From a One-Room Cinderblock to a Mid-Sized Congregation
Grace Lutheran Church sits on Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, Alabama, and traces its story back to a single worship service held in 1948 at the Russel Erskine Hotel by Reverend E.T. Toon of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. That first gathering planted the seed for what would become Grace nine years later, when the LCMS Southern District authorized a new mission church in Huntsville in 1957. The congregation chose the name Grace Lutheran, and the first official service drew 82 people in 1958.
Worship began in a one-room cinderblock building, but the founders quickly identified Christian education as a critical mission opportunity. Grace Lutheran School opened its doors in 1963 with 25 kindergartners, and the school's first eighth-grade class graduated in 1979. The current circular sanctuary was dedicated on Palm Sunday in 1967 and remains the heart of Sunday worship at the church. The Family Life Center followed in 2006, and new classrooms above the FLC gym were dedicated in 2020. In 2012, Mommy's Time Out, a long-running weekday program for mothers and their children, was reorganized as the Child Development Center and folded into the school's ministry.
Today Grace is a mid-sized congregation of about 625 members. The school serves roughly 160 students, and the Child Development Center cares for about 100 young children, making the combined educational ministry the church's largest outreach. The congregation's identity is shaped by three verbs printed across the top of its bulletin: Worship God, Grow in Faith, Engage in Service.
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Two distinct services fill the circular sanctuary each Sunday. At 8:00 a.m. the Blended/Traditional service opens the day. On the first and second Sundays of the month the music leans blended, weaving praise songs into the rich history of Christian hymns. On the third and fourth Sundays the service shifts to a more traditional liturgy that celebrates the continuity of the faith from one generation to the next. The same 8:00 a.m. service is livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot be present, and recordings of past services are available on the channel.
At 10:45 a.m. the Contemporary service fills the sanctuary with praise songs, modern worship hymns, and a variety of instruments. The format invites everyone present to direct their praises to God through music that resonates with a different generation. Both services are held in the sanctuary that has anchored the campus since 1967.
At 9:30 a.m., between the two services, Sunday School meets for every age group. Adults gather for one of six classes or community groups. Kids go to age-appropriate rooms. Youth attend Confirmation or High School Sunday School. The Adult Sunday School hour is treated as a serious part of Christian formation rather than an afterthought, with topics ranging from the Nicene Creed to Lutheran identity to a community for non-native English speakers.
Midweek Matins and Vespers
Worship at Grace does not stop on Sunday morning. Each Wednesday the congregation gathers twice for lay-led services of Matins and Vespers. Matins is offered at 6:30 a.m. and Vespers at 5:30 p.m., giving early risers and those leaving work a way to mark the middle of the week with prayer and praise. These short, scripture-centered services give Grace members and people in the wider Huntsville community a chance to connect with God in the Lutheran tradition of praying the Daily Office.
The same Wednesday evening also includes the Digging Deeper Bible Study, which meets from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room and pushes participants to think about the Bible in a new way.
Growing in Faith: Adults
Grace takes seriously the work of building faith through ongoing study, and the Grow ministry organizes opportunities for adults into three categories.
On Sunday mornings, six different adult communities meet at 9:30 a.m. The Nicene Creed study explores the history of God's salvation as outlined by the creed regularly confessed in worship, connecting it directly to Scripture. Martin Luther and the Reformers, held in School Room 113, is designed for those who grew up in a foreign-language-speaking household and want to study the Bible in English. Christian Faith-Lutheran Perspective is a college-aged community group in School Room 202 that gets real on issues of life, faith, classes, and careers. Old Testament for Non-Native English Speakers meets in School Room 203. Figuring It Out is a community for young adults that also gathers for fellowship around Huntsville. Balancing Act serves young families, and Discovering Together welcomes anyone in between, meeting in the School Music Room.
During the week, in addition to the Wednesday Digging Deeper study, the Men's Bible Study gathers on the second Saturday of every month from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the School Cafeteria, and the men regularly serve in the community alongside their study. Women's Bible Studies meet Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., both in the Church Library, with women who care for one another and faithfully uphold each other in prayer.
Several Ladies of Grace Circles meet monthly under the banner of Lutheran Women in Mission. Hope Circle gathers the third Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., Peace Circle the third Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., and Faith Circle the third Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Their meetings include fellowship, devotion, prayer, and updates on local and global mission projects. Small groups also meet in homes throughout the week for Bible study, fellowship, and service, with days and times varying by group.
Growing in Faith: Kids and Youth
Children at Grace start in Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. Parents check children in at a table just inside the sanctuary doors and receive a barcode sticker for pickup. Two-year-olds through PreK meet in the Church Nursery, K-4th grade in the Church Choir Room, and 5th-6th grade in the School Library. Teachers use Bible stories and creative experiences to help kids grow in faith and knowledge of their loving God.
Special family activities are scheduled throughout the year to give parents and children memorable shared experiences. Each quarter the church distributes Grow at Home packets with devotional materials, dinner conversation cards, family tradition ideas, and other resources to help busy parents nurture faith at home.
Vacation Bible School is a major summer event. The most recent program, Rainforest Falls, sent kids on rainforest-themed Bible learning activities, complete with catchy songs, teamwork games, snacks, sciency-fun experiments, and Bible Memory Buddies. New VBS dates are announced each spring.
Confirmation is a two-year program for junior high students that combines classwork, service projects, and mentorship. The class meets Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in School Room 106. High schoolers have their own Sunday School discussion class in the Youth Room at 9:30 a.m., where they examine common issues teens face from a Biblical perspective.
Youth Group meets Sundays from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Youth Room. Evenings include games, service projects, and devotion time designed to build friendships and strengthen faith. About once a month the group heads off campus for an activity around Huntsville.
The School and Child Development Center
Grace Lutheran School is the largest ministry of the congregation. The school partners with parents to help each child develop his or her God-given potential, with the conviction that providing quality and affordable Christian education is one of the greatest ways the church can serve its community. The school operates on the same campus as the church and includes Kindergarten through 8th grade, graduating classes that have grown up in the Grace community.
The Child Development Center grew out of Mommy's Time Out, a long-running weekday program. Reorganized in 2012, the CDC cares for about 100 young children each week as part of the broader school ministry. Cody Collier serves as school principal, and Jessica McGuire directs the Child Development Center.
The Family Life Center, dedicated in 2006, anchors much of the school and recreational life of the campus. Its gym hosts the annual GLS Fun Run and Color Run, the school's biggest fundraiser of the year. Spirit nights at local restaurants like Steak-Out and Rhythm on Monroe give families another way to support the Parent-Teacher League.
Fellowship Groups: Saints Alive and More
Faith at Grace includes a healthy dose of fun. The Saints Alive senior adults fellowship explores sites around northern Alabama and beyond on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Recent trips have included the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Weeden House Museum and Garden, Cathedral Caverns, the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and Boyd Family Farm in Hazel Green. After each visit, the group shares a meal together.
The Christian Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the Church Library to discuss a book written by a Christian author, alternating between Christian fiction and Christian living titles.
The Sew n' Sews meet Mondays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Church Choir Room. Members make totes, quilts, fleece blankets, hats, and scarves to donate to local charities. No sewing experience is required, only a servant's heart.
The Bridge Group gathers on the fourth Thursday of most months for party bridge, just for fun and friendship. Friday Afternoon Golf meets weekly at 2:00 p.m. at Hampton Cove Golf Course. The group keeps no score and encourages free movement of balls so that golf stays friendly.
Bell Choir and Worship Music
The Grace Lutheran Bell Choir rehearses every Thursday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the sanctuary, from September through May. The choir aims to play for worship about once a month at the 8:00 a.m. Sunday service, enhancing the liturgy with handbells. No musical experience is necessary; beginners through advanced ringers are welcome, and the stated goal is to play the bells to the glory of God.
Music also supports the church's broader fellowship life. The Women's Retreat, Men's Bible Study breakfasts, midweek Matins and Vespers, and various small groups incorporate music, prayer, and study in the Lutheran tradition.
Engage: Serving At Grace, As a Church, and In the Community
The Engage ministry organizes service in three concentric circles. At Grace itself, Stephen Ministers are trained to walk with people through crisis, including grief, job loss, and caring for a loved one with dementia. The A.C.T.S. (Actively Caring, Tenderly Serving) team provides home visits, cards, phone check-ins, and help with errands or rides to medical appointments. Big Ed's Work Crew meets Tuesday evenings to install what is new and fix what is broken around the campus, often finishing the night at Big Ed's for pizza. The crew sometimes takes on projects for people in the wider community who just need a helping hand. The Bell Choir also counts as a serve-at-Grace opportunity.
As a congregation, Grace gives quarterly to the Southern District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a mission offering to partner with other LCMS congregations in carrying out the Great Commission together. The school and Child Development Center are the largest missional investments of the church, and the congregation partners with Child Beyond International in Guatemala City. Child Beyond operates an orphanage for infants through nine-year-olds and runs a home-building ministry for families facing housing crises, and is hoping to add family homes and a home for orphaned teens. Grace selected Child Beyond as a mission partner in 2022, sent its first team to serve alongside the organization in the spring, and is preparing a second team to return.
In the wider community, members serve in various ways throughout the greater Huntsville and Madison area. Grace hosts the LifeSouth Bloodmobile several times a year, with walk-ins welcome and online signup available. The church also supports GriefShare, a weekly support group series for those grieving the loss of a loved one. Trunk or Treat, hosted in October, fills the parking lot with decorated cars and candy for a family-friendly Halloween alternative.
What Grace Believes
Grace holds a high view of Scripture as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the source and ultimate authority of all truth and doctrine. Members believe that Jesus is true God and true man, that He existed before the foundation of the world, that He took on human flesh to redeem and save, that He died for sins on the cross and rose victoriously, and that He is coming again. The Bible is treated as God's self-revelation and the priority for every Christian's growth in biblical knowledge.
God's Word is understood as both Law and Gospel. The Law curbs behavior that harms others, convicts as sinners, and guides Christian living. The Gospel is the Good News that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by our own works, and that faith comes from hearing this Good News.
Grace celebrates two sacraments. In Holy Baptism sins are washed away and God gives forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and adoption into His eternal family; people of all ages are baptized. Holy Communion is the sacred act through which God forgives sins and strengthens faith; the church believes in the real presence of Christ, receiving His true body and true blood in, with, and under the bread and wine.
Leadership
Pastor Russ Gipson has served as Senior Pastor since August 2017. He has been in ministry for more than fourteen years and has guided Grace through a season of leadership transitions in both the school and the Child Development Center. He and his wife Elisa have three children who have or are attending the school.
Pastor Andrew Frerichs was ordained and installed as Associate Pastor in June 2024, following his graduation from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He is a third-generation LCMS pastor, grew up in Oregon, graduated from Concordia University Texas, and served his vicarage at The Lutheran Church of Vestavia Hills in Birmingham. He married Hannah in May of 2025.
Jen Roettjer directs youth and discipleship, working with all ages from children to adults. Originally from Colorado, she attended Concordia in Seward, Nebraska, and holds an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Denver Seminary.