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Driven By Grace:
A Short History of Springs of Grace Lutheran Church

Six months of pavement pounding, door knocking, and ice cream socials culminated on Sunday, September 12, 1999, when Pastor Craig Abee swung wide the doors at 169B Giles Drive in Boiling Springs, SC to welcome 142 family, friends, and other guests to the first service of Springs of Grace Lutheran Church. Later Pastor Craig admitted he was more concerned about the second service on September 19th, after family and friends had returned home. He was pleasantly surprised when 118 people made the return visit. So began the community of Springs of Grace, and we have not looked back since.

Long before we began our pilgrimage, God was busy laying the groundwork. Several of the initial attendees at Springs of Grace had been members of Nativity Evangelical Lutheran Church in north Spartanburg when it closed its doors in December of 1998. They brought blessings in the form of service, property, and finances. When Nativity voted to close, they pledged the proceeds from the sale of the church to a new mission church which was planned in the Boiling Springs area. A portion of the funds was used to purchase eleven wooded acres on Highway 9 just north of Boiling Springs. The remainder of the proceeds went into our Building Fund.

In 2000, Duke Power Company became interested in the location of our property and eventually approached us with a trade for twelve acres a half-mile north of the original property. As there were several buildings on the property, the trade included several thousand dollars to clear the land. However, a third party (Inman Paving) offered to clear the buildings and fences in exchange for the main house, which was moved to another site. The result was a doubling of the value of our holdings and the addition of several thousand dollars to our Building Fund. Our God is an awesome God!

Other financial support came from Servants of Christ Lutheran Church in Indiana who pledged $120,000 over three years and South Carolina Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) who gave a three year pledge of $50,000. Additional contributions from LMM followed and we also received funds from a multitude of mission partners who all have our deepest appreciation.