History
In June 1975 Rob Irvine and John Fairchild, as young men in their early twenties, sat at a kitchen table in their apartment with bread, wine and a Bible. They believed God was present with them as they shared the bread and the cup and remembered their Savior together. They asked God to use them to reach the people of Guelph with God’s message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Both men had recently been dramatically affected by an early 1970s Christian movement that operated on campuses throughout the United States.
A small weekly Bible study began in the living room of Rob and John’s apartment. One year later fifteen committed young people decided to establish a student church at the University of Guelph. Students from a variety of backgrounds gathered on Sunday mornings on the university campus. Small groups met in households throughout the week for prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship.
As the church grew, its composition changed. Students graduated, married and began to raise families. It became apparent in the 1980’s that they were no longer a student church and in fact had become a more well-rounded community church. In the fall of 1987 the church moved its meeting location to a local high school in the south end of Guelph and met there in the rented space on Sunday mornings . The focus of the church now became more community-oriented and thus adopted the name Grace Community Church.
In December 2002, Grace Community Church purchased six acres of property on the north edge of Guelph where Marden Public School was formerly located. After some hard work to prepare the new premises for its new owners, the congregation of about 350 adults and children celebrated their first service in their new home in June 2004. Finally, Grace Community Church had a more permanent place from which it could continue to accomplish the vision God had given to reach out in Guelph and the surrounding area with the life changing message of Jesus Christ.
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