PHILIPSBURG, Pa., (BRN) – Grace & Peace Bible Church officially opened its doors to the Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, community in November 2020, mere months after Pastor Daniel Arter and his wife, Natalie, moved to the central Pennsylvania region.
Prior to planting Grace & Peace, Arter was serving as an assistant pastor and the occasional interim pastor in the North Carolina and South Carolina regions. While completing his college and seminary degrees in the south, Arter and his wife both felt a call back to the north, specifically central Pennsylvania, where Arter first got his start in ministry as a youth pastor.
“We moved to Pennsylvania in March of 2020 with a lot of faith, but no real concrete plan,” explained Arter.
“The longer we spent in rural central Pennsylvania, the more we realized the desperate need for more Bible-believing, gospel-preaching churches in the area…so we planted Grace & Peace seeking to simply proclaim the whole counsel of God in a way that met people where they’re at [and] to exhort them to grow in their faith.”
This passion to see people mature in their faith extends to Grace & Peace’s core values and their vison for discipleship in the Philipsburg community.
“Our whole mission as a church is to make mature believers of Jesus in central Pennsylvania – emphasis on mature. We also have an emphasis on apologetics related training, and we plan to develop a biblical counseling ministry with certified biblical counselors for the purpose of providing free counseling to anyone who wants it, particularly for those in the community,” said Arter.
Two years after their launch, and just a few short months ago – in November 2022 – Grace & Peace Bible Church took another step in their ministry by affiliating with the Baptist Resource Network (BRN).
“We joined the BRN because we made the realization that church planting, and really just being a church, is rather difficult without a network of like-minded churches praying for you and supporting you in different ways,” expressed Arter.
“When we were looking for a network to be a part of, the BRN was one of the first to reach out and offer prayer, support and fellowship; and after exploring the mission, vision and beliefs of the BRN, we realized that working with the BRN can amplify our ability to make mature believers of Jesus Christ.”
Arter also added that he and the congregation at Grace & Peace are looking forward to the fellowship and resources the BRN offers as well as contributing to the BRN in whatever ways that they can.
BRN churches and ministry leaders can be in prayer for Pastor Arter and the Grace & Peace Bible Church family by asking God to provide a building and necessary financial provisions for them.
“We lease a storefront in our community that we use for pretty much everything. On occasion, we’ve found that we simply do not have enough space,” shared Arter.
“We met an individual that owns a church building and she has offered to sell the building to us for $70,000, which we think is quite fair. We just don’t have the financial means of paying for the building, and none of the banks that we spoke to were interested in loaning us the money. So, please be in prayer that God provides the means to purchase this building or that He provides a better option.”
BRN family, please join us in welcoming and praying for our new brothers and sisters at Grace & Peace Bible Church! If you or your church feels led to give to Grace & Peace’s building fund, giving options can be found here.
Ways to Pray for Pastor Arter and Grace & Peace Bible Church:
- Pray for financial provision to purchase a church building
- Pray for willing disciples and a desire to mature in faith in Jesus Christ for the community
- Pray for wisdom for Pastor Arter and the leaders at Grace & Peace
- Pray for Pastor Arter and his wife as they work to spread the gospel in the central Pennsylvania area
