GRACE CHURCH
______________ Mahomet
Meet our staff
Joey Gruner
Pastor of Student Ministries
Joey joined the Grace staff in August of 2003. As
Pastor of Student Ministries, Joey oversees sixth grade
through college-aged students. His challenge for each
student has three major components: to engage in
regular and meaningful worship, to become involved in
a community/discipleship group, and to develop an
area of service. Joey also coordinates and leads
Encounter Worship, our Sunday evening service
on the first and third Sundays of each month.
Joey received a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science
(History Education) from Illinois State University. Just
prior to coming to Grace, Joey and his family (wife
Angie, daughter Aly, and son Jeremy) spent two years
as missionaries on the island of Roatan, Honduras,
where they served in a small Spanish community. Joey
continues to serve as director of Mission Roatan.
He has also previously taught Social Studies and
coached golf and soccer at Urbana High School.
There are several areas of ministry that Joey is
passionate about, but they all fall under one guiding
theme – communicating to the post-modern generation
and seeing non-engaged, non-passionate Christians
discover who God really is. This is evident in most
everything Joey does. From his creative video
productions, to his message topics, to the setting
in the Student Auditorium, leading others to new
discoveries about God is the heartbeat of his ministry.
" 'My thoughts are completely different from yours,"
says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything
you could imagine.' " (Isaiah 55:8)
