second service, one of the ushers whispered in my ear the total number of folks at the two services – 596!

Nearly 600 people for our first service! It was amazing day – one that far exceeded any of our hopes or expectations. We welcomed over 80 people who’d never been to Grace Chapel before. To top it all off, we were thrilled to know that we were worshiping together with Lexington – one church, two campuses!!

Praise God for a very special day!!

See you on Sunday!

Tom

Opening Day Images!

Painting The Cove

We had a great time last week painting The Cove (the youth space in Wilmington). We had over 20 students and adults help out over the three days we painted. I am so thankful for everyone who came to help. The place looks awesome. It was great to see students starting to own this space. I don't want The Cove to be a place that students show up to, but instead a place that they create.

Here are 3 videos I have taken that show transformation that has taken place in The Cove. This first one is from about 2 months ago:


Here we are after the first day of painting:


This video is from after day 2:


There is still more work to be done. We would love to have you help at The Cove and that rest of the campus this Saturday.

-Isaac Milton
Director of Youth Ministry

Spring Cleaning Day on Saturday, April 30!

Join us for a church-wide spring spruce-up, including some light landscaping, painting, and general cleanup at the Wilmington Campus from 9:00am - 4:00pm on Saturday, April 30th! Pizza lunch provided. Contact Farrell Lindemann flindemann@grace.org for more information.

Services begin Sunday, May 22nd!

We have made the decision to hold our first Sunday services on Sunday, May 22. While we had hoped for an Easter launch, we feel that we aren't quite ready to open the doors yet. We still have much planning to do in order to be up and running at full speed.

We had a great group of volunteers helping out this past Saturday - pulling carpet in Kidstown and cleaning many areas. We will have a work day again tomorrow for anyone who'd like to join us! Also, mark your calendar for Saturday, April 30. This will be an all church Spring Cleaning Day! It will be fun to serve together!!

Two Upcoming Youth Events at Wilmington

We have two upcoming events at the Wilmington campus for students in 6th-12th grade.

This Friday, April 15th, we will have a movie night at 7pm. We will be watching Pixar's Up. We have a ton of bean bag chairs and couches. All you need to bring are some snacks.

Next Tuesday, April 19th, we will have a painting day from 9am-3pm at the church. We will be painting and decorating the large group area in The Cove.

Please let me know if you will be able to attend either of those by emailing me at: imilton@grace.org.

Prayer Gatherings Continue

Happy Spring to everyone! I just wanted to write a quick reminder, inviting you to continue to pray with us as we get closer to worshiping together at our new Wilmington campus. It has been such a joy to watch the building be transformed over the past several weeks, and to also be privileged to see the Lord answer our prayers, time and time again! He is so good! If you are able, please consider joining us for prayer. We continue to meet every morning, Monday-Friday from 6-6:30am, and evening, Monday-Friday 7-7:30pm. Since beginning this prayer commitment for the Lenten season, I have been so blessed by God's closeness to us and the way His holy spirit is paving the way for the opening of our new campus. You have been, and continue to be, in our prayers! Blessings! Kirsten McLaughlin