Four new Grace Brethren churches were welcomed into the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches and three new national ministries were approved during national conference in late July in Columbus, Ohio.
During the business meeting on July 26 at the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus, four churches joined the Fellowship. They are Clearview Church, New Albany, Ohio (Andy Wirt, pastor); Soma Community Church, Springfield, Ohio (Dave Black, pastor); Twin Cities Church, Minneapolis, Minn. (George Stagg, pastor), and Encounter Church, Dublin (Jerome Twp.), Ohio, (Sean Spoelstra, pastor).
The new national ministries are Grace in Action, an organization founded by Gladys Deloe to inspire and prepare individuals and churches to show the love of Christ through education and economic development; Integrated Community Development International (ICDI), an organization founded by Jim and Faye Hocking and working in Central Africa to develop leadership and empower communities to overcome difficult problems on their own; and GBC Canada, the Grace Brethren church planting ministry in Canada.