Greater Grace World Outreach

Beliefs and practices

The beliefs of Greater Grace are outlined in its doctrinal statement and detailed in booklets written by Carl H. Stevens. Worship is non-liturgical but generally includes prayer, singing, offerings, and sermons. Songs are usually contemporary, but services may also include classical hymns. Evangelism, raps (devotionals, or informal Q&A meetings, usually following sermons), and informal Bible study are also considered important acts of worship.

The organization has a 10-point Doctrinal Statement available on its website. The organization limits the pastorate and/or homiletic role to men due to a literal interpretation of I Tim. 2:12, but allows women to lead in just about any other capacity. The church leadership is strongly heterosexual and pro life.

Origins

In the early 1960s, Carl H. Stevens Jr., a bakery truck driver, was praying at Wortheley Pond near Peru, Maine, and developed a vision for a worldwide Christian ministry. Stevens was later ordained by a council of independent ministers at the Montsweag Baptist Church on March 7, 1963. From there Stevens went on to build the Woolwich-Wiscasset Baptist Church, and establish the Northeast School of the Bible in 1972. He also began to experiment with radio evangelism, with a program called "Telephone Time."

In 1973, following an arson attack on their church building and a controversial church split, Stevens and his closest followers moved the center of their operations to a former Catholic school facility in South Berwick, Maine. There "The Bible Speaks" became the name of the church, and "the Northeast School of the Bible" was renamed as "Stevens School of the Bible". Expanded radio and television outreaches continued to draw in new followers and—both through church planting operations by the organization's Bible school students and graduates, and existing churches affiliating themselves with Stevens' organization—a network of "branch ministries" began to develop.

In 1976, the school grew beyond its capacity. As a result, Carl Stevens moved the "home base" of his organization to a former private boarding school facility which they were able to purchase in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Former organization

The cornerstone of Stevens' career in Christian broadcasting was the call-in radio show he hosted, originally known as "Telephone Time", now called "Grace Hour". In 2006, this program won an Angel award for Excellence in Media.

In both South Berwick and Lenox, the Bible Speaks developed a considerable local presence, not only through drawing large numbers of young adults into these small communities as Bible school students, but also through operating extensive Sunday School operations, with a private fleet of retired school buses for bringing in children from the surrounding area.

They also established a network of private K-12 schools, beginning with Southern Maine Christian Schools in South Berwick (later moved to Scarborough, Maine), and then Stevens Christian Schools in Lenox. Church planting missionary teams were also sent out first to El Salvador and then to Finland and other European countries. In the 1980s this expanded to include church planting operations in South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Thomas Schaller, the current leader of GGWO, began his pastoral career as the head of their original missionary team to Finland.

In the 1983, the Bible Speaks purchased a Norwegian ferry boat which they renovated to use as a missionary relief vessel in the Caribbean. This boat was named La Gracia, with Baltimore, Maryland as its official home port.

Present organization

In Baltimore, Greater Grace World Outreach quickly grew and established ministries including the Grace Hour, Greater Grace Christian Academy, Maryland Bible College and Seminary, the Christian Athletics Program, as well as international outreach ministries.

In 2003, Carl Stevens became too ill to continue his leadership of GGWO. In 2005, the elders elected Rodger Stenger to become the new chief elder of the church. However, Rodger Stenger chose not to accept the position. In his place the elders elected Thomas Schaller as senior pastor, after a congregational vote. Still, many of the elders and senior pastors were dissatisfied with the choice, citing Schaller's views on the role of the senior pastor. In 2004, many church leaders, associated ministry leaders, and affiliate churches elected to disaffiliate. A group of pastors who disaffiliated formed a new organization known as The International Association of Grace Ministries.

Organization

GGWO is an affiliation of pastors ordained by the GGWO of Baltimore who agree to abide by the standards of the church. In return, the affiliation allows pastors to have fellowship and communication with other pastors and churches. Technically, it is an affiliation of pastors and not individual congregations as the GGWO recognizes local congregations as fully autonomous and independent. However, if a congregation’s pastor is a member of the GGWO then that congregation is considered within the GGWO as well. The GGWO cannot interfere within an individual church’s affairs unless assistance is requested.

Critics

On several occasions, Greater Grace World Outreach has been accused of cult-like behavior. Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health practitioner, and founder of Freedom of Mind centre, claims that the organization operates as a personality cult alleging that Pastor Carl Stevens twisted passages from the Bible to further his own ends, that of controlling the lives of the members of his congregation.

A letter was written by the Christian Research Institute, which offers a list of suggestions for the church, attempting to correct any of the false teachings that might exist. The main teaching which was considered a concern was that of delegated authority. However, in this document, Miller concedes that "TBS has, up to the time of this writing, also maintained an orthodox, biblical position on those doctrines most essential to the Christian faith. Thus, we do not consider TBS a non-Christian cult, but rather a Christian ministry."