"We will speak things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from our children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done." Psalm 78:3-4
Our Story
Grace Church exists as a people with a story. It’s a story that doesn’t center on names and dates and places but centers on Jesus Christ. His is the story that defines us—His life, death, and resurrection. It is His story that we love to tell. His is the story that each one of us has been swept up into, with all of our distinct particularities and individual histories. Ours is a story not about us, our accomplishments nor our uniqueness, but about God and His faithfulness, God and His goodness, God and His grace.
Grace Church held its first public meeting on January 5, 2014 in the cafeteria of Cedar Grove Elementary School near Clarksburg, MD. It was established under the leadership and care of our founding pastor, Larry Malament, with the wonderful support of his wife, Marilyn, and an amazing group of people who sacrificed and served so that we could be the church we are today.
Over the next decade, life at Grace Church was marked by fellowship, growing children (and the addition of new ones!), church picnics, and care for one another. God’s revelation in Scripture has been and will remain the center of our life together as God addresses us through expository preaching. In our first 10 years, we preached through Exodus, Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, Matthew, John, Ephesians, Colossians, Titus, 1 & 2 Peter, and 1, 2, and 3 John. We look forward to seeing how God will continue to shape us through His Word.
The Lord has brought many dear people to join the story that He is writing at Grace Church, some from its beginning and others for just a season. In July of 2015, the Lord added Devon Kauflin to our staff to serve alongside Larry and be mentored as a pastor. He was ordained for ministry on October 9, 2016.
While our church’s history is marked by much joy, we also know the faithfulness of God in times of sorrow. For a young church we have often experienced the pain of death, as members of Grace Church have ended their earthly sojourn and been called home. No death was more shocking than the sudden departure of Larry Malament on October 15, 2022. The grief that we shared after his death was marked by remarkable hope in a faithful God who goes before us and goes with us. We are a church who is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing because Jesus Christ has overcome the grave.
On December 11, 2022, Devon Kauflin was installed as the second lead pastor in the history of Grace Church. The Lord has also seen fit to add to our team of elders by adding John Loftness, Chris Mays, and, most recently, Fengyu Ji. It is our hope that the Lord would continue to raise up and call other men to shepherd Grace Church in the days ahead.
After a wonderful decade of ministry in the Clarksburg area, Grace Church began meeting at Urbana High School on August 18, 2024. As we look forward to the chapters of our story not yet written, we look forward in faith and with joy knowing that God is the Author of our story, He is our hope, and so we look to Him as we follow Him. ’Tis grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home.