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In February of 2023, Grace Christian Academy and Grace Church began discussing plans to expand. Faced with both increasing enrollment and church attendance, this planned expansion would add six classrooms, a dining hall, and a kitchen, and would connect the current school building with the gymnasium.

Last school year, the organizations would officially launch their Growing Grace campaign, an effort aimed at raising the necessary money for the new expansion plan. Last Tuesday, those efforts finally paid off, as Grace officially broke ground on the expansion.

According to GCA principal Sean Johnson, this expansion will allow GCA to start moving out of their current building, and enable Grace Church to repurpose rooms to accommodate programs like children’s ministry.

The campaign for raising the necessary capital started in January of 2024, and went until June of that year, with a goal of $3.5 million. Due to inflation, particularly with the rising cost of building materials, that number ended up increasing, Johnson stated. Now, they have revceived pledges of over $4.1 million from church families, school families and foundations, including a $400,000 grant from an anonymous foundation.

“Today, as we break ground on this new building, we are not just moving dirt—we are laying the foundation for the future,” said Grace pastor John Woodrum, addressing the gathered crowd. “A future where students will grow in knowledge of Jesus and their faith, where church families will be welcomed with open arms into a church community that will help them grow in their love for Jesus and learn His precious Word, where lives will be impacted for generations to come.”

Woodrum would also thank those in attendance for their contributions.

“One thing that’s particularly impressive,” Woodrum told the Post-Searchlight, “is that a lot of the church members do not have kids in school, or they had them in at one time and no longer have kids… we have families in our church at public school, home school, and yet so many people stepped up and made massive commitments for this to happen.”

PDC Construction will be handling the expansion project, with an estimated 12-month timeframe. Woodrum stated the hope was to have students using the new classrooms by next fall.

Grace students were in attendance of the groundbreaking, and were given capsules containing some of the dirt from the groundbreaking. “This is the dirt that our future will be built upon,” Johnson told the students. “It is rich with history and tells the story of those who honored God’s calling to build a church and a school that honors Him in all we do. I hope that you will use this to remind you of the seeds planted 30 and 40 years ago that allowed you to grow and learn on this campus.” He continued, “Regardless of how much the face of this place changes in this or future years, I pray that we never lose sight of the roots that helped it begin. I can only hope that some of you might return here as adults to raise your family in a community with fellow believers and partner with them in the discipleship of your children.”