About Us – Grace Bible Fellowship

~ About Us ~

Pastor Keith and Angie Vik

Pastor Keith Vik

Pastor Keith grew up in Iowa, became a Christian in high school, and grew spiritually during his time in the Marines. In 1984 he graduated from Western Bible College in the Denver area and married his wife Angie. He taught high school Bible at Colorado Springs Christian School for two years.

In 1991 Pastor Keith graduated from Western Theological Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and moved back to Denver for four years. In 1995 he returned to Iowa and pastored two churches.

Keith and Angie have been with Grace Bible Fellowship since 2008. They have 7 children and 6 grandchildren.

Angie's blog http://messycarsandmuddyshoes.blogspot.com

Daniel & Emma Meyer

Daniel and Emma have served with 2 separate music ministry teams, one of which is how they met. They have traveled the US and abroad using music to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They finally landed in Ashland in 2013. Beginning with the Christmas season in 2014, they started serving as the Worship and Tech Coordinators for Grace Bible Fellowship and continue to serve this community with a passion for leading others into Worship through music.

Daniel and Emma have been married for 21 years and have 2 children.

Karen Thomas

Karen began serving as Grace Bible Fellowship's Ministries Coordinator in 2021. She has a passion for the people who love to work for The Kingdom, and strives to help everyone find the place that God has called them to serve.

Karen has been married to her husband, John, for 23 years and they have 3 children.

Council and Elders

Grace Bible Fellowship has a congregational based system of government. It also has a Church Council made up of 4 members who serve 2 year terms.

GBF also calls on Elders of the Church, men who have shown faithfulness in their spiritual and personal life, to be a support to the Pastor and to be available to the congregation for encouragement, prayer, and service. GBF currently has 2 elders, along with Pastor Keith, who meet regularly to pray over the the congregation and seeks God's wisdom for the church.

Statement of Faith

Distinctives of The Evangelical Free Church of America

The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of autonomous churches united around these convictions:

"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, charity. In all things, Jesus Christ."

~ Chrysostom ~

God

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Bible

Human Condition

Jesus Christ

Work of Christ

Holy Spirit

The Church

We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head. Only members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living

We believe God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ's Return

Response and Eternal Destiny

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

The Evangelical Free Church of America is inclusive not exclusive

One great heritage of the Evangelical Free Church is that fellowship and ministry opportunities in the local church are based solely on one's personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, trusting in Him alone for salvation. Membership requires commitment to sound doctrine as expressed in our Statement of Faith. However, a person is not excluded from membership because they do not agree on every fine point of doctrine. The EFCA allows for legitimate differences of understanding in some areas of doctrine.

The Evangelical Free Church is evangelical but not separatistic

The Evangelical Free Church is ecumenical in spirit though not in structure

We believe in the spiritual unity of the church, though not necessarily in structural union. We join with other Christians and denominations of like precious faith in common goals and ministries to accomplish the Great Commandment and the Commission. But we believe there is strength in diversity and that it is important to preserve our Distinctives. We recognize that union in structure does not guarantee unity of spirit. Our first concern is unity of spirit with our Lord, each other, and other Christians.

The Evangelical Free Church believes in liberty with responsibility and accountability

We believe in Christian liberty, but freedom always has limitations. Responsible Christians do not abuse freedom. The Apostle Paul wrote forcefully about Christian liberty in Galatians. He shattered the legalists with the doctrine of grace. But in I and II Corinthians and Romans, the apostle also rebuked believers when liberty was abused. He declared boldly the principles of Christian liberty but spoke with equal forcefulness about Christian accountability. The Evangelical Free Church desires to preserve our freedom in Christ and encourage our people to be responsible, godly men, women and young people who desire to live under the control of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to the principles and precepts of God's Word and in harmony with God's will for life as revealed in the Scriptures.

The Evangelical Free Church of America believes in both the rational and relational dimensions of Christianity

We believe the Scriptures must be applied to our individual lives with warmth of heart, warmth of message and warmth of concern. We believe it is essential to have solid biblical content in our doctrinal understanding of faith, but it is equally important to have a dynamic, vital relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son and to live by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sound Christian doctrine must be coupled with dynamic Christian experience. Ours is a ministry of love and reconciliation.

The Evangelical Free Church of America affirms the right of each local church to govern its own affairs.

The Evangelical Free Church is committed to a congregational form of government as stated in Article 10 of our Confession of Faith: "We believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Head of the Church and that every local church has the right, under Christ, to decide and govern its own affairs."

Strong pastoral leadership coupled with discerning and well-equipped Christian lay people can produce spiritual growth as well as significant church growth. The New Testament emphasizes the importance of the Body of Christ ministering through the spiritual gifts that have been given to each believer. "Congregational in government" means that each local church governs its own affairs. Within the local church, the highest human authority rests in the congregation.

Church Constitution

By-Laws

History

Grace Bible Fellowship began in the early 1990’s when three Ashland families felt God’s leading to start a new church. They held Home Bible studies and the group began to grow in numbers.

They started meeting at the Barksdale Town Hall with Kevin Haworth of Superior, WI as their first pastor. Kevin and Shirley Haworth were missionary candidates with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and appreciated the pastoral experience before going overseas in 1995. The group adopted the name "Grace Bible Fellowship" and purchased a parsonage in Ashland at 313 12th Ave. W.

Pastor Lorenson

Grace called Pastor Sheldon Lorenson in the fall of 1995. He had served churches in Minnesota, Trinidad-West Indies, and Johannesburg, South Africa. On May 19, 1996 the church voted to join the Evangelical Free Church of America. In October, 1996 the group began meeting in the Ashland CESA #12 building.

In 1998, the congregation established a building fund, sold their parsonage, and purchased 14 acres of land two miles south of Washburn on Highway 13. On Easter Sunday morning, April 4, 1999 Grace Bible Fellowship held its first meeting in their new church building. Church members did much of the building work.

In December 2007, Pastor Lorenson left to plant a church in Osceola, Iowa and Dr. Ron Bergman served as interim from January to September 2008.

Currently

On October 1, 2008 Pastor Keith Vik moved from Northwest Iowa to begin his work at the church.

Grace Bible Fellowship consists of people from Ashland, Washburn ,Bayfield, Cornucopia, Herbster, Iron River, and Mason. The church currently supports missionary work in Southern Africa, China, Spain, Alaska, Bosnia, and Honduras.

Grace Bible Fellowship desires to be recognized for sound Bible teaching, commitment to the complete authority of Scripture, evangelistic concern, warm fellowship, emphasis on holy living, and acceptance of Christian people from many walks of life.