An Open-Hearted Church in the Heart of North Augusta
Grace United Methodist Church sits at 639 Georgia Avenue, a stone's throw from the corner of Georgia Avenue and East Avenue in North Augusta, South Carolina. With its blue tent signs pointing the way from the parking lot and a long roster of programs running every day of the week, Grace is the sort of place where members often arrive early for coffee and stay late catching up. The congregation's tagline says it plainly - open hearts, open doors, open minds - and the building footprint matches that welcome: a Sanctuary rebuilt after a 1983 fire, the multipurpose Wesley Center completed in 2006, the Asbury Building that houses the church offices and the Grace Child Development Center, the Family Life Center gymnasium known as Curly's Court, a Scout Hut, and a Columbarium on the campus.
Grace's mission is concise: to know Christ and to make His love known. Everything from the preschool to the Bolivia mission team, from the LifeSong band on Sunday mornings to the GriefShare group on Wednesday nights, points back to that same calling.
Three Sunday Services, Three Different Atmospheres
Grace offers three Sunday morning worship services, each with its own character and meeting space.
The 8:30 a.m. Traditional Service gathers in the Sanctuary. It is described as a short, simple, yet meaningful traditional service with scripture, sermon, and hymns, and the early hour suits people who prefer a smaller gathering. Blue-jeans worshipers tend not to choose this service.
At 8:45 a.m., the LifeSong Contemporary Service meets in the Wesley Center Auditorium. Coffee and a light breakfast are part of the morning, and a band leads the music. Drums and guitars replace organ and choir here. Scripture, sermon, children's message, and communion every Sunday make up the order of worship, and LifeSong draws worshipers who like a lively, casual atmosphere.
The 11:00 a.m. Traditional Service returns to the Sanctuary and is the more formal option. The service includes a procession, a choir, organ and piano, scripture, sermon, children's time, and hymns. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of the month at the 8:30 and 11:00 services, and at every LifeSong service.
Worship bulletins are posted online by Friday each week, and recordings of recent services live on YouTube. Both the LifeSong and Traditional services are also livestreamed so that members who are traveling or unwell can keep up.
WINGS: Wednesday Inspiration Nights at Grace
If Sunday is Grace's front porch, Wednesday is its living room. Wednesday Inspiration Nights at Grace - WINGS - have become a defining rhythm of the church. Doors open in the Wesley Center at 5:15 p.m., dinner is served at 5:30 p.m., and classes for all ages begin at 6:15 p.m. Dinner registration and payment happen through the Realm Connect app or web portal.
The fall and winter WINGS semesters feature rotating main courses such as beef tips with mashed potatoes, green beans, squash casserole, rolls, and dessert, with seasonal favorites in other weeks. After dinner, adults choose a study. Recent offerings have included Parables from the Backside with Pastor Jessica, the GriefShare support group led by Pam Emory-Siedling and Kevin Hendrick, and an Identity youth study exploring God's adopted children through the Lord's Prayer, led by Ms. Amber.
WINGS is also where Path to Grace, the church's new member class, is held in four sessions twice a year. The first and third sessions fall on Wednesday evenings at WINGS, while the second and fourth meet during Sunday School at 10:00 a.m. Path to Grace is free and open to anyone curious about membership, baptism, or simply what it means to be a United Methodist. New Member Sundays are scheduled about two weeks after each Path to Grace cycle ends.
GraceKids: A Faith-Filled Childhood on Campus
Children's ministry at Grace is layered, with programming from infancy through fifth grade and beyond.
The nursery welcomes babies through 3K on Sundays from 8:15 a.m. to noon, located in Room 105 on the lower level of the Asbury Building. During WINGS on Wednesday nights, nursery care is available from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for infants through 2K/3K. All nursery staff and GraceKids adult volunteers are background-checked, Safe Sanctuary trained, and the children's staff holds First Aid and CPR certification.
Sunday School for preschool (potty-trained 3K through 5K) and elementary (grades 1 through 5) meets from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. The fall rotation uses the Spark Lectionary curriculum, with four-part lessons that gather, open the Bible, activate faith, and send children out with prayer. Preschool classrooms are in the lower level of the Asbury Building, and elementary classrooms are upstairs in Rooms 207 through 211.
B.L.A.S.T. - Bible Learning And Spiritual Training - runs during both the 8:45 LifeSong and 11:00 Traditional services. Children are dismissed from worship after the children's message and walk together with their teachers to the B.L.A.S.T. classrooms, where they explore the day's Bible story through games and crafts using Spark curriculum.
Wednesday Night Kids takes over the Family Life Center gym from 6:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Children gather first for devotion time in the gym and then move into interactive games. Nursery, preschool, and elementary tracks each have dedicated rooms.
Grace Kids Club is the church's after-school program for community families, running from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a 1:5 teacher-to-child ratio. Church bus transportation is available from North Augusta Elementary and Hammond Hill Elementary. The program follows the Aiken County Public Schools calendar and includes daily gym time, homework help, Bible devotions, prayer, chapel music, arts and crafts, and playground time.
Vacation Bible School is a much-anticipated summer event. The next VBS, themed "On the Boardwalk," is scheduled for July 5 through 9, 2027, from 8:45 a.m. to noon, with online registration opening in June. Spots are limited, and parents can add their child to a waitlist once classrooms are full.
Other recurring children's and family events include Friday Nights with Grace (Parents' Night Out), family bowling nights, Scriptures and Strollers walks on the Greeneway, Come & Follow Me (a mommy-and-me class), Trunk-or-Treat, a chili cook-off, and a Friendsgiving potluck.
Grace Student Ministry: Middle and High School
Grace Student Ministry (GSM) serves students in grades 6 through 12 with a steady weekly rhythm and a busy events calendar.
Sunday School meets from 9:50 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. in the Youth Wing, and the Sunday Night Gathering runs from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the same space. Identity, a Wednesday small group that walks students through the Lord's Prayer to explore what it means to be a child of God, meets from 6:10 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Highlights of the year include the Called Fall Retreat at Ridge Haven in the mountains of North Carolina - two nights of worship, food, outdoor adventure, and listening for what God might be saying - plus monthly bowling outings, a Trunk-or-Treat at the Jack-o-Lantern Jubilee, and a summer Salkehatchie service camp hosted by the church.
Parents can text YOUTH to 833-235-9706 to join the church's two-way text updates, and a GSM newsletter is sent out regularly. Forms for new students, returning students, and a required liability release are available online.
Sunday Morning Classes for Every Stage of Life
Grace runs six Sunday morning adult classes that meet during the 9:45 a.m. Sunday School hour, each with its own personality.
The Journey Class skews toward thirty- and forty-somethings, including people with and without children, with members sharing teaching responsibilities and supporting missions like Salkehatchie, the Angel Tree project, and the F3 organization. They gather upstairs in the Asbury Building.
The Cokesbury Class is a growing community of active empty-nesters with a small-group quality, meeting on the lower level of the Wesley Center. Members gather for coffee, share in hymn singing led by piano, and study the Adult Bible Series on a rotating teaching schedule.
The Family Foundations Class brings together married, single, divorced, and widowed members in their forties through sixties for lessons drawn from teachers such as Max Lucado, Andy Stanley, and David Jeremiah, with socials sprinkled through the year.
The Seekers Class serves mostly sixty- and seventy-somethings with diverse lessons and lively discussion, supporting Ronald McDonald House, Bolivia missions, and homebound members.
The Stillwell Class, in existence since 1949, is built on the John Wesley motto of being "a family held together by the bonds of Christ." Members support Community Ministries of North Augusta, Epworth Children's Home, and Wesley Commons Retirement Facility, among other missions.
The Women of Faith class, established in 2015, welcomes women and visitors of any age or marital status, with rotating teachers including John Newell and Joanne Watson.
Beyond Sunday morning, Grace runs a robust small-group calendar. Wisdom of the Ages meets Mondays at 11:00 a.m. and discusses the upcoming Sunday sermon scripture with one of the pastors. Ladies' Bible Study meets Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m., led by Mary Chris Newell. The Shuffle & Deal card group plays Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. The Wednesday Morning Breakfast Crew meets at Sunrise Grill in North Augusta at 8:30 a.m., and a Men's Group (with Rev. Dr. Joe Lusk at 9:45 a.m.) and a Women's Group (with Laura Lusk at 10:00 a.m.) walk through the weekly Upper Room devotional. Bridge Groups meet Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Caring and Sharing, a safe place for sharing hurts, meets Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. and is led by John Mullins. The Ladies' Book Club gathers on the first Thursday of each month at 1:30 p.m. and is led by Judy Simpson.
The United Methodist Men host a chicken or steak dinner on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. with a guest speaker and projects that serve the church and the wider North Augusta community. The Women of Grace organize circles for fellowship, prayer, and a mission project, plus an annual Pillow Ministry event each August that makes port pillows for those in cancer treatment.
The Bible Year: Reading Through Scripture Together
One of Grace's signature church-wide efforts is The Bible Year, an ongoing campaign that walks the entire congregation through every book of the Bible in 365 daily readings. The current stretch focuses on the Major and Minor Prophets, from Ezekiel and Daniel through the Twelve, ending with the Gospel of Matthew.
Resources include a Sunday morning discussion group led by Rev. Cindy Fuller, Rev. Sandy Heslop, Rev. Terry Roof, and Josh Kauffman (meeting in a lower Wesley Center classroom from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.), a private Facebook community, and video overviews from Bible Project. The Amplify media app is the recommended companion, and YouVersion supports daily reading on the go.
Sports, Health, and Curly's Court
The Family Life Center is home to Curly's Court, Grace's gymnasium, and a lineup of ways to move. Pickleball runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., open to the public and free, with equipment available on request. Jazzercise holds group dance cardio and strength classes at the gym every day except Sunday. Youth basketball, volleyball, and cornhole round out the regular offerings. The gym is also available for rental for private events.
Local and Global Missions
Grace takes seriously the command to care for the least of these. The church has been a Partner Church with the Community Ministry of North Augusta (CMONA) from the beginning, and members regularly drop off food at the CMONA building, stock a Blessing Box located on East Avenue by the Scout Hut, and serve on CMONA's thrift-store team.
Other local missions include Project WARM, where the United Methodist Men make home repairs each winter; the Ramp Ministry, which builds accessibility ramps for neighbors in need; Salkehatchie, a summer youth service camp hosted at Grace; Local Disaster Response in the CSRA after bad storms; Yard Angels, a yard-work ministry for those who need help; the annual Pillow Ministry; and campus workdays where United Methodist Men care for the Georgia Avenue grounds.
Globally, Grace has a long tradition of #Grace4Bolivia medical and construction mission trips. The 2025 team, co-led by Ryan Hendrick and Janis Collins, served in Sapheco, and a 2027 team is forming.
Each year the congregation also packs shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, with collection deadlines in early November and a Blessing of the Shoeboxes across all three Sunday services before they leave.
The Buildings: Sanctuary, Wesley Center, Asbury, and the Columbarium
The Sanctuary was rebuilt after a fire in 1983 and remains the church's principal worship space, with the choir room and narthex upstairs and the Youth Wing and youth classrooms downstairs.
The Wesley Center, completed in 2006, is the multipurpose hub for contemporary worship, fellowship meals, Bible studies, and small groups. Its upper floor holds the auditorium, kitchen, parlor, and history room; the lower level houses adult Sunday School classrooms and the Prayer Room.
The Asbury Building is the most active building week-to-week. The upper floor contains the church office, pastors' offices, programming staff offices, a conference room and library, a children's library, the Journey Sunday School classroom, and the children's wing. The lower level is home to the Grace Child Development Center and the nursery.
The Columbarium on the campus is available for Grace's clergy (past and present), church members, and their immediate family members, offering cremation and inurnment as a stewardship-friendly alternative to burial.
Beliefs
As a United Methodist congregation, Grace gathers around the historic Christian creeds, with the Apostles' Creed recited in Sunday worship. The church describes itself as a community of diverse believers who, despite differences in interpretation, style of worship, or practice of faith, proclaim a common creed that binds them together.
The congregation affirms one God in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and confesses that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; that he descended to the dead, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. Members affirm the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic (universal) church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Becoming a Member: Path to Grace
Anyone interested in joining Grace is encouraged to take Path to Grace first. The four-session class covers what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, what it means to be a United Methodist, and what it means to be a member of Grace UMC. Classes are free, and the church encourages participants to set up a follow-up meeting with Senior Pastor Rev. Terry Fleming or Associate Pastor Rev. Jessica Kight to talk through any questions about membership or faith.
Giving and Stewardship
Grace offers six ways to give - online through Realm, by texting GOT GRACE and the amount to 73256, through the Realm Connect app, by auto-draft, by mail to the church office, or in person at worship services or during weekday office hours. The 2025-2026 stewardship theme, Fill Our Hearts, Open Our Hands, ties giving to the church's dual mission of growing deeper in faith within the community and extending Christ's love beyond the walls through mission and service. Designated giving options include the Trustees Repairs 2026 campaign, memorials and honorariums, and missions such as the Bolivia Fund and CMONA.
Office, Location, and Staying in Touch
The Grace UMC church office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The mailing address is 639 Georgia Avenue, North Augusta, SC 29841. The main line is 803-279-7525, and the general inbox is info@gotgraceumc.org. Sunday office hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon; the office is closed on Saturdays.
Realm Connect serves as the church's online community platform, providing the membership directory, event registration, online giving, and volunteer sign-ups. The Connect - Our Church Community app is available for iOS and Android. A weekly e-newsletter and a monthly Tidings of Grace newsletter keep members and friends informed of upcoming events, mission needs, worship details, and stewardship updates.