History

The history of Grace Bible Church is a testimony of God's grace!

Grace Bible Church began in 1980 as an independent Baptist church in the old Mount Vernon high school. Led by founding Pastor Mark Grooms, the congregation purchased a five acre tract of wooded marshland in Lorton. They cleared the land and laid the foundation for construction of the metal warehouse type building which became First Baptist Church of Lorton. After Mark's resignation in the Fall of 1988, closing the church was considered since there were not enough families to meet obligations. In the winter of 1989 Dick Vannoy was asked to serve as the new Pastor. Under his leadership the church regained its footing, experienced growth, and completed the interior finish-out. In 1991 Dan Hopkins was hired to serve as Assistant Pastor. Dick resigned in June 1994 and after an interim season, Dan was asked to stay on as solo Pastor. In 1996 the construction and development efforts of Lorton Station began. At the same time, the church began a leadership study of the book of Acts to learn about what a church is. That study resulted in the church moving toward elder leadership, emphasizing small groups, and changing the name to "Grace Bible Church" (GBC). In 2004, GBC started the construction of an addition to the building in order to become aesthetically oriented toward the surrounding community and downtown.

In 2006 GBC began a partnership with Immanuel Bible Church (IBC) which has been a significant step in launching us into the future. By this time GBC already had a congregation of faithful people who were growing in the faith and serving Christ. However, GBC was small and needed a broader base to minister and impact the expanding community of Lorton. Through IBC, God provided our new Lead Pastor, Tim Fisher, who has extensive ministry experience both in Northern Virginia and in investing in the next generation. Since that time God has been steadily growing our congregation, bringing many to us who are like-spirited – people who love God and desire to honor Him.

Beginning in the fall of 2008 and continuing through the spring of 2009 a group of people representative of GBC met bi-monthly to discuss and determine our Values, Mission and Vision so that together we can be focused on those things that are most important to us. With that solid foundation in place, and God's gift of godly leaders, we look forward to serving Him well, and being used by Him to spread the glory of Christ Jesus to our neighbors, friends, and community.