Grace Community Church has had historic growth in four years

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Grace Community Church started four years ago with fewer than 10 members and the gift of a building and land near Clark Road in Sarasota.

The gift was from a friend of Pastor Chip Bennett, who had taken a break from the ministry and was working as general manager of a Land Rover dealership in Sarasota.

Bennett calls the property gift his "parting of the Red Sea" moment, when he felt the irresistible call to return to the ministry.

Two years after starting Grace Community Church in 2010, the congregation sold its property on Ashton and Swift roads in Sarasota and moved to 6932 Professional Parkway East, Lakewood Ranch.

At the time, about 90 worshippers were attending the weekly service. Since the move, two additional services have

been added to accommodate the growing number of attendees now numbering up to 350 each week.

The nondenominational church has seen tremendous growth Located in about 12,000-square-feet of space in the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park.

"It's been a journey," he said.

Bennett still works at the Land Rover store, which allows him to pastor Grace Community Church and not take a salary.

On a recent Friday, he was seated alone in the 200-seat sanctuary, or "gathering place," working on his weekly sermon.

"We will be discussing one of the most dangerous words in our vocabulary: tomorrow. We will look at how putting things off can create huge issues in our lives," he said.

Bennett said he keeps the atmosphere informal and contemporary in the come-as-you-are church.

The sermon for Nov. 8-9 kicked off a series on fear, referencing the Ebola virus and ISIS terrorists in the Mideast.

"Everyone is welcome. We believe God meets us where we are. And we hope he won't leave us where we are," Bennett said.

The church has a children's wing and a teen center complete with foosball machines, TVS and more, all part of the outreach to families.

"We have made this as cool as we can. We want the youth to think of this like a home," Bennett said. "We have tried really hard to attract young families, but we love the senior citizens, too."

Bennett and his wife, Mindy Bennett, relate to the challenges faced by young families -- they are expecting their sixth child.

Bennett said he is proud of the diversity of Grace Community Church's multi-ethnic membership.

"If the church doesn't look like heaven, then we aren't doing our job," he said. "It's a big deal to me that we don't just look like one group of people."

The name of the church was carefully selected to reflect the grace of God, and the fact it is a community church.

"God genuinely loved His creation. You see this incredible love in Christ. Grace is huge for us," Bennett said.

Grace Community Church centers on having a real and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ, according to the church website, gracesarasota.com.

"If you are looking for a fun, real, non-traditional, life changing, applicable to life church that ministers to the entire family, then Grace Community Church might just be the place for you," according to the website.

Bennett said he hopes Grace will eventually have a membership of 1,000.

"Anyone who has been hurt by religion or the church and is looking for a place to come back to, this is a healthy place. Everyone is truly welcome at Grace Community Church," Bennett said.

Tom Jones recently joined Grace Community as executive pastor to take care of day-to-day administrative duties.

"I have known Chip forever," Jones said. "He is an incredibly gifted communicator. A hallmark for the church is doing good for the community and making a loud difference now. For 2015, our theme will be unleashing massive compassion into the community."

Jennifer Obenauer, church administrator, became acquainted with the church when she attended a wedding at his previous location on Swift and Ashton roads.

She said she was attracted by the atmosphere, and the expectation she was joining something that would become a lot larger.

Or as Bennett might put it: "We believe that when you come to church, it's about the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man."

James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter @jajones1.

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Grace Community Church has had historic growth in four years."