About Us

Learn about us.

Find out more about Grace Community Covenant Church.

About us.

Grace Community Covenant Church exists to proclaim the good news that God wants a real relationship with us—and He made it possible through Jesus. We’re a community of disciples saved by grace, learning to live like Jesus did: loving sacrificially, serving boldly, and pointing people to hope.

What We Believe.

We are an Apostolic church.

We confess Jesus Christ and the faith of the apostles as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. We believe the authority of the Bible is supreme in all matters of faith, doctrine, and conduct, and is to be trusted. “Where is it written?” was and is the Covenant’s touchstone of discussion with regard to faith and practice.

We are a Catholic church.

The world catholic literally means universal. This means we understand ourselves to be a part of the community of believers that began with Jesus’ first followers, is alive today, and will continue until Christ comes again.

We are a Reformation church.

We stand in the mainstream of a church renewal movement of the sixteenth century called the Protestant Reformation. Especially important is the belief that we are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, not by anything that we can do.

The Covenant Church is also shaped by Pietism, a renewal movement that originated in seventeenth-century Europe and emphasized the need for a life that is personally connected to Jesus Christ, a reliance on the Holy Spirit, and a call to service in the world.

We are an Evangelical church.

A series of religious awakenings flowered in Europe and America during the nineteenth century and provided rich soil for the early growth of the Covenant Church with our passion for mission. Evangelicals historically have been characterized by a strong insistence on biblical authority, the absolute necessity of new birth, Christ’s mandate to evangelize the world, the continuing need for education and formation in a Christian context, and a responsibility for benevolence and the advancement of social justice.

Appendices.

We affirm the necessity of the new birth.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, TNIV). New birth in Christ means committing ourselves to him and receiving forgiveness, acceptance, and eternal life. It means being alive in Christ, and this life has the qualities of love and righteousness, joy and peace.

New birth is only the beginning. Growing to maturity in Christ is a lifelong process for both individuals and communities of believers. God forms and transforms us—and it is through people transformed by Christ that God transforms the world.

We affirm a commitment to the whole mission of the Church.

The early Covenanters were known as “Mission Friends”—people of shared faith who came together to carry out God’s mission both far and near. Mission for them and for us includes evangelism, Christian formation, and ministries of compassion, mercy, and justice. We follow Christ’s two central calls. The Great Commission sends us out into all the world to make disciples. The Great Commandment calls us to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves.

We affirm the Church as a fellowship of believers.

Membership in the Covenant Church is by confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ and is open to all believers. We observe baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments commanded by Jesus. We practice both infant and believer baptism. We believe in the priesthood of all believers—that is, we all share in the ministry of the church. We also affirm that God calls some men and women into professional, full-time ministry. The church is not an institution, organization, or building. It is a grace- filled fellowship of believers who participate in the life and mission of Jesus Christ. It is a family of equals: as the New Testament teaches that within Christian community there is to be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, but all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)

The Covenant Church affirms

We affirm a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The Trinitarian understanding of one God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The New Testament tells us that the Holy Spirit works both within individuals and among them. We believe it is the Holy Spirit who instills in our hearts a desire to turn to Christ, and who assures us that Christ dwells within us. It is the Holy Spirit who enables our obedience to Christ and conforms us to his image, and it is the Spirit in us that enables us to continue Christ’s mission in the world. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to us as individuals and binds us together as Christ’s body.

We affirm the reality of freedom in Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1, TNIV). This freedom is a gift of God in Christ, and it manifests itself in a right relationship with God and others. It is not a private gift to be used selfishly, but is given to serve the community and the world. For Paul, this freedom means that we are set free from the power of those things that on their own tend to divide. United in Christ, we offer freedom to one another to differ on issues of belief or practice where the biblical and historical record seems to allow for a variety of interpretations of the will and purposes of God. We in the Covenant Church seek to focus on what unites us as followers of Christ, rather than on what divides us.

Who we are.

OUR MISSION

Knowing God, Loving One Another, Serving the World.

OUR VISION

Embracing God’s Mission and Vision for Grace Community Covenant Church.

OUR VALUES

The Centrality of the Word of God.

OUR VALUES

The Necessity of New Birth.

OUR VALUES

A Commitment to the Whole Mission of the Church.

OUR VALUES

The Church as a Fellowship of Believers.

OUR VALUES

A Concious Dependance on the Holy Spirit.

OUR VALUES

The Reality of Freedom in Christ.

Our history.

Grace Community Covenant Church has been part of the Olympia story since 1975. What started as a small group of people longing for real faith and genuine community has grown into a vibrant, welcoming family that still believes the same thing today: knowing Jesus changes everything. For over fifty years, we’ve been the place where people from all walks of life—young families, students, military folks, creatives, and skeptics—find a safe space to explore faith, build real friendships, and make a difference in our city and beyond. Through changing seasons and cultural shifts, we’ve stayed committed to authentic worship, honest conversations about life and Scripture, and showing up for our neighbors with love in practical ways. Now, under the leadership of Pastor Elliot Otteson and his wife Sarah, we’re stepping into the next chapter with fresh energy—still rooted in the timeless truth of the Gospel, but fully present for a new generation that’s hungry for purpose, belonging, and hope. Whether you’re new to faith or have been walking with Jesus for years, you’re invited to be part of what God is doing here.