About

About US

Diverse, United, Connected

We are a community of people from “all over” who live along the Grand Strand, are united by our faith in Jesus, and value the importance of connection. We believe God wants us to enjoy our lives at the beach and rest in His grace. At times we fail, but Jesus gives us a reason to always get up.

Our Mission

Love God and Love People

Our mission is to “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:19). Once we experience how much we are loved by God, we are empowered to love God and people. After all, “we love because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). We want to help others experience how much they are loved by God.

Our focus

Being Disciples and Making Disciples of Jesus

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is good news for us and the world. This is why we focus on being disciples and making disciples of Jesus. We are committed to:

The Church of Christ

The Church of Christ was created by God in Jerusalem soon after the life of Christ.  Specifically, this happened on a Jewish holiday called “Pentecost”, 50 days after “Passover”, the time that Jesus was crucified and returned to life.  (See Acts Chapter 2).

Our American version of the Church of Christ was born out of the American “restoration movement” in the 1800’s.  At that time in history, there was a revolution going on in church organization.  Unlike any time before, regular folks felt empowered to start up churches rather than mainstream in the big established churches.  There was a feeling that these old Christian religions had become encumbered and encrusted with men’s opinions and church politics.  There was a spirit of renewal, one that promoted the return to basic Christian principles.

Our Staff

Jay Thornell

Minister

jthornell321@gmail.com

Gina Gordon

Children and Women's Minister

msginagscoc@gmail.com

Melody Ayres

Office Administrator

gscocsec@gmail.com

Jeff Hannington

Property Manager

Crystal Lemmons

Finance Manager

Elders

Chuck Cahoon

Wes Gordon

Kevin Lemmons

Deacons

Tony Ayres

Wister Basden

Jeff Hannington

Steve Howard

Steve Klein

Andy McClellan

As a “Church of Christ,” we exclusively use acapella congregational singing in our worship to the Lord. However, we use short projected videos on occasion to assist in the message of the day. In some of these videos, there may be instrumental background music.

Our 9:00 am worship service follows the traditional Church of Christ, an all-male leadership model.

Our 10:30 am service, and our online service utilizes a Praise Team approach to song leadership. This consists of 5 individuals, male and female, singing the four parts of harmony and one male leader singing the melody line. The men of the congregation do all other leadership.

In our worship service, we do not do anything special for holidays beyond tailoring the song service and message of the morning in a way that recognizes the spirit or meaning of the holiday. We provide fun activities for the congregation’s children outside the worship service, including “Breakfast with Santa,” an Easter Egg/Candy hunt, “Trunk or Treat,” etc.

The Church of Christ is a non-denominational church structure, as was the earliest form of Christ’s church. As such, each congregation is self-governed on all matters. Although there are many Churches of Christ, there is no governing relationship between them. The only guide used by the leadership of each congregation is the Bible. Each community is under the spiritual care and direction of its eldership. Deacons are a group of servants under the eldership’s leadership who take care of day-to-day activities in the church.

  • VENMO – Open a VENMO account, find the church name (“grandstrand-churchofchrist”) and submit your donation. Make sure you change the payment from Public to Private.
  • Facebook – On our church group page, using a browser, not a phone or tablet app, you will see a donate button just under the church picture on the right side of your screen. Click on it, and it will take you to a payment page.
  • Online Banking – Go to your bank’s online banking site and enter the church as one of your payee accounts. Then make your payment using the website’s instructions.
  • Checks – mail in a personal check to the church address. 2212 Glenns Bay Road, Surfside Beach, SC 29575
  • Cash – if cash is the only way for you, please drop it by the church when Jay is there. Call ahead to ensure he is there, or call Crystal Lemmons for other instructions.