Mission Statement and What We Believe
Grace Lutheran Church is a faith-based community Lutheran church, affiliated with the Michigan District of the Missouri Synod.
Our Mission Statement is “Loving People to Christ”.
We believe that through our actions of helping the community and leading people in the Word of Christ, it will expand the church family as a whole by being Christ’s “hands and feet” here on Earth. We believe that by showing Christ’s love to others, we will lead people to Christ.
Grace Lutheran Church of Leslie, Michigan, was planted in 1989 by Art and Marge Reich. At that time, there were 80 members with an average attendance of about 50 each week. Earl Wood was the first member by transfer from Trinity in Jackson on Jan. 19th, 1990. The church's congregation originally met at Leslie Township Hall until January 2000.
In 1994, the zoning laws gave way to erect a sign on the newly acquired property at 212 S. Sherman Street. On Sunday, September 11th of that year, the dedication ceremony took place outdoors. The mosquitoes almost carried the participants away!
The 8,000 square foot multi-purpose structure was located on a 5.8 acre parcel of land that was generously donated by the late Dr. Malcolm Johnston, a Leslie physician. The design was planned to allow the church to sponsor after-school activities for children, such as basketball, volleyball, music, drama, etc. as well as to provide church members a place to worship on Sundays. The bay windows surrounding the altar provide God's beauty in creation, changing each season of the year. Movable chairs allow the building to easily be converted from a church to a gym during the week. Randy Beech, of Beech Construction from Jackson was the contractor of this multipurpose facility as Phase One of Grace Lutheran's long term plans to serve the community. Phase Two was envisioned to be a more permanent worship building on the same grounds. May 6th, 2004 reported 168 members and an average attendance of about 125 people each Sunday. The daycare facility began the same year by the guidance of Paulette Colister. Erica Willard was its director with 11 caregivers, which had 48 children (licensed for 53). Other programs included: Pioneer Scouts (a Christian group similar to Boy and Girl Scouts), and "Acquire the Fire" (a high-energy youth impacting event).