A Church Built Around Three Verbs
Grace Church Reno sits on Robb Drive in northwest Reno, a few turns off the arterial that threads toward McQueen High School and the older neighborhoods of Caughlin Ranch. From a single Sunday gathering more than three decades ago, it has grown into one of the largest non-denominational churches in the region. Everything the church does flows from a single sentence printed across its materials: See Jesus. Know Jesus. Live like Jesus. That sentence is more than a slogan. It shapes the way the building is laid out, the way small groups are organized, and the way the staff talks about money, missions, and mental health.
Grace describes itself in plain terms as a non-denominational, Christ-centered church. The teaching team preaches from the Bible and treats it as the authoritative foundation for faith and life, while leaving plenty of room for cultural relevance. Lead Pastor Shane Marks, who now carries the senior teaching role, sums up the church's posture in his welcome letter: We exist to help people See Jesus, know Jesus, and live like Jesus. Founding Pastor Dan Frank, who led Grace for more than thirty years and still teaches occasional theology sessions, remains an active member and mentor to the staff.
Sundays at 9, 11, and 6
Three Sunday services fill the Worship Center each week: 9 AM, 11 AM, and 6 PM. Each gathering runs about an hour and follows the same shape - a dynamic time of contemporary worship led by the church's musicians, followed by a gospel-centered message grounded in Scripture. The atmosphere is casual and engaging, designed for people who are curious about faith as well as lifelong believers.
First-time visitors are walked through a simple five-step path. After pulling into one of two parking lots on campus (or, if those fill up, parking at McQueen High School up the street and catching the shuttle that drops at the front door), families with children head to the Grace Kids lobby to check in. Children from birth through high school are placed in safe, age-appropriate rooms, and parents receive matching security stickers for an easy reunion after the service. Middle and high school students have their own space in Grace Central. Before heading into the Worship Center, most people stop at True Coffee, the on-campus café in the Main Building, where coffee, tea, and casual conversation fill the lobby. After the service, a stop at the Info Counter helps newcomers take a next step - whether that means joining a group, learning more about baptism, or simply saying hello.
Grace Kids, Grace YTH, and Grace Central
Children and students are not an add-on at Grace - they get their own wing of the building and their own executive pastor. Tyler Stricklan oversees Next Gen across every age group, and the programs are designed as a continuous path from infancy through high school graduation.
Grace Kids is divided into three environments. Preschoolers use the Bible App for Kids curriculum, a multimedia adventure through Scripture with music, memory verses, animated videos, and small groups. Elementary-age children in kindergarten through third grade work through 252 BASICS, a curriculum built around the idea that kids are in a constant state of discovery. Fourth and fifth graders have their own Preteen Ministry that meets during the 9 and 11 AM services in the Family Center for a high-energy multimedia experience designed to bridge them into student ministry. Parents are equipped outside the classroom through the Parent Cue App, which sends weekly prompts and activities aligned with what their kids are learning on Sundays. Kids Lead Ashley Wangen and Kids Lead Perry Humes oversee the team.
Grace YTH, for students in sixth through twelfth grade, runs a Wednesday night program from 6 to 8 PM that begins with hang-time and dinner before splitting into grade-specific services and small groups. On Sunday mornings, both middle and high school students gather at 9 and 11 AM in the Grace Central Auditorium for interactive devotionals and Bible study. The student leadership team of Gunnar Annis, Jack Kinnaman, and Nikki Lanigan keeps the program relational and consistent.
Lion & Lamb, a preschool connected to the Grace Church family, extends the same care for the youngest learners off-campus.
Home Groups and Life Groups Across the Region
Grace organizes its small-group ministry into two streams. Home Groups focus on community and study of God's Word, while Life Groups gather around shared interests and hobbies - mountain biking, pickleball, hiking, knitting, golf, camping, prayer walking, and more. Together, they add up to roughly fifty groups meeting every week of the month in living rooms, coffee shops, gyms, parks, and trails across northwest Reno, midtown, south Reno, Sparks, Spanish Springs, Stead, Sun Valley, Carson City, and beyond.
Groups are organized by audience: coed, men, women, couples, mothers, veterans, young professionals, retirees, and college students. Some are weekly; others meet every other week or monthly. A few, like the men's intermediate mountain biking group in the Peavine area or the women's prayer walk along the river, are built around specific activities. To find a match, newcomers fill out an online form; the groups director, Jack Quinn, follows up personally to help people land in the right room.
Grace Women, Grace Men, and Marriage
Three ministries serve adults in distinct life stages. Grace Women runs a women's Bible study each week in two formats: Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM and Wednesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 AM. Sessions are designed for women at any stage of faith, with no prior Bible knowledge required. The MomCo, a community for mothers of young children, meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 9:30 to 11:30 AM in the Center Space at Grace Central, following the Washoe County school calendar. Each gathering includes breakfast, practical teaching, table discussions, and free childcare, plus playdates and moms' nights out during the month. The Widows Ministry meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 11:30 AM to 1 PM for a luncheon and community, and the annual Grace Women's Conference brings hundreds of women together each fall for two days of worship and teaching.
Grace Men gathers twice a week around the Bible. A Wednesday morning study runs from 6:30 to 8:00 AM in the Grace Central Auditorium, and a Thursday evening study follows the same hours in the same room. The annual Grace Men's Conference fills a full weekend each fall with teaching, table discussions, and breakout sessions under a single theme - recent years have focused on Lead Yourself, Lead Your Family, Lead Your Community.
Marriage gets its own track. A six-week Marriage Class meets on Wednesday evenings in the Grace Central Auditorium, and a parallel six-week class meets Sunday afternoons in the Grace Main Gallery, covering communication, conflict resolution, and emotional intimacy. A Marriage Night event each fall features guest speakers from the wider church world and includes childcare, dinner, and time for couples to reconnect.
Care Ministries and Counseling
The Care wing of Grace exists for people walking through hard things. Grace Care Counseling provides Christ-centered counseling for individuals and married couples, with sessions requested through an online form. For the One Counseling, a separate licensed counseling practice, offers affordable care for depression, anxiety, marital difficulties, sexual issues, parent-child relationships, and other individual and family concerns.
Celebrate Recovery meets every Monday night at 6:30, with an optional light dinner at 5:45. It is a biblically based recovery program for people working through addictions, hurts, hang-ups, and habits. DivorceCare runs in 13-week sessions on Monday evenings for people navigating separation or divorce. GriefShare offers two weekly tracks - Monday afternoons and Thursday evenings - for those grieving the loss of someone close. The Well is a confidential women's support group for everyday struggles, and the Widows Ministry continues its monthly rhythm under the Care umbrella.
For the One: A Mental Health Mission
The single most distinctive thing about Grace Church Reno is its For the One initiative. Between December 2023 and December 2025, the congregation funded an external mission focused on mental health, giving millions of dollars to expand access to behavioral health care in Northern Nevada. For the One Counseling opened in July 2024 with a staff of eight professionals - from student interns to fully credentialed therapists - and has served the community through thousands of sessions. The church also funded externships and scholarships for University of Nevada, Reno students studying mental health fields, placing six PhD-level students in three different clinical settings.
The flagship of the initiative is the Washoe Behavioral Health Center, currently under development on 9th Street in the former West Hills location. When it opens, it will provide inpatient treatment, crisis care, respite care, and intensive outpatient therapy for children and teens ages 5 to 18, along with educational and recreational space, and a state-of-the-art training facility for future mental health professionals. Grace is on the ground floor of financing the project, which is expected to open in 2027.
What Grace Believes
Grace holds to a traditional evangelical statement of faith. The Bible is the divinely inspired, authoritative Word of God, without error in its original manuscripts. God exists eternally in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and created the universe by His power and word. Jesus Christ was sent by the Father, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, is fully God and fully man, was crucified for our sins, raised from the dead, is the Head of the Church, and is coming again to reign as Lord. The Holy Spirit is a person who indwells, baptizes, and seals believers at the moment of salvation and fills them as they confess and surrender to Him. Salvation is through Jesus alone; the true believer is eternally secure and cannot lose their salvation. A New Testament church is a local body of baptized believers who worship Jesus Christ, edify one another, evangelize the lost, and minister to others.
The church's DNA reflects those beliefs in five commitments: Biblically Founded (everything measured by the Word of God), Culturally Relevant (in the world but not of it), Externally Focused (existing for people who are not here yet), Grace-Based (assuming good will and loving as Jesus loves), and Kingdom Minded (seeing life and people through the lens of God's Kingdom).
Getting Involved
Three paths help people take their next step at Grace. The Next Step is a three-session discipleship class held on the first three Sundays of each month at 12:30 PM, covering what it means to know Jesus, find freedom and purpose, and live the Jesus life. Snacks are provided at 12:15 and childcare is available with an RSVP. Baptism is offered several times a year during all Sunday services for anyone who has said yes to Jesus and is ready to make that public. Groups are the relational path, with the small-group team ready to help newcomers find a fit.
Giving is handled through Pushpay for online and recurring gifts, and checks may be mailed to the church office at 1220 Robb Drive. Gifts support all Grace ministries on and off campus, mission partnerships around the world, and local compassion work through partner organizations. For questions about donating appreciated assets or other complex gifts, Executive Director of Finance Russ Ruiz is the point of contact.
Leadership and Staff
Shane Marks serves as Lead Pastor, with a focus on accessible faith, clear Scripture teaching, and reaching the city of Reno. Founding Pastor Dan Frank continues to mentor staff and teach periodic theology sessions. The Executive Team includes Russ Ruiz (Operations), Karen Durst (Discipleship and Development), James Goddard (Weekend and Experience), and Tyler Stricklan (Next Gen). The office at 1220 Robb Drive is open Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 4 PM, reachable at 775-747-9000 or Info@gracechurchreno.org. Services are livestreamed on the Grace Church Reno YouTube channel for those unable to attend in person.