Grace Presbyterian Church has anchored the corner of East Douglas and Bleckley in Wichita's Crown Heights neighborhood since 1948, a stone building that has been described by its own people as the stone church with a warm heart. Members of Grace take seriously the call to live as the body of Christ inside the building and outside its doors, in Crown Heights, across Wichita, and around the world. Two Sunday services, a long-running preschool, a refugee partnership with the International Rescue Committee, a youth ministry that meets on Wednesdays, and a stated openness to LGBTQ members and leaders all sit at the center of who Grace is today.
Two Sunday Mornings, Two Worship Spaces
Worship at Grace happens twice on Sunday morning, in two distinct spaces inside the same building.
At 9 a.m., the band leads a contemporary service in the Great Room. The style is less formal than the second service, often with interactive components. Many people arrive in jeans or dress pants; a few wear suits. The instruction on the door is simple: wear what feels best to you.
At 11 a.m., the choirs lead a traditional service in the Sanctuary. The setting is more traditional, though creative elements are still woven into the liturgy. Suits and dresses are common, but jeans appear too. Again, wear what feels best.
An Education Hour for children, youth, and adults fills the 10 a.m. hour between the two services. A nursery is available from 8:45 a.m. through the end of the 11 a.m. service for any family who prefers it. Children are welcome in either worship service.
Both services are livestreamed on YouTube through the GracePresChurch channel, and recordings stay available afterward for anyone who missed Sunday or who lives far from Wichita. A Sunday bulletin is posted online each week.
A Century on East Douglas
Grace was founded more than a hundred years ago just east of downtown Wichita. In 1948, the congregation moved to the east edge of the city, to East Douglas and Bleckley in Crown Heights, where it has remained ever since. In the 1990s the church made a deliberate choice not to follow the population to the suburbs. Instead, the congregation expanded its own facilities so that it could better serve the neighborhood that had welcomed it.
That expansion shaped the building visitors encounter today. The Great Room, the larger kitchen, and additional classrooms were all built in the 1990s. So was Jacob's Learning Ladder Preschool, the church-sponsored early childhood program that has become its own mission in the city. The stained-glass windows in the Sanctuary and in the Great Room, the playground used by church families and JLL students, and the air conditioning units that tame Kansas summers were all funded through the legacies of members past and present. A planned-giving program at Grace continues to underwrite the facilities and ministries that members want to hand on to the next generation.
The Welcome Statement
Grace opens with a welcome statement that the leadership takes seriously: Grace Presbyterian Church warmly invites and welcomes all who seek to deepen their relationship with God. The church practices acceptance and welcomes all people regardless of race, disability, gender, sexuality, politics, or socio-economic status. All people are invited to fully participate in the life and ministries of the congregation, and all people, including the LGBTQ community, are sought for positions of leadership and service based on their faith, character, and maturity.
This welcome shapes the rest of the church's ministry. Grace has been intentional about calling and commissioning members of the LGBTQ community into leadership. Same-sex weddings may be held in the building, with the church's governing board approving each one. Members describe the community as one that values theological diversity and shares Godly love for one another even when believers interpret their faith differently.
Music as a Calling Card
Outstanding inspirational music is a tradition at Grace, and the music ministry is built around four groups that cover a wide range of styles.
The Chancel Choir practices on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. and leads worship almost every Sunday from September through May in the Sanctuary. New voices are always welcome. Sean Foster directs the choir, and Kelsey Wise serves as organist.
Kakopђonie, the church's worship band, leads the 9 a.m. service weekly in the Great Room. The band regularly learns new music to keep the service fresh and alive. The band is a set group, but substitutes are welcome, so anyone with a gift to share is encouraged to speak up. Bryce Mulkey directs.
The Carillonneurs are the handbell choir. They rehearse on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. and lead worship four to six times a year.
Elevators is the youth band. They rehearse weekly, lead worship at the youth group once a month, and lead worship in the Great Room several times a year.
Together the four groups give the music ministry room for almost anyone who wants to sing or play, from first-time ringers to lifelong choristers to teenagers on electric guitar.
Children, Students, and Jacob's Learning Ladder
Children and youth are central at Grace. Sunday School for children resumes each August, and Vacation Bible School fills one week every summer. Throughout the year, children's ministry offers game nights, movie nights, and family fellowship events.
Student ministry runs three programs. INSPIRE serves grades 6 through 8, and IGNITE serves grades 9 through 12. Both meet weekly in the teen center, with IGNITE fellowship on Wednesday evenings and IGNITE Sunday discussions at 10 a.m. between services. Each summer IGNITE takes a 10-day mission trip designed to push youth outside their comfort zones and into service. WYLDlife is a partnership with YoungLIFE of Wichita that reaches middle-schoolers at Robinson Middle School, with a Bible study club there and a WYLDlife Club that meets at Grace.
Just off the main campus, Jacob's Learning Ladder is Grace's licensed preschool, sponsored by the church as a community outreach. The center is licensed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and supervised by the church's Session. Stephanie Cryderman directs the program, with Bette-Jo Freeman as assistant director and Cheryl Hoops as chaplain. The preschool shares the playground with church families and welcomes children from across the neighborhood.
Where Grace Goes Out: Mission and Ministry
The mission and ministry page at Grace lists dozens of teams, and almost every one of them is named, led, and active.
Refugee Team. Grace partners with the Wichita office of the International Rescue Committee to serve newly arriving refugees. Team members drive new arrivals to appointments, teach citizenship classes, help set up apartments, and join other faith groups each summer to prepare for a backpack distribution at the start of the school year. The team maintains a current list of household items the IRC cannot buy with food stamps: mops, brooms, first aid kits, cleaning supplies, diapers in sizes 4 and 5, fire extinguishers, paper towels, baby hygiene products, and toilet paper. Larger gifts are also accepted: large thermoses, pressure cookers, area rugs, and washer and dryer sets.
Bus Ticket Ministry. What began as a food ministry became a transportation ministry. Wichita's public transit is neither cheap for low-income riders nor efficient at getting people where they need to go, so Grace gives out bus tickets every month and holds a brief worship service with communion alongside the distribution. One recent week the church distributed more than 380 bus passes.
Justice Together. Grace is a member congregation of Justice Together, a network of more than 35 faith organizations that come together to launch city-wide justice initiatives. The Nehemiah Assembly asks city and county leaders to respond to specific, well-researched priorities, including homelessness, affordable housing, and gun violence.
Good Neighbor Ministry. The Good Neighbor Team partners with the county and city to help homeowners with yard clean-up and small repairs, taking on one project a month from late spring through early fall.
Cuban Partnership. Grace is a partner of the El Centro Presbytery in central Cuba and has close ties with the Placetas Presbyterian Church. Members share worship, pastoral letters, and visits, and Pastor Anier in Cuba contributes sermons and poems that are read in Wichita.
Yellow Bag Food Donations. On the first Sunday of each month, members take home a yellow reusable grocery bag. Throughout the month they fill it with non-perishable food, school supplies, or hygiene items for a chosen organization and return it to the church.
Missionary Support. The congregation financially supports the Hurd Family in Kenya and Katie Rhoads in Uganda.
Alongside the outreach teams, Grace maintains a number of internal ministry teams: a Drama Team that produces skits and dramas to support sermons, an Arts Team that creates visual art for both worship spaces, a Worship Planning Team of lay leaders who shape liturgy with the pastor, a Prayer Team that receives and lifts up prayer requests, and a Gardening Team that keeps the grounds in shape without hiring a yard crew.
Adults and Lifelong Learning
Grace offers adults many ways to learn together. Sunday School classes meet on many Sunday mornings, and short-term Bible studies are offered throughout the year. Twice-weekly tutoring is among the ongoing mission opportunities, alongside once-a-year service days and fellowship events that range from game nights to meals in homes to food trucks in the church parking lot.
Some long-standing groups continue from earlier eras of the church, including a few Mariner groups, the legacy of Grace's earlier connection to the Presbyterian Mariner system. Other adults participate in small groups that meet off-site. Fellowship opportunities include Scotch and Scripture, the Thursday Morning Group, a book club, a tennis group, annual church picnics, Super Senior Celebrations, and the No-So-Young-But-Not-Old Group.
At the time of writing, Pastor Kevin Ireland led a six-week congregational study of Paul's Letter to the Ephesians with both an in-person Thursday evening group at 7 p.m. and a Thursday noon Zoom group. A devotional PDF and a small-group study guide are available online.
Giving, Stewardship, and Legacy
Online giving is set up through Vanco, and planned giving is supported by a dedicated committee. Grace maintains three endowment funds. The General Endowment Fund keeps its principal invested in perpetuity, with 5 percent distributed each year, half to the Capital Facilities Fund and half to the Mission & Ministries Fund. The Capital Facilities Fund supports special projects and capital improvements beyond the annual operating budget. The Mission & Ministries Fund supports special programs, extended missions, and extraordinary benevolence. Donors may also create a Designated Endowment Fund for a specific purpose. Past planned gifts have funded mission work, the parking lot, the playground, and the air-conditioning units that make summer worship bearable.
Members can also direct Dillons Community Rewards to Grace, with grocery purchases earning a quarterly contribution that the church distributes back into community mission work.
Weddings, Funerals, and Rooms
Grace hosts weddings for both members and non-members. Members and non-members alike pay for staff services, and non-members pay an additional fee of $1,500 for the use of the space. Couples may use their own pastor as officiant with the approval of the Grace pastor, and all couples must participate in pre-marital counseling, though the counseling does not have to happen at Grace. Same-sex weddings are held at Grace.
The church also opens its rooms to outside groups. A Room Request Form lists the spaces available: the Alcove, the downstairs Child Classroom, additional classrooms, Fellowship Hall, the Great Room, the kitchen, the kitchenette, the Nursery, the Parlor, the Sanctuary, the Teen Center, and other spaces.
Leadership
Rev. Kevin Ireland serves as Pastor and Head of Staff. Kirk Anderson, commissioned as a Commissioned Ruling Elder in 2025, serves as Pastor of Youth and Family Ministries. Bryce Mulkey directs music. Sean Foster directs the Chancel Choir, with Kelsey Wise as organist. Cheryl Hoops serves as chaplain for Jacob's Learning Ladder, where Stephanie Cryderman is director and Bette-Jo Freeman is assistant director. Tricia Mora serves as Director of Operations and Tim Frye as Facilities Manager.
The church belongs to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Members of the staff and the wider congregation are linked through Facebook and Instagram, with regular sermon videos and Sunday bulletins posted on YouTube each week.
Finding Grace
Grace sits at 5002 E. Douglas in Wichita, just east of Oliver, in Crown Heights. Parking is available on the north and east sides of the church and across Bleckley to the west. The church office is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and visitors are welcome to call and find a time to come by. New member classes are offered several times a year for anyone who wants to know more about the congregation and join.