After 18-month search, the Rev. Tyson Lemke joins Grace Bible Church in Ann Arbor
Tyson Lemke, the new senior pastor at Grace Bible Church.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Halfway into his freshman year of college, Tyson Lemke found himself at a crossroads: Pursue the pre-medical degree he had started or follow his passion of ministering to others.
Years later, Lemke was at another crossroads: Leave his work at Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield and, at 34 years old, accept his first job as a senior pastor, or stay at the church where he had gotten his start.
Both decisions lead the Rev. Lemke to the door of Grace Bible Church, an evangelical Christian church on South Maple Road in Ann Arbor. He accepted the job in early July — ending an 18-month search for the church — which gave him the opportunity to lead his own flock. He is the church’s sixth senior pastor in its 73-year history and replaced the Rev. Jack Glupker, who served the church beginning in 1998.
Lemke delivered his first sermon as senior pastor Sept. 12.
Young and casual, Lemke looks more like Kiefer Sutherland than the pastor of a church that numbers between 200-300 on any given Sunday.
“I get that a lot, especially with the TV show 24,” he said.
Grace Bible Church
Church profile:
- Address: 1300 S. Maple, Ann Arbor
- Senior Pastor: Tyson Lemke
- Worship Pastor: Brian Rose
- Student Ministry Pastor: Adam Morse
- Founded: 1937
- Moved to current site: 1971
- Membership: On average, 200-300 adults and youth attend Sunday services
- Sunday services: 10 a.m.
Lemke, the father of three young sons, has a laid-back style. But he’s all business about moving Grace Bible forward.
He wants to see the church reach out into the community and hold on not only to its family membership base but attract university graduate students and young families. Church membership dropped when Pfizer Inc. left Ann Arbor three years and Lemke said he wants to help the church grow.
“I don’t want a country club type of atmosphere where you all hang out together and all you do is talk together,” Lemke said. “I want the church to reach into the neighborhoods, I want us to engage in our community. I want us to put ourselves out there: talk and serve our neighbors, invite people into the church, be involved in social issues and grave injustices and stand up for people.”
Lemke started college as a pre-medical major. “I loved the idea of being a doctor, but I didn’t like any of the classes,” he said.
Growing up, one of Lemke's heroes was his youth pastor at an evangelical Presbyterian church. But it wasn’t until he helped chaperone a church retreat for junior high school students that Lemke knew he wanted to enter the ministry. “I saw kids hear the word of God and have light bulb moments, understanding what God and Jesus are about. I wanted to be part of that,” he said.
After graduation from college, Lemke entered the seminary, cramming his classes into two days a week so he could work as a youth pastor two days a week and as a carpenter two days a week (yes, he’s been reminded that Jesus was also was a carpenter, he said). When Lemke graduated from the seminary, he worked as a Bible teacher and chaplain at Southfield Christian School and was later hired as the youth pastor for Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield, which is affiliated with the school.
It’s here that he learned to talk fast, he said. “You have to talk fast (to young people) so they don’t catch up with you. You need to stay ahead of them, use humor and keep them engaged,” Lemke said. He said he knows he needs to slow down now that he will be preaching to a general congregation.
As part of the search process, Lemke delivered two sermons to the Grace Bible congregation in the spring and early summer. The first sermon touched on Bible verses about how Jesus called on his disciples to be fishers of men, Lemke said. He wanted the congregation to understand that he was looking for a church that would reach out to others.
“As a follower of Jesus, you are supposed to fish. You are supposed to put yourself out there,” Lemke said.
His second sermon spoke of a young Joshua and how he took over leadership responsibilities from Moses. “It took courage, but Joshua was still nervous,” Lemke said. “I was a little nervous too.”
Grace Bible Church started as a Bible study group in a house on Spring Street in 1937. It moved to the Masonic Temple of Fourth Avenue, where a Model A Ford picked up parishioners and drove them to church. Nearly a decade later, Grace Bible purchased the architecturally significant stone church at the corner of State and Huron, now occupied by Hobbs + Black Architects. Grace Bible built a church of its own on Maple Road in 1971.
Janet Miller is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com.
Comments
Nate
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 1:08 p.m.
Roaring Chicken: Great point about so many coming from non-traditional or broken families and the need for churches to minister to these people as well. We do have a number of people at Grace Bible Church from broken homes and non-traditional situations, and they attend the classes that you listed from the website. The classes at GBC are intended to represent general age categories, not appeal to an exclusive demographic. The "family" language is because most people still exist in some sort of family context. Families, broken or not, continue to be the primary relational connection for all of us. That is why at GBC we focus so much of our energy ministering to families. Just realize it includes those who come from more difficult "family" situations.
YpsiGreen
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 11:40 a.m.
Grace Ann Arbor = seems to be a "country club i.e. "finally... a place for young professionals" It may be "open to everyone" but it sure sounds implicitly exclusive. Not so sure that's how Heaven's gonna be though. Knock and the door will be opened (IF you fit our profile). #fail
Roaring_Chicken
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 10:24 a.m.
From the Grace Bible Church Website, its description of worship on Sundays: 9:00am to 9:50am "Before" Worship Adult Bible Fellowships (ABFs) -Pathfinders (Families with Adult children) -Seniors 9:30am to 9:50am "Before" Worship Connection * 10:00am to 11:10am Worship Service 11:10am to 12:00pm "After" Worship Connection * 11:10am to 12:00pm "After" Worship Adult Bible Fellowships (ABFs) College Class Veritas (Young Professionals/Young Families) Horizons (Families with kids in Elementary School/Middle School) Discoverers (Families with kids in High School and College) "Young Professionals/Young Families" and "Families with kids..." How about the front page, "About Us"? "Family-oriented ministry to all ages..." and at the bottom of the page, "Governing principles": "Solid evangelical theological position with commitment to the Bible as our final authority... Desire to be family-oriented in our overall ministry..." Family, family, family. Happily, to attend *my* church, you aren't required to have a family, or kids, etc. You're welcome as an individual with or without "family." And frankly, all the concentration on "family" reinforces the anguish people in dysfunctional families experience at the hands of churches and their macabre preoccupation with children and FAMILY....
af3201sps
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:55 a.m.
Sung, Thank you for responding. With all due respect, most people will never read the article you reference but many will see you signs and receive your mailings which I believe are discriminatory. By appearance, your signs discriminate and exclude a whole lot of people which is a huge turn off. The person who is hesitant to walk into a church in the first place that does not fit your "young professional" class of people would never want to consider your church based on your sign. You have every right to "target" whoever you want. But, why not have your signs read "All are welcome!"? It would seem that Christ would welcome all and not just "young professionals". Quite frankly, I would not fit in at your church as I am not a "young professional". I think you need to rethink your strategy. Not trying to be too critical but you sound more like you are running a business versus a Christian ministry.
Sung Kim
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:36 a.m.
I fully agree! Ann Arbor NEEDS a church that will reach out to "blue collar, hard working people" with the gospel. It wouldn't exclude me, but rather simply define what and how they do things. Read more about why Grace Ann Arbor does what it does: http://restlesspilgrim.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-are-people-in-your-neighborhood.html Let me also say that we have a number of older and retired folks here that I love very dearly!
af3201sps
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:09 a.m.
Tex, Not the same. I believe you are speaking of "Grace Church" on Boardwalk. They have signs plastered all over town inviting only "young professionals" to their church. I have been bombarded by those solicitations also. What a turn off. Seems to me that a real Christian church would be interested in reaching all sectors, races, and classes of people. Imagine if they sent out mailings and put up signs that stated, "finally a church for blue collar, hard working people". Most churces in Ann Arbor cater to the rich and structure their worship services at times that blue collar people (shift workers) cannot attend.
Janet Miller
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 7:53 a.m.
No. I believe you are thinking of Grace Ann Arbor, whose members worship at a location on Boardwalk Drive in Ann Arbor. This story is about Grace Bible Church, located on South Maple. Grace Ann Arbor has had an active marketing campaign through the mail for more than a year. And yes, some churches have niches or target recruiting specific populations.
Roaring_Chicken
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 7:51 a.m.
That's the one. "Young professionals" and I think "Young families." The literature seems to concentrate on youth. Where I attend, the morning service is almost exclusively people over the age of 60. But I appreciate that Grace makes it clear who ISN'T welcome, us quasi-elderly non-professionals.
Tex Treeder
Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 7:33 a.m.
Is this the same Grace Bible Church that's been sending me junk mail lately? The ads say, "Finally, a church for young professionals." I'm not sure what that means exactly. Has there been a shortage of churches for young professionals?