Grace Church was founded nearly 14 years ago as a replant of Grace Community Church in Waco, Texas. Through a focus on the revelation of the gospel, Grace Church pursues its mission to make Jesus known in Waco and around the world. Drake Osborn and Dave Becker serve as co-pastors at Grace Church alongside two other pastor-elders. Both alumni of Midwestern Seminary, Drake graduated in 2019 with a Master of Divinity, and Dave graduated in 2017 with a Master of Theological Studies.
MBTS: Tell us about the history of Grace Church and how the Lord called you to serve here.
Drake Osborn: Grace Church was planted in 1999 and re-planted in 2012 when the elders voted to move closer into town and join Acts29 and the SBC. I was a member of Grace during my undergraduate studies at Baylor University and came back to Waco and Grace in 2018 directly after seminary. Originally called to help shepherd our many college students, I was quickly thrust into greater leadership after a sudden transition left our church without a pastor. I had to learn at an early age how to shoulder the joyful burdens of pastoral ministry, and I leaned heavily on my connections and support system from Midwestern.
Dave Becker: I came to Grace in the summer of 2022 after a long and fruitful season of ministry in southwest Missouri. The Lord used some key relationships that Drake and I share through Midwestern in instrumental ways to bring my family and me to Grace. Once we connected, Drake and I realized that we had both been through similar kinds of leadership transitions and that the Lord had led us to similar places in our ecclesiology, philosophy of ministry, and pastoral theology. Coming to Grace and taking up her mission alongside her pastors and people has been a deep joy.
MBTS: How have you seen theological education contribute to the spiritual growth of your members?
Drake: The most transformative class I took in seminary was Attributes of God with Dr. Matthew Barrett. As a result, some of the first classes I taught at Grace were centered on the doctrine of God. We regularly run classes on classical theology alongside classes on spiritual disciplines such as sabbath and prayer.
Dave: Just this year, we launched an intensive lay-level theological training institute with two partner churches. Our first class has over 20 students meeting once a week for several hours in small cohorts, the goal of which is both robust theological development and deep spiritual formation.
MBTS: For pastors and those who aspire to ministry, what encouragement would you offer to help them lead their churches in cultivating spiritual disciplines?
Drake: Do not neglect the necessary work of developing and sustaining theological curiosity in the church. Contemplation of the beauty of God is the never-ending well from which we draw even our most tactile spirituality. Seminarians should get used to the practice of letting their serious study of God lead to devotional love for God in a never-ending loop.
Dave: At Grace, introducing our people to classical theology has acted as the foundation for our communion with God. For example, a study on union with Christ built the fence of protection which allowed our people the freedom to run confidently into more abstract conversations on friendship with Jesus or more concrete conversations on how to cultivate spiritual practices that lead to intimacy with Jesus.
MBTS: As pastors, what practices have you found beneficial for investing in your own personal spiritual growth?
Drake: One practice I have found helpful is to pick a “personal” spiritual discipline that is just between myself and God. This may be writing poetry, long walks, specific journaling, woodworking, or some other creative task. One way to think of it is as “wasting time” with God, but really it is anything where you can meet with God without the feeling or obligation to do something for God or prove something to God. Turning off that shepherding and teaching impulse, even just for a few minutes a day, and allowing yourself to be welcomed by Christ as a son or daughter instead of a pastor or ministry leader is a key way to build endurance for the difficult work of ministry.
My family has also greatly benefited from the practice of sabbath. Sunday morning is not always a restful day for the minister, so our sabbath starts at sundown the night before. As often as we can, we enjoy a simple candlelit meal together, pray specific prayers for rest, and turn off any and all devices. All work is set aside, which means the sermon must be done ahead of time with no last-minute tweaks. This weekly practice orients our hearts in dependence and intentionally leaves some tasks undone so that we might depend on God to be God and remember that we are human.
Dave: One practice that my family and I have come to treasure, particularly since coming to Grace Church, is the regular confession of sin and receiving the assurance of pardon. The practice of giving corporate and private confession and receiving assurance of pardon is a fixture in our liturgy and in our community. There is no substitute for the liberating and grounding effect that confession and assurance have in the life of the Christian. To be fully known, fully loved, and fully forgiven by Christ Himself and by our brothers and sisters is the rich soil from which worship, mission, and unity spring up into bloom.
