Amazing Grace

Our Story

Grace Fellowship (GF) was established in September 1979 and incorporated as Rockledge Bible Church on November 27, 1979. There were 21 charter members and Reverend Joe Brown was the church's first pastor. The church was meeting in borrowed facilities next to our present location. After a few months, they were able to rent facilities on Rockledge Drive near the Indian River. In October of 1980 the church secured an unfinished building on the property here at 3420 Murrell Road. In March of 1985 the membership voted to change the name of the church to Rockledge Baptist Church. Later that year Pastor Brown resigned. David Rhodes came to speak at a New Year's Eve service and was invited back to candidate as Pastor in February 1986. He was asked to come as pastor. He and his wife, Debbie accepted, and moved here from South Carolina in May of 1986. The church was averaging 30 people in attendance at that time.

The church began to grow and a major building program that resulted in our current auditorium was begun in the fall of 1989. Missionary builders and a group of people from an organization called S.O.W.E.R.S. did much of the work for the new building with the help of people from the church. This saved the church thousands of dollars. The auditorium was completed and dedicated on the church' s anniversary service in September of 1990. The new auditorium opened many new doors of ministry to the community and the church attendance grew dramatically over the next year. Steady growth has continued to the present day with remodeling and adding facilities occurring on a regular basis.

At about the time that the growth of the church had reached the maximum capacity of our two and one-half acres, God opened the door for the purchase of an adjoining five-acre tract of land with a 3,000 square foot home. The acreage has allowed for additional parking and the home has been converted into a facility for our youth. There is also acreage for future expansion of our facilities. Recently, an additional 2 1/2 acres and 3,000 square feet home just south of our current location was purchased. This will give GF additional flexibility for addressing future facility and parking needs.

By 2004, it became evident that the church had assumed an identity that was reaching out to people from various church traditions. Rather than being held together by a commitment to a Baptist identity; most were drawn by their commitment to Christ. So on the church's 25th anniversary Rockledge Baptist Church officially became Grace Fellowship. We believe that the most exciting days for our church are just ahead as we begin a new adventure of GRACE.