Schultz Profile

Dave and Melissa Schultz

Grayling Evangelical Free Church

Grayling, MI

1) Describe your call to plant a church?

Before beginning seminary I asked God to allow me to return to Northern Michigan to serve there in vocational ministry. At seminary (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) God began to tug on my heart about church planting specifically because it is the intersection of pastoral ministry and missionary work -- which describes the way God has wired me. While at Trinity, Brett Gleason and Rick Thompson from the Great Lakes District guided me through the process of preparing to plant an EFCA church in the Great Lakes District.

2) Describe the community where you are planting?

Grayling is a smaller sized Northern Michigan town with lots of people who need Jesus. We are probably best known for being the headwaters of Au Sable river which is a world famous trout stream. Also on the river, Grayling hosts the worlds longest canoe marathon every July. Our town is also the known for the Camp Grayling Army National Guard facility that hosts training for many who serve in the National Guard throughout the Midwest.

3) How are you developing your core group?

What God has done over the past two years is nothing short of incredible. The church has moved from a God-given dream, to a Bible Study meeting in Pastor Dave's living room on Sunday evenings, to a Bible study meeting in a rented storefront, to an informal Sunday evening worship service, to Sunday morning worship service meeting in another rented facility, and recently on October 10, 2010 we celebrated our Fall Kickoff and part of that was rolling out mid-week small group Bible studies. Our growth and development has been gradual and it has always centered on learning from God's Word, and worshiping our Lord together.

3) What is the church's vision, mission, and values?

The vision of Grayling Evangelical Free Church is to be:

a place to belong

As a Church we value community and desire our guests to come into our community and investigate Jesus. We place a high value on being a place where people come in and investigate Jesus within an environment of belonging. We are committed to continually welcoming new people into our community who are seeking a place a place to belong.

a place to believe

Jesus placed a very high value on belief; he said that whoever believes in Him will be saved. What an individual person believes is very important! The only way to be saved is to believe in Jesus Christ – the Truth Himself. We realize that people most often come to believe in the context of belonging in community.

a place to become

The Christian life is a life of growth. All followers of Jesus should continually be becoming more like their Master. The more a person becomes like Jesus the more their day to day life will be influenced; following in Jesus’ footsteps has a tremendous impact on our daily decisions and behavior. A follower of Jesus will live differently because of the work that God is working in their lives. It is impossible to become more like Jesus without first coming to believe in Him.

Seven values that guide us as we live out our vision are:

Biblically Based

We are committed to faithfully communicating the message of the Bible. We are committed to the absolute truth of Scripture. ─2 Timothy 3:16

Living Lives of Worship

Only God is worthy of our worship. Worship includes both glorifying God and enjoying Him. We are committed to glorifying God and enjoying Him in both passionate prayer and in our corporate worship gatherings. ─Romans 12:1-2, Hebrews 10:25

Great Commission Driven

Jesus calls the Church to make disciples locally and around the world. We are committed to spreading the Gospel in our community, in Northern Michigan, and around the world. ─Matthew 28:18-20

Loving Relationships

Grayling Evangelical Free Church is committed to being a loving Christian community. Jesus calls us to love each other and those outside of our church. ─John 13:34-35, Matthew 5:43-47

Community Transformation

We desire to see our city transformed in positive ways through Christ’s love. We live out this commitment through community involvement and participation as both individuals and as a church body.

─Jeremiah 29:4-7

Compassionately Caring

Many people who live in our community struggle with significant pain due to broken relationships. Our church is committed to being a place of compassionate care in our community. ─Mark 6:34

Culturally Engaging

We are committed to being a local church that is welcoming; our goal is to be a safe place for people to investigate Jesus. We strive to be culturally engaging through a contemporary and upbeat music style in our worship services. ─1 Corinthians 9:22-23

4) What does community life look like in your church?

Community life at Grayling Evangelical Free Church includes Sunday morning worship services, small group Bible studies, ministry to children, and a monthly potluck dinners. All of this is based on our belong, believe, become vision. We strive for our community life to be characterized by belonging -- we want to be a welcoming place where guests feel that they can belong.