Leadership

Grace Bible Church is led by a plurality of Elders (Acts 14: 23); men who are well grounded in the “Faith once delivered to the saints.” Each of our elders are surrendered to the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives and count it a privilege to serve in obedience to the Word of God.

Dr. John H. Redman | Pastor/Elder

John and Anne Redman celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on October 23, 2025. They served together as missionaries for 21 years, with many of those years in the Philippines. In 1985 they relocated to Southern California. Stephen and Andrew, attended Biola University and John accepted the call to serve as the Senior Pastor of Mapleview Baptist Church in San Diego. During 12 years of fruitful ministry a new church was planted in the nearby town of Alpine. Subsequently that church also planted another church.

With nearly 60 years serving in Missions, Pastoral Ministry and Church Association Leadership, John’s rich, expository preaching and trustworthy teaching ministry has been greatly blessed by God on the Mission Field, in the churches he has served and also during the nine years he was privileged to serve as the Executive Director of the Conservative Baptist Association of Southern California, caring for 126 churches and 450 pastors.

Retiring from full-time ministry in 2006, John and Anne relocated to Ocala, Florida, where John was privileged to minister in a variety of different ways, serving as an Interim Pastor to churches in transition, providing Pulpit Supply for churches without a pastor or when their regular pastor had to be out of town, leading Bible Studies, counseling pastors, assisting churches through transitions and using every opportunity to share the Good News about the wonderful Grace of God. In July, 2014, John & Anne relocated to Mount Airy, North Georgia.

It is always an honor and a privilege to have fellowship with God’s people and to preach and teach the Word of God.

Philosophy of Ministry

My Philosophy of Ministry can be stated very simply in a single sentence. It is:

To glorify God while witnessing to the truth of the Gospel to the lost and equipping His people to become committed disciples of Jesus Christ who attract others to Him.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” The church is a community of people who worship and through that worship, glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). I place a tremendously high value worship. It is to be a celebration of God’s greatness and goodness. This can only be so, if adequate attention to detail and careful preparation are invested. This represents true commitment to God

I am firmly committed to the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Believers need to be well grounded in the fundamentals of the Faith, in order to be able to effectively communicate that faith to others. The Holy Spirit always honors the faithful proclamation of God’s Word. This represents true commitment to the Church

I expect to see a response to spiritual ministry, thus an appropriate opportunity to respond is important. Evangelism must have biblical integrity in order to be effective. While it may take a variety of different forms, depending on the circumstances and approach, there must always be an opportunity for response. This represents true commitment to the Community

With a significant portion of the years God has entrusted to me having been invested in Missions, I cannot help but be totally convinced that God places a high priority on Missions. I believe the local church should not only be “Mission Minded,” it should also be pro-active in Missions. This will encompass strategic church planting, the sending of workers, the support of workers and the ministries in which they are serving, while always maintaining careful stewardship of the resources entrust to our care. This represents true commitment to the World.

I am firmly committed to the principle of tithing and giving offerings to the Lord through my local Church.

I believe very strongly in team ministry. Although gifted by God in a number of areas, I do not like the concept of the “one man band” in ministry. While I believe that biblically and historically, vision and direction usually come through a leader anointed by God, the implementation of these can only occur as they are affirmed, “owned” and worked out by the Body of believers. My greatest joy is to work with others of like vision to see the will of God accomplished.

I am committed to excellence in personal life and ministry. I believe the Lord is honored and glorified when things are done decently and in order. God is worthy of our highest praise, our deepest love, our greatest effort and our total commitment to His sovereign Lordship.

Our Vision

To plant, nurture and develop a healthy church where the Worship and Word of God are central. A church that will, enjoying the blessing of God, in turn give birth to other new churches.

Our worship must be in spirit and truth, wholesome and pure, using carefully selected Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that are biblically accurate and in full accord with the Doctrines of Grace.

We believe that most people remember far more of the words of the songs they have heard than the words of the sermons they have heard. Because of that fact, we reject the lightweight, repetitious and subjective songs that are focused on self rather than the Creator, in favor of hymns and songs that are both musically and doctrinally rich. While style is important, substance is far more important than style.

Through the serious, expository preaching of the Word rather than the eisegetical approach to preaching that is so prevalent these days, we seek to Glorify God by developing committed disciples of Jesus Christ who in turn, attract others to him. We will be thoroughly biblical in our thinking and living, relating everything in all of life to the Word of God and the high and holy standard it demands of true believers. We are a family integrated fellowship where parents with their children of all ages are welcomed and encouraged to worship together with us.

We seek to reach out to the local community and also to the world as the Holy Spirit directs. This will occur through the direct and indirect support of fruitful missionaries and missions outreach around the world. We seek to impact the communities in the surrounding area, introducing them to the glorious news of God’s provision of salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary, then discipling them through high-quality Christian education and equipping them for the work of the ministry.

We seek to live out what we believe and proclaim, as lights in an increasingly dark world. We will continue to proclaim God’s truth as revealed in His Holy Word, without apology.

We believe the Bible is the divinely inspired, infallible Word of the Living God, inerrant in the original autographs. The Bible does not contain the Word of God it is the Word of God. Within the Bible is everything we need to know for what we are to believe and how we are to behave. The Bible is the final authority for every Christian in all matters of faith and practice.