Greater Grace World Outreach
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| Greater Grace World Outreach | |
| Classification | Protestant |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Evangelical |
| Polity | mixed polity |
| Founder | Carl H. Stevens Jr. |
| Origin | 1987 |
| Leader | Thomas Schaller (Pastor) |
| Separations | International Association of Grace Ministries [1] |
| Geographical Area | Worldwide |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 463 |
| Ministers | 850 |
Greater Grace World Outreach is an affiliation of evangelical churches that emphasize Grace, the Finished Work, and Missions. Greater Grace World Outreach (Baltimore)was founded by Carl H. Stevens Jr. . The headquarters of Greater Grace World Outreach is currently located in Baltimore, Maryland and led by Thomas Schaller.
The beliefs of Greater Grace are outlined in its doctrinal statement and detailed in booklets written by Carl H. Stevens. Worship is non-liturgical but generally includes prayer, singing, offerings, and sermons. Songs are usually contemporary, but services may also include classical hymns. Evangelism and "raps", informal bible study, are also considered important acts of worship.
Greater Grace is comprised of almost 500 churches from around the world, led by a pastor ordained by the Baltimore church. Most of these churches are located in New England, Europe and Africa. Some of the larger churches are located in Maryland, Hungary, Azerbaijan[2], & Ghana. Most of the pastors are educated at Maryland Bible College & Seminary in Baltimore. However, there are many other affiliated bible colleges around the world. The ministries of Greater Grace also include Grace Hour, Greater Grace Christian Academy, Christian Sports Clubs & Verticalink.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins
In the early 1960s, Carl H. Stevens, a bakery truck driver, was praying at Wortheley Pond, near Peru, Maine, and developed a vision that would lead to a worldwide christian ministry. Stevens was later ordained by a council of independent ministers at the Montsweag Baptist Church on March 7, 1963.[3] Stevens' ministry first operated from Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church, where Stevens established the Northeast School of the Bible in 1972. In 1976, the school grew beyond its capacity, and so Carl Stevens moved to Lenox, Massachusetts. In Lenox, he established The Bible Speaks and Stevens School of the Bible.
[edit] Former Ministry The Bible Speaks Lenox, Massachusetts
In 1976, the Bible Speaks purchased a college-preparatory school for boys in Lenox, Massachussetts, where they etablished Stevens School of the Bible and a Christian day school. At this time, several affiliate churches were established throughout New England. Eventually, they also began an international ministry, first in El Salvador and then in Europe and Africa.[citation needed]
In Lenox, Carl Stevens developed ministries including Telephone Time, Bus Ministry & La Gracia. Telephone Time was one of the first Christian radio talk shows, which is now called the Grace Hour. In 2006, this program won an Angel award for Excellence in Media. [4] The Bus Ministry would bring children from the surrounding neighborhoods to church on sundays. In the early 80s, the Bible Speaks purchased a Norwegian ferry boat that they renovated into an international missions boat called La Gracia.[5]
In 1986, the Bible Speaks convinced heiress Elizabeth Dovydenas to provide a donation of more than $6,000,000. The Church was then sued for undue influence and ordered to repay most of the money. However, the church had already spent the money and so filed for bankruptcy. In 1987, Carl Stevens and the leadership of the Bible Speaks moved to Baltimore, MD, and established Greater Grace World Outreach and Maryland Bible College and Seminary.[6]
[edit] Baltimore, Maryland
In Baltimore, Greater Grace World Outreach (GGWO) established many new ministries including the Grace Hour, Noah's Ark Bible Clubs, and the Christian Athletics Program.
In 2003, Carl Stevens became too ill to continue his leadership of GGWO. In 2005, the Elders elected Roger Stenger to become the new Chief Elder of the church. However, a large portion of the congregation expressed dissatisfaction with the choice and Roger Stenger resigned. In his place the Elders elected Thomas Schaller as Senior Pastor, after a congregatonal vote.[7] However, still many of the Elders and Senior Pastors were dissatisfied with the choice, citing Thomas Schaller's views on the role of the Senior Pastor. Therefore, many Pastors disaffiliated and formed the International Association of Grace Ministries.
2004-2005 Controversy
See also Rick Ross (consultant), Neil Patrick Carrick In 2004 after a series of events including a large direct mailing of postcards alleging abuse, thousands of Internet postings, The Baltimore Sun published a front page story on the allegations and possible abuse.
Sandy Cove, Disaffiliation, & International Association of Grace Ministries
After multiple controversies and events there would eventually be a meeting of GGWO Pastors at Sandy Cove, Maryland motivated by concerns of doctrinal and practices of the organization. Eventually after multiple meetings a group of pastors would dissafilate and become part of a new organization known as The International Association of Grace Ministries.
[edit] Beliefs and Practices
GGWO professes to be a Christian centered organization with a strong emphasis on the family, missionary work, fundamentalist bible beliefs, and evangelical ministries.
Polity: The organization does not have a strict governance polity. In fact it has progressed over the years depending the current leadership situation. This fueled a controversy regarding the succession of Carl H. Stevens to Roger Stenger, and eventual succession to the current Senior Pastor Thomas Schaller.
Worship: The worship services of most GGWO congregations include modern contemporary music, sermons and like similar to many modern “community churches”.
Social Issues: Most of the points of any statement regarded 'social issues” can only be concluded by sermons and like materials by the leadership, public comments in media such as the organizations radio show “The Grace Hour, and “Grace Publications and sermons.
Role of Women: The organization has never ordained any women as a Pastor or similar role. They limit the roles of women to missionaries, teachers and similar.
Creationism vs Evolution: The organization has long supported a Creationism view.
Homosexuality: The leadership has maintained a strong anti-homosexual and sometimes even controversial position on individuals who claim to be homosexual.
Abortion: The church leadership has maintained a strong pro life stance.
Clergy Sexual Abuse: Church leadership has been involved in several controversies concerning sexual abuse by its clergy and other staff members.
Theology: The organization has limited public statements regarding its doctrinal views but has a 10 point Doctrinal Statement.[8].
[edit] Critics
On several occasions, Greater Grace World Outreach has been accused of cult-like behavior.[9] A letter was written by the Christian Research Institute, which offers a list of suggestions for the church, attempting to correct any of the false teachings that might exist. The main teaching which was considered a concern was that of delegated authority.[10] However, in this document, Miller concedes that "TBS has, up to the time of this writing, also maintained an orthodox, biblical position on those doctrines most essential to the Christian faith. Thus, we do not consider TBS a non-Christian cult, but rather a Christian ministry."
Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health practitioner, and founder of Freedom of Mind centre, claims that the organization operates as a personality cult.[11] He alleges that Pastor Stevens twists passages from the Bible to further his own ends, that of controlling the lives of the members of his congregation.
[edit] References
- ^ Welcome. International Association of Grace Ministries (2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Pope, Hugh (2007-07-21). Religion Is Spread to Ex-Soviets, But Local Clerics Are Inflamed. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Report on "The Bible Speaks". Gospel Truth Ministries (1981-03-28). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Winners. Excellence in Media (2006). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Norwegian Homefleet–WW II. Warsailors.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ In re THE BIBLE SPEAKS (court case). Justia.com (1989-03-09). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Timeline. Carlstevens.org (2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Doctrinal Statement. Greater Grace Outreach (2007). Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
- ^ Langfitt, Frank (2004-05-15). Church dispute spills onto Internet; Web site airs accusations of impropriety by pastor. Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Christian Research Institute. Carlstevens.org (2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Greater Grace World Outreach. Steven Allan Hassan's Freedom of Mind Center (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
