Pastor Steve Williams

Pastor Steve Williams will be installed on January 13 as the new Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach.  The 6:30 p.m. service will be at the church campus, 138 8th Street, in “Old Town” Seal Beach and the community and people from other churches are welcome.

Pastor Steve and his wife, Trish, have been members of Grace Church since 1989 and they soon built a very productive college ministry.  A 1971 graduate of California State University—Dominguez Hills, Steve completed his Master of Divinity degree at Talbot School of Theology in 1996 and became an associate pastor of the church that same year.  In 2010 he received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana.

Donald Shoemaker, under whom Steve served until Shoemaker’s retirement as senior pastor in January 2012 says, “Steve has a disciplined and practical mind for grasping and applying the Bible’s teaching.  He has the heart necessary to provide good pastoral care for members of the church.  He cares about Seal Beach and wants to see the church be a vital force of service for God in the community.”

Pastor Williams was selected by a vote of the congregation on December 9.  This followed a lengthy process of congregational self-analysis and development of a desired pastoral profile by church leadership.  A pastoral search team, after considering the option of advertising the position widely, came to the conclusion that the best candidate was right here.  The church’s Elder Board concurred and recommended him to the membership in November.

As he takes on his new role Pastor Williams says,  “I look forward to leading Grace Community Church in fulfilling our goal of being a blessing to the Seal Beach and surrounding communities. We are a church that expresses God’s love through compassionate actions so others become followers of Jesus. This has been our desire for more than 65 years and I am confident that we will continue this ministry for years to come.”

Grace Community Church was organized as “First Brethren Church” in Seal Beach in the early 1940’s.   In recent decades it has grown to have a significant presence in the community.  It is affiliated with the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.