Rick Long on Grace, Faith, and Buying a School to Reach the Next Generation
Rick Long, lead pastor of Grace Church in Arvada, Colorado, joins Philip Cameron for a conversation about what it looks like to take audacious steps of faith when God redirects your plans in ways you never anticipated. Rick shares the remarkable story of how Grace Church was in the middle of raising $27 million to build a community center — a Center of Hope designed to reach the lost, educate the next generation, assist the poor, and care for the sick — when God abruptly closed one door and swung open another. Within days of a major financial setback, Rick received a text about a 45,000-square-foot private Christian school on nearly 14 acres in Arvada that was being forced to close after 51 years. He signed a $12 million purchase contract the very next day.
Rick reflects on the gospel of grace as the non-negotiable center of everything Grace Church does, declaring, "Grace is not cheap — it costs God everything, but it is free to those who accept it by faith." He also speaks directly to weary pastors, citing the sobering statistic that the average pastor lasts only five years in a single church, and sharing how one pastor in Philadelphia saw his first adult conversions in 35 years simply by learning to present the gospel clearly. Rick co-founded Dare to Share Ministries alongside Greg Steer and has spent decades coaching Purpose Driven pastors worldwide. Learn more at gracechurchco.com.
