Forty Years on Plains Boulevard
Grace Community Church, known around Amarillo simply as Grace Church, sits on Plains Boulevard on the west side of the Texas Panhandle city. Bill and Cindy Gehm moved to Amarillo in the early 1980s after meeting at Bible College and planted the congregation in 1985. Bill has served as senior pastor ever since, and Cindy, who now oversees women's ministry and the church bookstore, was pregnant with their youngest daughter when the first services began. That daughter was the first baby born into the new church family.
Four decades later, the family still anchors the work. The Gehms' son Doug M. Gehm joined the staff in 2005 and now serves as executive pastor, overseeing every aspect of ministry. Another son, Doug S. Gehm, came on staff in 2007 as a biblical counselor. A third son, Doug's brother who would be a different Doug, is not on staff, but the family footprint remains deep. The longer story of a church that has now celebrated forty years is reflected in the depth of its ministry roster and the breadth of its reach.
A Calvary Chapel Teaching Verse by Verse
Grace Church identifies as a Calvary Chapel congregation, part of the network of Calvary Chapel churches that grew out of the teaching ministry of Chuck Smith in southern California. The church's motto is "Making Disciples, Verse by Verse." Sunday services follow the expository pattern long associated with the Calvary Chapel movement: Senior Pastor Bill Gehm preaches through books of the Bible one passage at a time, week after week, rather than working through topical series or themed campaigns.
The Statement of Faith is detailed and explicit. It affirms the inerrancy of Scripture, the Trinity, the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the present ministry and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the universal church as the body of Christ, and two ordinances entrusted to the church: full-immersion water baptism and the Lord's Supper. The statement expresses belief in a literal heaven and a literal hell, the personal and visible Second Coming of Christ, the establishment of a millennial kingdom, and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church. On marriage and sexuality, the statement defines marriage as the union of one genetic male and one genetic female, lists a range of behaviors as inconsistent with biblical teaching, and notes that the church will not perform or recognize same-sex ceremonies.
Sundays at Nine and Eleven, Wednesdays at Seven
Three weekly services anchor the calendar. On Sunday mornings, services are held at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. Wednesday evenings, the church gathers for a 7:00 PM service. Each gathering includes congregational worship led by the Grace Worship team and a Bible message from the pastoral staff. All three services are livestreamed, and the recorded messages are archived for later listening. The church radio ministry, Radio by Grace, also carries the services beyond the Plains Boulevard campus.
Visitors who want to know what to expect can plan around three touchpoints a week. The Sunday morning services are identical in structure, so arriving at either hour suits anyone whose Sunday schedule is tight. The midweek service offers a quieter, more intimate alternative for those who cannot attend on the weekend. The church's YouTube channel carries the live feed, archived messages, and a separate livestream just for the youth ministry. Sermon podcasts go out through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Pandora, Amazon Music, and TuneIn.
Treehouse Kids: A Place for the Youngest
Treehouse Kids is the children's ministry of Grace Church, designed for children from nursery age through fifth grade. The program runs during all three weekly services, with Sunday programming at 9:00 and 11:00 AM and a Wednesday session at 7:00 PM. The staff describes the environment as "nurturing and engaging," with age-appropriate worship, activities, and lessons meant to help children grow spiritually in a safe space.
The children's ministry is led by Jennifer Simpson, who has attended Grace Church since 2000 and has served in children's ministry since 2005. She is assisted by Christy Porter and Lacey Velasquez. Parents check children in through the Church Center app, which is also the platform used for event registration, household profiles, and online giving.
Grace Youth: Middle School and High School
Grace Youth serves students in sixth through twelfth grade and meets during the Sunday 11:00 AM service and the Wednesday 7:00 PM service. The ministry is led by Pastor Nathan Vainio, who joined the staff in 2017 after growing up in Joplin, Missouri. Two youth ministers serve alongside him. Hector Casanova has been attending Grace Church since 2019 and joined the staff vocationally in 2024; he preaches on rotation as well as serving students. Ezekiel Grizzle, who grew up at Grace Church, returned to Amarillo in August 2024 after graduating from Horizon University in Indianapolis and now serves alongside Pastor Nate and Hector.
Grace Youth partners with parents, viewing them as the primary disciplers of their children. New students register at the Youth Check-In table in the hallway near the bookstore before their first service. Resources, registration links, and the current teaching series are gathered on a single Linktree page.
Discipleship Groups: Three to Five, for Twelve Weeks
The deepest level of intentional discipleship at Grace Church is the Discipleship Group, a gender-specific, closed group of three to five believers, including the leader, who meet weekly for twelve weeks. The format is roundtable rather than classroom: every member commits to reading Scripture, memorizing assigned verses, journaling, praying, and mutual accountability. Groups are formed organically. Members assemble their own groups from friends, family, coworkers, and church connections, then register them through an orientation process that includes three introductory videos on the church's history, vision, and doctrine.
Read-and-Remember plans guide participants through Paul's Letters, the Psalms, and the Gospels during the twelve weeks. Printable starter guides, leader training materials, and a Hangouts resource are available for download. The church emphasizes that the twelve-week commitment is a launching pad: leaders are expected to send their disciples out to start new groups once the cycle ends.
Life Groups and the Hangouts Rhythm
For a lighter layer of community, Life Groups meet around the city in homes and at the church building. Each Life Group is a place "to belong, believe, and become." Pre-launch guides, leader training, and starter guides help new groups find their rhythm. Hangouts is a related resource for groups that want a more social, less study-focused pattern of meeting.
GriefShare: Walking Through Loss Together
Grace Church hosts the GriefShare program, a thirteen-week, Christ-centered support group for people coping with the death of a loved one. Each session combines a video segment featuring Christian counselors, pastors, and widowed contributors with small-group discussion time and a guided workbook. The church also offers the GriefShare Loss of a Spouse seminar, a two-hour focused event, and Surviving the Holidays, a separate two-hour session timed for the holiday season. The program is typically offered twice a year, in the spring and fall.
Men's, Women's, and Senior Connection
The men's ministry exists to help men grow in their faith, build honest friendships, and encourage one another in Christ through regular gatherings and Bible studies. The women's ministry, overseen by Cindy Gehm, gathers women of all ages for Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and special events, with a dedicated YouTube channel for live and archived studies. A monthly Senior Connection meets on the second Thursday of each month for an afternoon that centers on Bingo and conversation.
Grace Worship: A Skilled, Expectant Team
Worship at Grace Church is led by Grace Worship, a team directed by Yohan Muniz, an electrical engineer from Sabinas, Mexico, who relocated to Amarillo in 2024 after years of worship and music production at his parents' church. The team's published core values draw on Colossians 3, framing worship leading as a lifestyle rather than a Sunday performance. Members commit to attending Grace Church, playing with skill, serving under pastoral authority, and growing both musically and spiritually. Sunday rehearsals begin at 7:45 AM, Wednesday sessions at 5:45 PM, with a third Thursday rehearsal in the evening.
Biblical Counseling
Two biblical counselors staff the care ministry. Doug S. Gehm, a retired Denver police officer who also trained with Exchanged Life Ministries, has been on staff since 2007. Jodie Zicker holds a master's in biblical counseling from The Master's University and has served part-time since 2016. Together they provide one-on-one pastoral counsel for those in need. Prayer requests can be submitted online through the church's connection forms.
OneAccord: Praying for the Persecuted Church
OneAccord is Grace Church's prayer ministry for persecuted Christians around the world. Through monthly messages and curated resources, the ministry directs the congregation to intercede for believers facing hostility for their faith. The team points to the Open Doors World Watch List, publishes stories from Global Christian Relief and Voice of the Martyrs, and offers specific prayer prompts: protection during services, comfort for those grieving, release for the imprisoned, repentance for persecutors, endurance for the suffering, and joy in every circumstance.
Reaching Beyond Plains Boulevard
Grace Church maintains a wide digital footprint in addition to its in-person services. Three mobile applications extend the church's reach: the Grace Church app carries the Bible, daily reading plans, the sermon archive, and event information; the Church Center app handles registration, check-in, household profiles, and online giving. The full archive of services is also available as a podcast on every major platform and as an on-demand library.
Radio by Grace broadcasts the services over the airwaves. A separate teaching resource, The Implanted Word, complements the radio ministry. The church also publishes a quarterly financial overview so anyone who wants to see how giving is stewarded can download the report directly from the giving page.
Reading the Word Together
Scripture sits at the center of everything Grace Church does. A dedicated "Read the Word" page links to free online Bibles through Bible.com, the YouVersion Bible App, and ReadScripture.org, and points readers to physical One Year Bibles in the church bookstore. The church has transitioned its teaching and resource translation to the English Standard Version, and a dedicated page collects sermons, articles, and recommended books to help the congregation understand the shift, including F.F. Bruce's The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, Norman Geisler's From God to Us, and Matthew Volk's Scribes and Scripture.
Giving and Stewardship
Members and visitors can give online through the Church Center platform or in person through secure Giving Boxes located in the mall area and the sanctuary. Envelopes are available at the boxes and in seat-back pockets in the sanctuary. The giving page quotes 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 and frames generosity as a matter of the heart rather than the amount. A downloadable Quarterly Financial Overview summarizes how every dollar is used.
Trunk or Treat
Each fall, Grace Church opens its parking lot for Trunk or Treat, a free community evening featuring decorated trunks arranged along a candy route, inflatable rides, indoor family activities, a photo booth, hot chocolate, and food from local food trucks. No registration is required for guests, but the church invites families to register a trunk, donate candy, or sign up as a volunteer well in advance. The event has become one of the church's main outreach touchpoints with the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Staff Behind the Ministry
The pastoral team is led by Senior Pastor Bill Gehm, who has served since 1985, with Executive Pastor Doug M. Gehm overseeing day-to-day ministry operations. Nathan Vainio leads Grace Youth, supported by Hector Casanova and Ezekiel Grizzle. Cindy Gehm directs women's ministry and the bookstore. Jennifer Simpson directs children's ministry. Yohan Muniz directs the worship team. Doug S. Gehm and Jodie Zicker provide biblical counseling. Mary Venable serves as pastoral assistant and bookstore manager. Todd Rollison directs communications and oversees the church's digital presence, supported by Creative Technician Shane Warden. Robert Butler serves as associate manager of finance and administration. Ricky Quilodran manages facilities. Joyce Word and Melinda Childress keep the building clean and welcoming.
Making Disciples, Verse by Verse
Grace Community Church of Amarillo is a Calvary Chapel congregation that has spent forty years pouring itself into the people of the Texas Panhandle, one verse at a time. The ministry continues to expand through Treehouse Kids and Grace Youth, through Discipleship Groups and GriefShare, through Radio by Grace and the online livestream, through OneAccord's prayers for persecuted believers around the world. On Plains Boulevard, the teaching goes on, week after week, book by book, in the steady rhythm that has shaped the church since its first Sunday morning in 1985.