Historic Temple

GRACE
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
Grace Presbyterian Church is a church whose
mission statement declares our intention of
continuing to serve God and humankind. The
church was born as Cumberland Presbyterian
Church on December 17, 1893, by the efforts of
J. J. Grant and Dr. A. C. Scott of Scott & White.
Dr. Scott was the only clerk of the session until
his death in 1940. After a denominational merger
in 1906 and another in 1983, Grace became a
member of The Presbyterian Church (USA).
The church met in Wagner Hall at First Street
and Avenue A for the first seven years of its life.
They used a tabernacle at Eighth Street and
Avenue A during the summer. A new church
was built on the corner of Barton and Third, and
was occupied on March 18, 1900. In the 1920s,
Grace Presbyterian had the first Vacation Bible
School in Temple. It was citywide, lasting three
weeks, and had 160 enrollees. In 1942 a Sunday
School room was designated as a writing room
for soldiers at Camp Hood.
The church moved to its present location at
Avenue Z and Fifty-Seventh Street in 1965. The
fellowship hall and classrooms were enlarged in
1991. In 2007 the sanctuary was modified to
make it possible to magnify the Lord with a
variety of worship styles.
An outdoor pavilion and recreation area
was built on the south end of the property in
1998. In 2001 the house on Avenue Z was
purchased and remodeled to accommodate
meetings and classrooms.
Grace Presbyterian Church continues the
tradition of making disciples and meeting human
need within and outside the congregation with a
variety of community programs like a
community-wide basketball camp each summer;
LOGOS, a four-part children's ministry where
Christian relationships are modeled and
practiced; Meals on Wheels, a program to prepare
and deliver meals to the homebound; and Prime
Time Ministry, a program providing worship
service to nursing home and assisted-living
residents. In addition, we contribute time and
money to Churches Touching Lives for Christ,
and to other local programs.
Grace Presbyterian Church is located at
2401 South Fifty-Seventh Street in Temple.
An event calendar, worship service times and a
host of information is available to you at
www.gpctemple.org.
❖
By the grace of God in Jesus Christ,
the Spirit is upon us to: Magnify the
Lord, make disciples and meet human
need. May you find here a place to
worship God.
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