What GFC Has Meant to Me
I accepted a job at ETSU in February of 2019 and my wife, Anne, joined me in Johnson City four months later in June. We continuously looked for a church to get plugged into everywhere that we have lived (we have lived in four states in five years of marriage). We felt that Johnson City wasn’t going to be any different. We also felt that God brought us here for a reason and it was time to settle down. So, we bought a house that summer and instantly starting looking for churches.
In the fall of 2019, we heard about a Young Adults gathering at Grace Fellowship, a church that we had tried for several weeks and enjoyed. To be honest, I was highly against going to Young Adults that night. There was a lot going on at work and the stress of working college athletics didn’t have me in the best of moods. Needless to say, Anne picked me up from work and off we went. We took notes on things that were happening at GFC. We also noticed that the Young Adults were actually our age, so that got us excited to make friends from a church we enjoyed.
We (mostly Anne) decided to sign us up for one of these “community groups.” We were put into a group led by Isaac & Summer Culbert, as well as Blake & Millie Tyree, both also young adult couples. We began attending this community group on Tuesday evenings and for the first time, I truly felt connected to a church since I left my home church in 2010. This group instantly felt like a family. I now look forward every week to seeing our community group and hanging out with close friends that are in the same stage of life as we are.
Through this community group, I have experienced paths in my life I never thought I would venture down. Blake Tyree asked me to be a 7th grade boys youth leader and I accepted it. Never in a million years did I think that I would be working with a youth group, but God has a plan and a sense of humor.
We have also met great people outside our own community group through the Young Adults ministry. In fact, Jacob Bouvier, the Grace Young Adults Pastor, is in my AMC Stubs Entourage (a movie theater subscription program) and has become a good friend to have in life. I even got plugged into a men’s Bible study that met on Zoom on Wednesday mornings, led by Jacob.
Young Adults has meant the world to my wife and I. We have made lifelong friends and for the first time in our five years of marriage, we feel like we are home. This is a place that God has called us to settle down and get connected. Young Adults and GFC has allowed us to do just that.
David & Anne Fox
Click here to learn more about the Grace Young Adults Ministry.
