About

Our Story

In 1885 a man named Henry Hamilton Grant started a township he named Grantsdale. In 1887 the villagers decided it was time to establish a church. Money and supplies were donated and they soon had a building. The women solicited members and Grantsdale Community Church began to hold services.

The first minister was Rev. Coughenour and other ministers from many denominations who would travel to Grantsdale by horse and buggy. A family lived close to the church and had a large horse barn and they would entertain the ministers over the weekends.

Funds were solicited up and down the Bitterroot Valley for the first church organ. Services were held every Sunday morning at eleven o' clock and from the start there was good attendance.

In 1925or 1926 the first wedding was held for Lois Veeder and Lawrence Waters. The reception was held at the Veeder home. In the 30's and 40's there were many ministers who would come and speak. For a while Presbyterian ministers would come every other Sunday and Rev. West from Christian Church came the other Sundays.

In the early 1930's in October Rally Day was started . The church held a potluck at noon, the minister would speak in the afternoon, and there was special music. This was to rally the people back together after the summer's work and became an annual affair.

During the depression a little metal church bank was purchased. On the Sunday closest to their birthday each member would put a penny in for each year of their age. The pennies were counted and the congregation would guess whose birthday it was.

Grantsdale Community Church has seen many weddings, funerals, ministers, potlucks, good times and hard times in the last 130 plus years. We currently hold services at 10:30 every Sunday. Have potluck every fifth Sunday of the month and have a time of fellowship. Everyone is welcome and will be greeted with love.

What To Expect

 

Grantsdale Community Church is a small casual church. Some people wear Jeans and others dress "business casual." Our services start at 10:30 and we encourage you to show up 10 minutes or so before services to get to know some members. Services start with some small announcements, an opening prayer, followed by reciting the Lord's Prayer (Don't worry if you don't know it well it's printed on the back of the bulletin), then we sing some songs from our hymnals, followed by a message from our pastor. After services we usually have some treats and coffee for a time of fellowship. We encourage you to join so you can become more acquainted with the members.

If you have school aged children we have a Sunday school room where they have some snacks, play some games, and have age appropriate lessons and conversations about Scripture. Teenagers and mature pre-teens are encouraged to stay in services with the adults.

We welcome all to come hear God's word and feel loved and respected. If you've been hurt by the church, turned off by Christians, then we are the place you can find healing. We are the place you can feel part of the family and be involved in building community with redeeming love.

Our Staff

Pastor Bill Klapwyk came to Grantsdale Community Church in July 2023. He believes in preaching the whole counsel of God and has a heart to reach the unchurched and the lost and broken people in our community. Before being called to ministry Bill spent 17 years building log homes and working construction, and another 10 years in information technology where he specialized in computer network management.

Pastor Bill and wife Tami
Pastor Bill and wife Tami

Our Beliefs

 

BIBLE.

We believe the Bible, consisting of 66 books of the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety, is the only divinely inspired, inerrant, objectively true, and authoritative written Word of God. It is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The divine inspiration of Scripture extends to each word of the original manuscripts, but not to the various copies or translations of Scripture, The Bible should be interpreted literally, grammatically, contextually, and historically. (Deut. 29:29; Matt 5:17; John 10:35;1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 1:21, 3:16)

GOD.

We believe there is only one God, the Creator, who is infinite and personal. He exists eternally in three persons, revealed in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is holy. God is just. God is all powerfu, all knowing and ever present. He is the source of all that is good and the only rightful object of worship. (Gen 1:1; Deut. 6:4; Job 42:1-2; Ps 96:9, 115:3; Prov. 15:3; Isa 6:3, 43:10-11, 44:6, 45:22, 66:1; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1, 4:24, 5:26, 10:30; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 3:26; 1 Cor. 3:16, 8:4; Heb. 4:13; 1 John 3:20, 4:8-10)

JESUS.

We believe Jesus Christ is God the Son who has neither beginning nor end. He fulfilled numerous prophecies of His coming found in the Old Testament.He was conceived in the flesh by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and is fully God and fully man. Jesus lived a sinless life that perfectly revealed God's love and truth. He died as a propitiation for our sins, was buried, and bodily rose from the dead on the third day. He ascended to heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father as our only mediator, high priest, and advocate. (Gen 3:15; Ps. 110:1-4; Isa. 9:1-7, 53:1-12; Mic. 5:2; Matt. 1:20-25; Luke 24:27; John 1:1, 17, 10:30, 14:3-6; Acts 1:11, 4:12; Romans 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:3-5, 20; Col. 1:16-19; Phil. 2:5-11; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Heb. 1:3, 4:14-15; 1 Pet. 2:22-24; Rev. 1:18)

HOLY SPIRIT.

We believe the Holy Spirit is God. He is the third person of the Trinity and ia a person not a force. The Holy Spirit convicts all people of sin. He calls some to repentance where He indwells, regenerates, and baptizes those who believe into the Body of Christ. He sets them apart to a holy life. He guides them, teaches them, keeps them, and empowers them. The Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to each believer according to His will for building up the church. We believe the primary evidence of the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. (John 3:5-8, 16:5-15; Acts 1:8, 5:3-4, 16:7-14; 1 Cor. 2:9-12, 3:16, 12:3-13, 13:8-11; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 1:13-14, 5:18; Heb. 2:3-4)

MAN.

We believe that both man  (Adam) and woman (Eve) were created in the image of God to enjoy a perfect relationship with Him. Their deliberate disobedience (sin) caused them to fall from their sinless state. As descendants all of humanity lives in a fallen state of disobedience (sin). All people still bear the image of God and have an intrinsic value, but all people are broken image bearers, thus cannot have a perfect saving relationship with God on their own. Only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, a free gift that can't be earned, can people have restoration. God distinguishes between the sexes, equally valuing men and women, who both reflect His image. God ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman as part of His design. (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:18-25, 3:1-24; Matt. 19:3-9; John 3:16-18, 36; Romans 2:12-16, 5:12-21, 6:23, 7:14-21; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 5:22-23; Col. 3:9-10; Jas. 3:9; Rev. 20:13-15)

SALVATION.

We believe we are saved solely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This salvation was purchased by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ who, by shedding His blood for sin, extends the offer of salvation as a free gift to every person without distinction. God is sovereign over salvation, but each person is fully accountable for his or her response to the offer of salvation (the gospel). The person who accepts the offer and has complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as savior is eternally secure. Those who trust have te assurance of salvation guranteed by Christ's victorious resurrection. We believe that upon death those who have trusted in Jesus enter eternal glory and those who have not enter eternal torment. (Matt. 25:46; John 1:12, 3:16, 10:27-28; Acts 16:31, 20:20-21; Romans 3:21-28, 8:31-39, 10:19, 12-15, 17; 1 Cor. 15:3-4, 17-22; Eph. 1:7, 2:4-9; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 2:20)

CHURCH.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, which is His body, established to bring glory to God. All who have trusted in Christ as Savior and Lord are members of this body. Christians should commit themselves to worship, prayer, instruction, fellowship, stewardship, and service in a local church congregation. The church is responsible for representing Jesus Christ to the world through godly living and evangelism. All believers are commanded to participate in two church ordinances: believers' baptizm, by immersion if possible, and the Lord's Supper. (Matt. 26;26-29; 28:18-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph 1:22, 23; 2:19-22; 3:6-10; 4:11-13; 5:23-27; 1 Thess. 2:14; Heb 10:25; 1 Pet. 2:9-10; 1 John 4:17)