Church Check: Gospel Grace Church in Salt Lake City, Utah

Basic Church Information

Church Name: Gospel Grace Church

Senior/Lead Pastor: Lukus Counterman

Address: 662 E 1300 S. Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Phone: 801-508-4610

Email: info@gospelgrace.com

Website: https://www.gospelgrace.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gospelgracechurch

Denomination: Baptist

Preaching Style: Expository/Verse by Verse

Membership Requirements: Yes

Tithes/Compelled Giving: Yes

Financial Transparency: Partial

Answered Questionnaire: No

Affiliations: Right Now Media

The Questionnaire

1. What is your church's official position on tithing?

On their Mission & Values Page, they are a few statements regarding “Evident Faith” and “Eternally Minded Stewardship” that suggest that they preach tithing and/or have either required giving standards or strongly pressured ones (emphasis mine):

“As people who have received everything by the grace of God, we commit both personally and corporately to wise and generous stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us. We will not hoard people or resources but will joyfully give to bless the body of Christ. In a world that values what is passing away, we will invest in eternity by valuing people over programs and facilities.”

“At Gospel Grace Church, we want to obey God regardless of the cost and even if we don’t know all the details. We refuse to dig our roots into that which is passing away. We willingly invest our families, our finances and future because we bank everything on the promises of God. We communicate and exercise this faith through our emphasis on corporate and individual prayer.”

Additionally, the church Covenant and its Core values mandates that members must give financially to the church.

https://www.gospelgrace.com/images/churchcovenantsign.pdf

https://www.gospelgrace.com/images/gospelgracedoc.pdf

2. Does your church have a particular set of rules or requirements that members must follow or abide by in order to retain their membership status with the church?

They do. You can go to the Partner in Membership page under the Connect drop-down menu on their website and read those requirements in the documents they provide on that page: https://www.gospelgrace.com/messages/series/membership.

3. Is your church financially transparent or accountable to either the local church, a third party (such as the ECFA), or the universal church/public? 

According to their Church Covenant, it sounds like they are accountable to and transparent with members of the church. The transparency does not extend beyond church membership, however.

https://www.gospelgrace.com/images/gospelgracedoc.pdf (see: Article XI Finances)

4. Which denomination does your church align with, if any at all? 

Baptist, according to their Beliefs Page: https://www.gospelgrace.com/about/beliefs

5. Is the church's pastor available for questions or comments regarding the church's doctrines or policies? 

Since this church stonewalled our attempts to ask questions, we don't know the answer to this question. They are apparently not available or open to ours.

6. Is your church tolerant and accepting of differing non-essential doctrinal views, such as differences in eschatology or ecclesiology?

On their Our Beliefs page, they preface their Statement of Faith by saying (emphasis mine):

"...We pray that this Statement of Faith will summarize essential Christian beliefs for you, display our unity in Christ, and guard our church from error."

This statement suggests that any deviation from what is expressed in their Statement of Faith will not be tolerated or accepted since their view is that what they've expressed is essential to Christianity.

7. Does your church require its members to be baptized? 

Yes, they do. See their Church Covenant:(https://www.gospelgrace.com/images/gospelgracedoc.pdf)

8. Please describe what a typical service and/or meeting looks like at your church.

We can read about this on their website on the About > Gather in Worship Page:

"WE WORSHIP GOD THROUGH CONGREGATIONAL SINGING, THE PUBLIC READING OF SCRIPTURE, CORPORATE PRAYER, CONFESSION OF SIN, AND THE EXPOSITION OF SCRIPTURE WITH CLEAR APPLICATION TO OUR LIVES."

Read more about their services on their website here: https://www.gospelgrace.com/about/gather-in-worship

9. How many people do you have on staff at your church, both paid and volunteer?

They list everyone on their staff on their Leadership page here: https://www.gospelgrace.com/leadership

Which of these staff members are volunteers and which are paid is not given.

10. What is your/the pastor's educational background? 

Lukus Counterman has DMin in expository preaching from Dallas Theological Seminary and a PhD in Systematic Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. (https://www.gospelgrace.com/leadership)

11. How does the church discipline its members with sin? Does the church have a discipline policy or official protocol? 

They do have a sin discipline policy, It's mentioned multiple times throughout their Church Covenant, as well as under Termination of Membership, and Church DIscipline (https://www.gospelgrace.com/images/gospelgracedoc.pdf):

"– Any member consistently neglectful of his or her duties or guilty of conduct by which the name of our Lord Jesus may be dishonored, and so opposing the welfare of the church, shall be subject to the admonition of the elders and the discipline of the church according to the instructions of our Lord in Matthew 18:15-17 and the example of Scripture. Church discipline should ordinarily be contemplated after individual private admonition has failed. It can include admonition by the elders or congregation, suspension from communion for a definite period, deposition from office, and/or excommunication. Upon the exercise of Scriptural excommunication, all membership privileges shall be immediately suspended and all tokens of Christian fellowship shall immediately cease until such time as restoration and reconciliation take place. Instruction and examples concerning this can be seen in Matthew 18:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15; 1 Timothy 5:19-20; 1 Corinthians 5:4-5. The purpose of such discipline should be for the repentance, reconciliation, and spiritual growth of the individual disciplined. It should be for the instruction in righteousness and good of other Christians, as an example to them. It should protect the purity of the church as a whole, and the integrity of its witness to non-Christians. Church discipline is supremely for the glory of God by reflecting His holy character."

12. How is the pastor compensated (income, bonuses, benefits, etc...) and how is that compensation established (Ex: board of elders, church vote, etc..)?

As detailed and thorough as Gospel Grace's Church Covenant is, we don't see anything in it that explains how the pastor is compensated or how his salary is determined.

13. What is the size of your congregation and any space or buildings used for church services or meetings? 

With over 1,600 likes and follows on Facebook, my estimate according to comparisons with other church sizes means they have somewhere between 250-500 members. We don't know how big their building or any other building space is, but here are some pictures of their building.