It all begins with Grace.
Our name begins with grace because our hope in this world begins with God's grace. Salvation isn't something that we can earn on our own, it is only because of God's undeserved gift to us that we can experience eternal life.
You are loved.
We love because He first loved us.
We didn't set out with a goal of being a church. Our focus always has been the people. We first gathered together at a park in 2012 out of our love for one another and found community.
We truly believe that if you focus on making disciples you will always get the church, but if you focus on making the church you will rarely get disciples. We choose to focus on the people.
2012
A group of Jesus followers, many with a tremendous amount of church hurt, gathered at Rotary Park in Mequon in September. They didn't gather to form a church, they simply gathered out of love for one another. A community grew out of that first gathering and worship was moved to the Logemann Center in Mequon. As word spread, the gathering grew and Cedar Creek Community Church in Grafton hosted our worship on Sunday nights.
2013
God raised up a group of leaders who began the process of forming a church body. In order to move worship to Sunday mornings, we began worshiping at the Mequon Nature Preserve in January. Grace 242 was officially formed in April and in May, we called our founding pastor Rev. Dr. Tim Harrison.
2014
Grace 242 began a discernment process to affiliate with a denomination that would share our beliefs; share our vision for God’s Kingdom; support us as a local congregation; and hold us accountable. In September we officially joined ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians.
2018
In August, our founding pastor received a call to another church which began the search for a new pastor. With remarkable speed, God brought Rev. Bill Ver Velde to us as our new pastor starting in December.
2020
In response to the societal upheaval in March, we left Mequon Nature Preserve and launched house churches as our primary expression of worship. This began a period of nomadic wandering for the church as we sought God’s leading for the church’s future and for a new worship home. Through virtual house churches, in-person house churches, worship gatherings at Cedar Creek Community Church on Saturday nights, to worship gatherings on Sunday mornings at The Student Union in Cedarburg, we begged God to show us our new landing spot.
2023
After years of seeking the Lord for a new location to worship, God brought us to Grace 242’s first permanent worship home at 249 N Main Street in Thiensville.