Grace Fellowship - Pretoria

About Us

In 1992, Dr John MacArthur of Grace Community Church, Los Angeles, toured South Africa, preaching in a number of different cities. At that time, various people approached Dr MacArthur and expressed interest in starting Bible-teaching churches in their own communities. In 1993, Grace Church sent a church-planter to assist these people. With his help, Grace Fellowship Pretoria began holding services in September 1993, with seven people attending the first service. By July 1994, Grace Fellowship had grown to an attendance of about twenty-five. At that time, the church called Joel James, a graduate of The Master´s Seminary and intern at Grace Community Church, to be their pastor-teacher. Joel assumed the preaching and shepherding duties of Grace Fellowship in February 1995. The past decade has seen Grace Fellowship's attendance grow to about 200 on Sunday mornings. After many years of meeting in various school halls, Grace Fellowship moved into their own building in November, 2005.

Click here to download a brochure on Grace Fellowship Pretoria.

Ministries

Other significant ministries of the church include the South African Shepherds' Conference, Grace School of Ministry, and Word of the Cross. The Shepherds' Conference is an annual church leadership conference held in Johannesburg, Polokwane, and Cape Town, for the purpose of encouraging and training church members, leaders, and ministers. Grace School of Ministry currently offers in-depth training in biblical counselling. Word of the Cross is the resource ministry of Grace Fellowship Pretoria.

Grace Fellowship has also planted a church in Sasolburg. Tony McCracken, a graduate of The Master´s Seminary, Los Angeles, pastors the church in Sasolburg. Grace Fellowship Sasolburg has seen steady growth since its inception.

Click here to visit Grace Fellowship Sasolburg.

What We Believe and Teach

Click here to download our doctrinal statement.

Church Leadership

Grace Fellowship follows the pattern of eldership set forth in Scripture. Currently our elders are Joel James (Pastor-Teacher), Joshua Mack (Associate Pastor-Teacher), Wayne A. Mack, and Ian Murray.

Joel James

Joel James has been the pastor-teacher of Grace Fellowship since February 1995. Joel grew up in the north-central United States in a family with believing parents, and professed faith in Christ at a young age. After graduating from varsity, Joel attended The Master's Seminary at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California. Joel completed his studies in May, 1994, and spent the next eight months serving as an intern in the outreach department at Grace Community Church. During that time, he was ordained and visited South Africa with his wife Rut. During that visit, the leaders of Grace Fellowship extended an invitation to Joel to be their pastor. Joel and Rut accepted the call and moved to Pretoria in February 1995. Both their children, Rebeqah and Daniel, were born in South Africa. Recently Joel was awarded a Doctorate in Ministry from the The Master's Seminary. His doctoral work focused on teaching pastors how to prepare expository sermons.

Wayne Mack

Wayne and Carol Mack moved to South Africa early 2006 to set up Grace School of Ministry, where Wayne teaches a comprehensive course in Biblical Counselling. Wayne has written numerous books on counselling and related topics. He and Carol have four children, and thirteen grandchildren. For more on Wayne and Carol Mack, as well as a detailed list of Dr Mack's books, visit www.strengtheningministries.co.za or www.mackministries.org.

Joshua Mack

Josh and Marda Mack and their three daughters - Mckenna, Cambria, and Caitlin - arrived in South Africa in 2007. Josh serves as an associate pastor-teacher at Grace Fellowship and he and Marda have a particular burden for mercy ministries to orphans and the poor. Josh is a graduate of The Master's Seminary, LA, and has a Doctoral degree in Ministry from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Before coming to South Africa, he pastored a church in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania for six years. Josh has also co-authored several books with his dad, Wayne Mack. In 2007 Josh and Marda welcomed thier fourth daughter - Bailey - into the world, and began foster care of two orphans - Musi and Zanele. In 2008, Josh and Marda brought Lincoln into their family; he is their third foster child.

Robert Mathobo

Robert Mathobo is a graduate of Christ Semninary, Polokwane. He worked on a Grace Fellowship church plant in Daveyton (Ekhuruleni) for several years. In August of 2008 Robert moved to Pretoria to start an African language Bible study at Grace Fellowship. Robert is involved in the following ministries at Grace Fellowship: African language Bible study on Sundays (10h30); mercy ministry; outreach.

Links

www.gracesasolburg.co.za

Grace Fellowship Sasolburg.

www.livinghopechurch.co.za

Living Hope Church Sunnyside. A church plant led by Josh Mack.

www.christbaptist.co.za

Homepage of Christ Baptist Church (Polokwane), Samaria Mission, and Christ Seminary.

www.gracechurch.org

John MacArthur, Grace Community Church, LA.

www.shepherdsfellowship.org/SC

The Shepherds' Conference, USA.

www.resolved.org

Resolved Conference, USA.

www.tms.edu

The Master's Seminary, LA.

www.masters.edu

The Master's College, LA.

www.gty.org

Grace to You. The resource ministry of John MacArthur.

www.mackministries.org.za.

Homepage of Wayne and Carol Mack.

www.bethesdaoutreach.org

Bethesda Outreach - An outreach to African orphans.

www.augustine.co.za

Homepage of Augustine Bookroom.

www.AlbertMohler.com

Homepage of R. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

teampyro.blogspot.com

A blog by Phil Johnson.

http://www.nanc.org

Webpage of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, USA.