Grace Community Church

Lead Pastor Transition

Lead Pastor Transition

Your Elder Team is in the search process for a new Lead Pastor as Pastor Jay has transitioned into his new role as Executive Director for Hope Pregnancy Clinic*. Please continue praying for wisdom and unity throughout this search process. We’ll work to keep you updated on our search process through this page leading up to the time when the membership will vote for our next Lead Pastor.

*For more info about Hope Pregnancy Clinic and the work that Jay will be engaged with check out the following link: https://hopeforsalem.org/

For a list of the Elders, please click the following button and scroll down to “Elders”

Grace Community Church Elders

Updates:

July 1, 2025

  • Gabe Meiers (Hispanic Ministries Pastor) was affirmed as our interim Lead Pastor. Jay will prioritize cross training Gabe for this interim period.

  • Jay’s last day in the office will be September 25, 2025.  His last Sunday preaching as Lead Pastor will be September 21st.

August 10, 2025

  • Our Elders are finalizing the job description. We will first look at candidates internally, then open the position up to the local community before looking farther out.

September 5, 2025

  • The Elders & Staff have finalized the Lead Pastor job description. We have posted it on our Jobs page. You can also access that with the following buttons.

Lead Pastor Job Description
Grace CC Job Application

September 28, 2025

  • Gabe Meiers (Hispanic Ministries Pastor) has fully transitioned into his interim Lead Pastor role.

  • We have received a couple of applications for the role. The Elder Team will be looking at them collectively soon.

  • As a reminder, in the final stages of this process, there will be an opportunity for the congregation to vote in the candidate the Elder team presents. To be part of the voting process, you have to be a member of the church. If you’re currently not a member and are interested in being one, please click the following button to submit your form. THIS PROCESS CAN TAKE UP TO TWO MONTHS.

Membership

December 14, 2025

  • We have two excellent candidates who are currently going through the process.

  • The two candidates have individually met with the Elders and will meet with the staff in the next month.

February 8, 2026

  • The Elders and the Pastoral Staff are currently conducting a 4th round of interviews with two local candidates.

  • The Elders covet your prayers for wisdom and discernment as they prayerfully consider if one of these men will be the one that is presented to the members of Grace for a vote to call them as our new Lead Pastor.

  • When the time comes for the Elders to present a candidate for a vote of approval, it will be the active members who will vote via a ballot. This is the same process we use when voting on our annual budget. If you are not a member and would like to become one, please click HERE to begin the steps to become a member. If you are unsure if you're a member, call the church office (503.492.9966  ||  M-Th 9am-5pm) and we're happy to verify for you. Ballots will be mailed to all members, so please make sure we have your current mailing address and contact information.