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Marshalltown Evangelical Free Church renamed Grace Church

T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ On Sunday, Marshalltown Evangelical Free Church will officially debut its new name — Grace Church. Pictured is Senior Pastor Bob Kosbau, left, and Associate Pastor Brent Thiessen.

 On Sunday, Marshalltown Evangelical Free Church will officially debut its new name — Grace Church.

A member of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), the Marshalltown church, 3111 S. Sixth Street, was established in 1991. Since that time, it has prided itself on community outreach and its after-school programming.

“We will still being part of this denomination, but we thought the new name could better clarify who we are and the message we make known,” Senior Pastor Bob Kosbau said. “In recent months, we’ve started discussing who we are as a church, and that is where the word grace came in; we are a church that values the fact that the Gospel, God’s message to us, is a gift that God has given us by grace, through Jesus Christ, and not something that has to be earned.”

Associate Pastor Brent Thiessen said the name change would help clear up confusion people may have about the denomination, as well as work toward removing any pre-conceived biases.

“The more we became involved in the community, the more we got questions about our name,” Thiessen said. “What does Evangelical Free mean? They want to know what we’re free from — the idea that we were missing something that other churches have.”

According to the EFCA’s website, the term “evangelical” refers to a commitment to proclaiming the Gospel and recognizing the authority of Scriptures. “Free” refers to having a form of church government that gives local churches autonomy to make their own decisions.

“It is for clarity’s sake, mainly,” Thiessen said. “Because people do have a negative association sometimes with the word ‘evangelical’ because it becomes very political, and the Evangelical Right and the voting base gets talked about, and that is not really what we’re doing. We’re not a political organization, nor do we wish to be.”

The pastors said the church will continue to be a place where people of all backgrounds and countries of origin gather and feel welcome. Its church building is the former Eastern Iowa Supply Co. It also holds events and programs at its Big House, 110 N. Second Street.

For more information, the church may be reached at 641-752-7171.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz at (641) 753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com

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