Graceway Baptist Church in South Oklahoma City
Graceway Baptist Church has gathered in south Oklahoma City for more than four decades, currently meeting at 1100 SW 104th Street, a property that began as a farm house with stock pens and grew into the auditorium, education wing, and family life center that anchor the campus today. The congregation is known for its commitment to expository, verse-by-verse preaching, its deep ties to the Southern Baptist Convention, and a steady stream of ministries that span nursery care through a College and 20s group. Neighbors recognize the campus in part because of what surrounds it: the building sits next door to Dental Depot and 10 Gym, and Graceway itself is a fixture in the same part of the metro.
From a Tent in the Greenbriar to a South OKC Campus
The story began in May 1983, when members of Exchange Avenue Baptist Church launched a satellite congregation in the Greenbriar YMCA. Forrest Lowery of Exchange Avenue preached the early services, with Howard Geis directing music. By March 1984 the group had become a mission, and Robert Haskins stepped in as interim pastor. Bill Zodrow arrived as the first full-time pastor, Tom Duckett joined to lead music and youth, and the small body moved from the YMCA to a day care center and then to an empty Lutheran church while searching for a permanent home.
That home turned out to be ten acres at 1100 S.W. 104th Street, complete with a farm house and stock pens. Charter services for Briarwood Baptist Church were held in a large tent on the property on July 8, 1984, and the same tent hosted the church's first Vacation Bible School the following week with one hundred children present. Construction of the original auditorium began in 1985, and the first services in that building were held on May 18, 1986.
The late 1980s brought a season of upheaval. Through a turbulent 1988 the church lost both staff members and the majority of the membership, but the core group held on. Ernie Perkins kept the pulpit filled, and a layman named Dale Marshall stepped up to lead the music. In February 1989, Dr. Sam Cathey was called as pastor, and growth returned so quickly that portable buildings and a remote annex were needed for Sunday School classes.
In June 1992 the congregation adopted its present name, Graceway Baptist Church. A new auditorium was completed in time for services on September 5, 1993. In May 1996 Dr. Cathey resigned to return to full-time evangelism, and Greg Keenen was called as pastor the following month, beginning a tenure that has now lasted more than two decades. The April 1997 groundbreaking for the education and family life center brought every activity onto one campus for the first time in the church's history; the building was occupied in May 1998.
Throughout the Briarwood and Graceway years, the church describes a consistent pattern of giving - financially to meet needs and grow facilities, in lay leadership across the body, and in time invested in the lives of others. The leadership's prayer is that the Lord will continue to direct the path of the church and bless its future for his kingdom's sake.
Sundays and Wednesdays at Graceway
Graceway's weekly calendar is structured around two main services on Sunday and a midweek program on Wednesday.
Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:00 am, with classes for children through adults. The morning corporate worship service starts at 10:15 am, and Children's Church begins at 10:45 am for the younger children. The Adult Choir rehearses at 4:15 pm, and an Evening Corporate Worship Service gathers at 5:30 pm. During the school year, the Children's Choir also meets from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.
Wednesdays are anchored by the Adult Orchestra rehearsal at 5:30 pm. AWANA for children and Youth Midweek both begin at 6:30 pm, with an Adult Evening Service starting at 6:45 pm. Summer Nights, a Wednesday program of devotion, snack, crafts, and games for children, runs from 6:30 to 8:00 pm during the summer months. GriefShare, the church's recovery support group for those who have lost a loved one, meets Monday evenings at 6:30 pm.
Services are livestreamed on YouTube, and the audio archive goes back to 2017, with recordings from Pastor Greg Keenen organized year by year.
Pastors Who Preach Through the Whole Counsel of God
Greg Keenen has served as senior pastor since May 1996. A graduate of Oklahoma State University and Criswell College, he holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling from Luther Rice Seminary and University, and he preaches verse by verse through books of the Bible with the goal of teaching the whole counsel of God. His ministry verses are Colossians 1:28-29: Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Before coming to Graceway, he pastored First Baptist Church of Chelsea, Oklahoma from 1988 to 1991 and First Baptist Church of Tuttle, Oklahoma from 1991 to 1996. He and his wife Sami have three adult children and ten grandchildren. Sami sings in the choir, leads Women's Bible Studies, and serves on the Women's Ministry leadership team.
Dale Marshall has been part of the church since 1988, when he stepped in as a layman to lead music during a difficult season. He became music director that fall and joined the staff full time as associate pastor in early 1992. Today he serves as Executive Pastor and Music Minister, also helping to oversee the day-to-day operations of the church. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Dale worked in the banking software industry before ministry. He and his wife Susan have two adult sons and three grandchildren; Susan serves as financial secretary and purchasing coordinator and is involved with Mission 405. Dale's favorite verses are Lamentations 3:22-24, and he often reminds the church: Our God renews His mercies toward us every day! How could we not want to lift our voices and sing praises to Him daily and certainly all the more when we gather together as a church family.
Isaac Queen came to Graceway as Youth and Young Adult Pastor after graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2013 with a degree in Biblical Studies and an applied ministry minor in youth ministry. He married Jenny Keenen, Pastor Greg's daughter, in 2014, and they have three daughters. His life verse is Galatians 2:20, and his ministry philosophy centers on the formative nature of the teen years: their identity is found solely in knowing that they are new creations in Christ! His mission in ministry is John 8:32, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Children's Ministry is led by Melissa Foote and Shanleigh Huber, and Dorri Jackson serves as Lead Nursery Director. Lindsay is the office administrator who typically answers the phone. Andrew and Sarah Cunningham serve alongside the Queens as leaders of the College and 20s group, with Andrew also teaching the young adult Sunday School class.
Grace Kids, Students, and College and 20s
Grace Kids is the church's children's ministry for kids from PreK through sixth grade, with activities running throughout the year. During the Sunday morning service, kids in first through third grade learn the books of the Bible and important stories of the faith, and children ages four through second grade are dismissed to Grace Kids during the sermon. The nursery, for newborns through age three, is staffed during the worship service and includes a dedicated Mother's Room with comfortable seating, soft lighting, a changing station, and a live video feed of the service, so a parent does not miss anything that happens in worship.
Wednesday nights during the school year are shaped by AWANA from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. During the summer, Summer Nights run almost every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:00 pm with a short devotion, snack, crafts, and games. Vacation Bible School takes place each summer, and the church's annual children's camp takes place at Camp Lela in Lela, Oklahoma, for kids who have finished third through sixth grade. Each fall the church hosts a trunk-or-treat style Fall Festival with games, candy, and the Gospel, complete with guidelines that only allow pre-packaged treats, no scary displays, and no toy weapons.
The youth ministry, branded GBSM (which stands for Graceway Baptist Students Ministry), meets for Sunday School at 9:05 am in the youth room and for Midweek on Wednesdays at 6:45 pm. Midweek is a full student service that mixes music, small groups, and Scripture teaching, with ping-pong and hangout time beforehand. The heartbeat of our church is to exalt Jesus Christ in everything we do, especially when it comes to the lives of our students.
C20, the College and 20s group, is for young adults roughly eighteen to twenty-nine. Led by Isaac and Jenny Queen along with Andrew and Sarah Cunningham, the group gathers in leaders' homes for shared meals, prayer, Scripture study, games, snow cones, and the occasional movie. The aim is to help young adults build a foundation for life on biblical wisdom and stewardship, and to be transformed by the power of God's Word, connected to the life of the church, and sent out on mission wherever God sends you.
Music, Choir, and Orchestra
Music is woven through the entire week at Graceway. The Adult Choir rehearses Sunday afternoons at 4:15 pm. The Children's Choir sings during the Sunday evening service from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. The Adult Orchestra rehearses Wednesday evenings at 5:30 pm. Dale Marshall has shaped much of this tradition since he first began leading music in the fall of 1988, and his heart for the ministry is anchored in Lamentations 3:22-24: Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Services combine choral and orchestral music with Scripture-saturated preaching.
A Confessional Southern Baptist Faith
Graceway is a participating member of the Southern Baptist Convention and confesses the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) along with a soteriological harmonization of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689). The church affirms the five solas of the Protestant Reformation and the doctrines of grace. Government is by a plurality of elders (also called pastors and overseers in Scripture), served by biblically qualified deacons.
Three additional confessional statements shape the church's position: the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and the Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality. Together these undergird a conservative, confessional approach to Scripture, marriage, and human identity. The Danvers Statement affirms that men and women are equal in dignity before God while distinct in role, and that some governing and teaching roles in the church are restricted to men. The Nashville Statement affirms that marriage is a covenantal union of one man and one woman, that God's revealed will for all people is chastity outside of marriage and fidelity within it, and that the grace of God in Christ gives both pardon and transforming power for those who repent of sexual sin.
Graceway's own doctrinal summary covers the Bible as inerrant, infallible, and eternal; God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sovereign and all-present; Jesus Christ as virgin-born, sinless, crucified, risen, and returning; salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as a permanent work of God; the church as both universal and local body of believers; baptism by immersion for believers and the Lord's Supper as memorial ordinances; heaven and hell as literal, eternal places; and the Great Commission as the responsibility of every believer. The church's stated purpose is that every individual believer glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in every area of life, with members expected to live holy, dedicated lives, use their spiritual gifts in ministry, and submit to the process in Matthew 18 when open sin occurs.
GriefShare and Pastoral Care
Graceway hosts GriefShare, a Christ-centered recovery support group for people who have lost a loved one. Combining seminar and support-group elements, the program uses video teaching, workbook studies, and group discussion rooted in biblical concepts of grief, loss, emotions, death, and eternal life. The group is co-ed and led by caring leaders, meeting Monday evenings at 6:30 pm at the church. More information is available by emailing griefshare@gracewayokc.org or calling the church office.
Other community-facing resources include online giving through the church's e-Giving platform, a weekly newsletter, a prayer walking guide with printable handouts for praying over the neighborhood, a Respond platform for asking questions and receiving spiritual guidance, a Free Stuff page of biblical resources for students, and an extensive sermon audio archive organized by year.
Visiting Graceway
Sunday morning worship begins at 10:15 am, with Sunday School for all ages at 9:00 am. An evening service is held at 5:30 pm. Greeters are posted to help newcomers find their way, and full nursery care is available for newborns through age three, including the Mother's Room. The address is 1100 SW 104th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73139, next door to Dental Depot and 10 Gym. The phone is (405) 691-1934, the email is contact@gracewayokc.org, and live video of every service streams on YouTube with an archive going back to 2017.