LIFE IS A BATTLE
YOU DON'T NEED TO DO IT ALONE

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD CHURCH?

Is it a crusty old building? A social justice do-gooders club? A bunch of fake, plastic people with permanent smiles?

What if the church was actually supposed to be a people devoted to pushing back the kingdom of darkness, rescuing the lost, and proclaiming Jesus’ decisive victory, all for the glory and by the power of Almighty God?

We believe that God’s church consists of broken and messed up people who are amazed by the Gospel, changed by the Gospel, and now empowered by the Gospel to make a real difference in the world that we live in.

The Gospel tells us that Jesus loves his church, died for his church, and rose again so that his people could be transformed into worshipers who show the world who he is and what he is like.

God did not call you to live life on your own, to seek your own comfort, or to be your own king. He is inviting you to be part of something bigger. To give more than just your Sunday mornings, but to devote your entire life to following Jesus.

As a part of Jesus’ church, you are invited into true Gospel Community to experience hope, belonging, and a mission to shine his light in the darkness.
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WHO WE ARE

WE ARE CONNECTED TO GRACE FELLOWSHIP, A GOSPEL-CENTERED FAMILY OF CHURCHES WHO DESIRE TO KNOW THE GOSPEL, LIVE THE GOSPEL, AND ADVANCE THE GOSPEL.

OUR VISION

GRACE EDMONTON EXISTS TO BRING GLORY TO GOD THROUGH LIVES TRANSFORMED BY THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

Our Mission

OUR MISSION IS TO LOVE JESUS, LOVE PEOPLE, AND HELP PEOPLE LOVE JESUS.

About Our Planters

Clay Bitner

Pastor/Planter
Clay was raised in Edmonton and spent the majority of his childhood years engaged in sports and other activities in and around Edmonton. After moving to Saskatchewan, where he married the love of his life, Kim, he continued a career in web development and video production.

Even though life is busy with raising their six children, they have been deeply invested in discipleship and church planting since 2008. Clay has been serving as a pastor and Executive Director of Grace Fellowship where his skills and influence have led to three church plants in and around Saskatoon.

He has been instrumental in developing marketing, strategy, creative direction, and executive order for our family of churches since he joined. Not only was he on the launch and leadership team for Grace Saskatoon, but was sent out to plant Grace Warman and helped coordinate and organize the launch of Grace Evergreen as well.

Clay serves on the lead team for Acts 29 Canada as director of English assessments and contributes to the global assessment and creative teams for Acts 29.

Jared Klassen

Pastor/Planter
Jared has lived in the Prairies his whole life, along with his wife, Chantel, and their two children. Not only has Jared devoted himself to serving the local church, he has also been involved with adoption and fostering as a way of living out the good news story of Jesus. As a web developer for the past 17 years, Jared excels at using his creativity and thoughtfulness to solve complex problems. Jared is the newest pastor of Grace Fellowship, and has been a prominent and essential part of Grace Warman since its launch. He is a shining example of one who has been discipled and trained through the local church to be an effective communicator, disciple maker, and servant leader.

Grace Edmonton

Location

As a church, our hope is to focus on the west-side of Edmonton, but be available as a church to the whole city of Edmonton.

How We Gather

Christians don’t just go to church, we are the church. But one aspect of being the church is gathering together, since we are not meant to live individual lives disassociated from one another. As Grace Edmonton, the hope is to gather in two ways: first as a larger body on Sundays, and second, as smaller groups throughout the week, known as Gospel Communities.

Sunday Gathering

Sundays with us are a mix of discipleship and evangelistic outreach. We see ourselves as both followers and messengers of Jesus, so we make sure to focus on what God has to say. That’s why we spend a lot of time diving into the Scriptures, preaching through whole books, chapter-by-chapter, and verse-by-verse. It’s not just about knowing how to live right, but about really getting to know and love Jesus, because the whole Bible points to Him. Along with that, we come together to pray, sing, and celebrate the amazing story of Jesus’ death and resurrection through communion. So, Sundays are all about growing in faith and joyfully responding to the life-changing message of the Gospel.

Gospel Community

The church is more than just a non-profit organization; it’s the family of God. So we embrace this identity by gathering in smaller groups called Gospel Communities. These tight-knit groups consist of 8-12 adults and their families, allowing us to truly live out the one-anothers of the New Testament. Within these Gospel Communities, we strive to be disciples of Jesus, supporting and pointing one another towards Him. We also encourage each other as missionaries, seeking to share the good news with those around us. Additionally, we serve one another and the communities where we live, work, and play. In essence, we aim to embody the love and care of a close-knit family while fulfilling our mission as followers of Christ.

Our DNA

The chief aim and purpose of humanity and of all creation is to give glory to God. The scriptures share the wonderful news that God is glorified through the Gospel of Jesus and the resulting changed lives. Life change is both an event (salvation) and a process (sanctification). Both salvation and sanctification are evidences of God’s grace in our lives and are appropriated by faith.

When we use the word Gospel, we mean the historic Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. This Gospel is more than a collection of facts to be believed. It is also the good and true story that Jesus died and rose to defeat sin, death, and evil in order to make all things new. As the only person capable of such an act, Jesus is the rightful Lord over every square inch of the universe. This “Jesus is Lord” Gospel compels us to be a community that lives redemptively in all aspects of life.

Worship - Love Jesus

Worshiping God is first about valuing, loving, and treasuring God above all others. We love him because he first loved us. And it’s through our deep desire for God that worship spills over into our lives and becomes living in joyful, sacrificial obedience to God (Romans 12:1). God can only be known, loved, and worshipped in and through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus alone can save us from worshipping ourselves to the worship of God.

Community – Love People

We are formed and guided by the Spirit and the Scriptures to be a counter-cultural community that participates fully in one another’s lives through giving and receiving, serving and being served, loving and being loved. As God’s people, we show the world what life under Jesus’ gracious reign looks like and serve as a foretaste of the coming Kingdom.

Mission – Help People Love Jesus

We are the missional community of God, called to reflect the heart of God. As His people, we are empowered by His Spirit and sent into the world to join with God in His mission to renew this world with the Gospel. Because Jesus is worthy, we work to reorient our lives around Him. Although God is sovereign and does not need our help, it is our blessing and a lifeline of spiritual health to be on mission with Him and to love others as He does.

Church Planting Goals

Goals Before Launch: 20+ on launch team, 2-5 baptisms before launch, $75,000 minimum raised for the plant and 40+ people for launch Sunday.

Move to Edmonton

As our families currently live in Saskatchewan, our hope is to move to Edmonton in 2024 to establish a base of operations from which to make connections, build a core team, find means of financially supporting our families, get to know neighbours, and establish a Gospel-presence in the community.

Informal Neighbouring

Meals with neighbours, shared activities, block parties, community association enrolment, and prayer.

Vision Casting

Prayer walks, casting the vision of the church plant to local Christians, start prayer Facebook page for Christians in neighbourhood, gather core team, start a Gospel community to learn to live as family and serve the community, and look for a meeting space.

Core Team Leadership

Weekly prayer/planning meetings, theological/mission-focused training for core team members, and continued serving the neighbourhood with the core team, and media (website, cards, pamphlets, etc.).

Launch Team Training

Summer block parties for the community, fundraising for our church plant, weekly prayer and planning sessions, continued serving in the community, equipment purchased, baptisms, training coordinator roles of different ministry areas (music, kids, etc.), and ongoing neighbouring and evangelism.

Soft Launch

Preview services and evaluation of roles.

Launch Sunday

Invite the whole community and surrounding areas to our launch service by mail out invitations

Send Out Next Church Plant

Cast vision, raise up leaders, pray, repeat previous steps and send out the next church plant.
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