About

Our Story

A Brief History of Grace Bible Church

On Sunday, November 24, 1996, sixty-six people assembled at Valley View Christian Academy in Spring Branch, Texas. They decided to meet weekly for worship at the Academy until a more suitable place could be found. On December 1, 1996, the church observed its first communion service and asked Carter Corbrey to minister to the congregation on Sundays. Carter agreed to serve temporarily but would not commit to a long-term position.

Beginning in December, several men of the congregation decided to meet and help with the organization of the church. They continued to meet at Valley View until January 1997. On the first Sunday in January, Sunday services were moved to the Canyon Lake Action Center in Sattler, Texas, which is now CRRC’s Antique store. From that point on, organizational meetings took place at the homes of Jack and Edith Stryker and Ed and Sue Tennyson.

After establishing Bylaws and a Constitution that all members agreed upon, the church filed its Articles of Incorporation on April 1,1997. The filing was under the name of Grace Bible Fellowship.

Among the founders were William “Bill” Cooley and his wife, Anita. Because they were both actively involved with their Boy’s Home and Academy, Bill began serving Grace Bible Fellowship as the “weekday” pastor. Bill assisted Pastor Carter Corbrey, who held another job in addition to his Sunday commitment to the church. When Pastor Corbrey tendered his resignation on May 25, 1997, he recommended that Pastor Cooley replace him. On June 1,1997 Pastor Cooley was asked to serve as interim pastor until June 21, 1998. He was then unanimously called by the members to become pastor of Grace Bible Fellowship.

Prior to moving into its current facility, Wednesday night Prayer and Bible Study was held at two family homes: The home of Frank & Shirley Gross on the north side of Canyon Lake and the home of Art & Kathy King on the south side of the lake.

Around the year 2000, the Deacon Board began investigating the possibility of purchasing property for the church to have its own location. This process continued until the American Legion’s property at 1101 Triple Peak Drive became available. On March 1, 2005, the members moved to that location. This allowed all church members to meet together in their building for both Sunday worship and Wednesday Prayer and Bible Study. At that time, the church also officially changed its name to Grace Bible Church of Canyon Lake, which is still located at that address, with Pastor Cooley continuing to serve.

Of our current (active) membership, Kathy King, Pastor Bill and Anita Cooley are charter members. They were among the group who met together on that first Sunday, November 24, 1996. Abraham (Bud) Eggebeen and Kathy Collins are charter members but have moved away and no longer able to attend.

Grace Bible Church was established with the purpose of being “Focused on God with the Bible at the center of our focus.” Today’s membership has inherited the Legacy of men and women whose hearts' desires were to stand firmly on the Word of God, to serve the Lord and to learn to have a closer, more obedient walk with Him.

Our Beliefs

Today's popular culture has become increasingly hostile toward the fundamental tenets of the Biblical Worldview. Not only are attacks coming from the secular sphere, but also from many elements within the Christian Church. Here are a few of the beliefs that churches like ours are being pressured to abandon, in favor of the ungodly principles of our fallen world.

We hold fast to these beliefs, despite intimidation, ridicule and persecution by those who seek to completely nullify belief in the inspired and unchanging Word of God.

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning.

Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life, which define man's responsibility in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations - the law, the church, and the kingdom - are the subjects of detailed revelation in the Scripture.

Creation *

We believe that God created the universe in six days. We reject evolution as an unscriptural theory of origin.

Human Sexuality

1) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance.

2) We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman. Therefore, since we believe homosexuality and lesbianism to be sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex, same sex couples will not be allowed to be united in marriage within the church facility, nor anywhere else on the property of Grace Bible Church.

Insomuch as we believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance, Transgendered persons will not be allowed to be united in marriage within the church facility, nor anywhere else on the property of Grace Bible Church.

Divorce and Remarriage

We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. We also know that there were times that Moses and even Paul spoke on the subject allowing for divorcement under certain circumstances. It is not our responsibility to stand in judgment of actions taken by people regarding their marriage. That is for God alone. The divorced and the remarried persons who join Grace Bible Church are welcome to use their gifts and talents for God's service and we trust that He will use them mightily.

Abortion

We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies are acceptable

For a comprehensive list of our beliefs, including scriptural references, please see our Statement of Faith.

*Note: You may also want to visit the very informative website of The Institute for Creation Research