Our Heart is for our Seal Beach Community
Our Mission
Biblical Worldview: Teaching people the Bible.
Faithful Compassion: Demonstrating God’s love in caring for our neighbors
Missional Life: Helping people come to know God
Participatory Worship: Engaging people in daily time with God
Known by Name: Providing context for people to build authentic relationships
We fulfill this mission through our five values:
We are a member of the Charis Fellowship of Churches
With more than 200 Charis Fellowship churches across North America, each church is self-governing, operating autonomously, calling their own pastors, leaders, and elders. Being part of Charis Fellowship allows for local churches to stay connected to a larger network of ministry, service, opportunities, and resources.
Our Fellowship is part of a global family called the Charis Alliance, with like-minded churches spanning 33 countries worldwide.
At Grace Seal Beach, our identity is deeply intertwined with our beloved Seal Beach community, where we've proudly served for over 80 years. As active members of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, we are dedicated to participating in key local events such as the Seal Beach Christmas Parade, the Be More Healthy Expo, and Halloween on Main Street.
Our commitment to Seal Beach goes beyond participation; it's about fostering a sense of belonging, connection, and service. As we continue to grow with this vibrant community, we look forward to many more years of making a positive impact in Seal Beach, guided by God's grace.
Our heart is for our Seal Beach community.
Our Beliefs
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We believe that there is one true God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that the Triune God is the Creator of all things visible and invisible and that a belief in this truth is necessary to understand the meaning and purpose of all reality.
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Item deWe believe in the pre-existence and deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and in his incarnation through the Virgin Mary and his full humanity. We believe in his sinless, obedient life, the reality of his recorded miracles and in forgiveness of sin through his shed blood on the Cross. We believe in his bodily resurrection, his ascension and his present ministry at the right hand of the Father. We believe in his personal Second Coming.scription
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We believe in the present personal ministry of the Holy Spirit in every believer. We believe every believer is indwelt by the Spirit, baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ and equipped by the Spirit with various spiritual gifts. We believe it is the will of God that every believer be empowered, or filled, with the Holy Spirit for effective service.
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We believe the Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, altogether sufficient for all matters of faith and practice.
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We believe that God created man as male and female in his own Image. We believe each person has infinite worth and is answerable to his Creator. We believe man has fallen into sin resulting in spiritual death, and that the new birth, or regeneration, is necessary for his salvation.
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We believe in a complete and eternal salvation by God's grace alone, received as a gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We believe in the spiritual unity of all who have faith in Jesus Christ. We also believe in the organization of believers into local churches for worship, edification and witness.
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We believe that Christ has ordained that his Church observe the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion.
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We believe God calls every Christian to a life of good works and spiritual freedom service to the church and community, separation unto God's will and away from evil. We believe in the sanctity of the home, purity in sexual relationships, the sacredness of human life, the necessity of manifesting the fruit of the Spirit and a Christ-like character, and the importance of a life of prayer, Bible study, Christian fellowship and personal witness.
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We believe in the existence of the Devil as a distinct, created personal being, the great adversary of God and his people. We believe in Satan's final defeat and judgment.
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We believe in the personal and visible return of our Lord Jesus Christ to join his church with himself, to defeat evil and to establish his rule as King of Kings. We believe that this truth should lead Christians to live godly, productive lives in the present world and to await eagerly his appearing.
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We believe that death is gain for Christians, for they enter the presence of the Lord. We believe that there will be a resurrection and a judgment of both the righteous and the unrighteous; the righteous will enter eternal blessings and the unrighteous eternal condemnation.
Our Values
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Have I made time for God today?
The worship of God is the primary responsibility and privilege of the Christian. As the Westminster Confession states: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." In light of that, we want to be a people that are consistent and passionate worshipers of God, not just for our hour on Sunday but throughout the whole week.
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Does my life reflect growing obedience to God’s Word?
James 1:22, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves," The knowledge of Scripture is a wonderful and awesome privilege, but if it is not obeyed we are living in self-deception. What direction are our lives moving toward, increased or decreased obedience?
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How am I expressing God’s love to others?
Included in the fruit of the Spirit is love, and evidence of the presence of God is the life of the believer. A lack of loving compassion for other people suggest a lack of God's Spirit at work in our life.
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Am I cultivating authentic relationships?
The church is the family of God, brothers and sisters knit together by the adoption of a common Father. As the family of God, we can let our guards down together, knowing that the Father loves each of us and binds us together.
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Who am I helping to know God?
The mission of God is to bring sinners back into right relationship with God by making disciples of Jesus Christ. Our mission efforts are valuable in so far as they help people know God and point people to the gospel of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.
Our History
Grace Seal Beach began during World War II, when two youth Bible studies merged together to begin a new church. We began as a church out of the efforts and sacrifices of students to reach kids and youth in Seal Beach. That desire to reach the next generation is still at the heart of Grace.
During construction of the south church building in 1980.
The church began meeting on the second story of the building that is now Walt’s Wharf restaurant on the corner of Main St. and Central Ave. in Seal Beach until they were able to purchase three vacant lots on the corner of 8th and Central (where our church building still is). The cost for three lots a block from the ocean in 1944? $7,500.
Our founding pastor was George Peek, a 28-year-old former police officer. Under George’s leadership for the next decade, the new church was able to build on the corner lots and establish a well-respected church in the community.
After George left to lead North Long Beach Brethren Church, we went through a series of short-term pastorates for the next two decades until Roy Roberts came in 1972. Roy was a dynamic preacher and joyful presence in the community, leading to a great amount of growth in the church family. Roy was followed by Mike Ryan, who led the effort to build the south church building (where we now have our Sanctuary).
Don Shoemaker had served as a pastor of another church in our fellowship (Los Altos Grace) prior to joining the Bible faculty at Biola. He was serving as an elder here when he was called to become the Senior Pastor in 1984, a role he continued until 2012.
During Don’s leadership, Grace went through a name change (from Grace Brethren Church to Grace Community Church), a reflection of our heart for our Seal Beach neighbors.
In the late 1990’s, we saw God use some of the young adults from Grace to build amazing ministries. Sharalyn Shaw was just out of college when she started Precious Lamb Preschool, a Christ-centered ministry for families experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Long Beach. Cami Sigler went to Sierra Leone to begin Word Made Flesh-Sierra Leone to help kids in the poorest parts of one of the poorest countries in the world.
In 2012, longtime associate pastor Steve Williams succeeded Don in leading Grace and helped us chart a path forward. In 2016, the congregation voted to install Bob Wriedt as the Senior Pastor-Elect, following Steve’s retirement the next year.
Since then, we’ve planted our first church (Branches Church of Arcata, CA) and seen God bring many to faith in Christ through the church.
We’re praying that our most fruitful and best years are in front of us as a church!
