Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota is led by a plurality of elders and walks under the apostolic oversight of Church Team Ministries International (CTMI). No solo pastor. No celebrity culture. A shared table, a shared gospel, and a shared accountability.
“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly.” — 1 Peter 5:2
When Paul and Barnabas planted churches across Asia Minor, their first order of business was never a program, a brand, or a lead pastor. It was this: “They appointed elders in every church” (Acts 14:23). That is the shape of New Testament leadership, and it is the shape of leadership at Grace.
A single leader running a church alone is not the biblical model. The Bible calls for a plurality of qualified men — elders, also called overseers and shepherds — who share the work of teaching, pastoral care, and oversight. They know the people. They pray for the people. They carry the burden together. And they are accountable to Scripture, to one another, and to the wider body of Christ.
At Grace, this is not theory. It is the way decisions are actually made, teaching is actually shared, and pastoral care is actually carried.
Each elder at Grace has been tested over years — known in the church, accountable in the home, sound in doctrine, and gentle in care. What follows is the team currently serving on a Sunday at 4350 17th Street.
A short bio is being finalized. If you are visiting and would like to meet Peter before Sunday, send a note through the contact page.
A short bio is being finalized. If you are visiting and would like to meet Keegan before Sunday, send a note through the contact page.
A short bio is being finalized. If you are visiting and would like to meet Rod before Sunday, send a note through the contact page.
A short bio is being finalized. If you are visiting and would like to meet Keith before Sunday, send a note through the contact page.
Photos and full bios are coming. For now — four names, a shared table, and an open door. If you want to meet the team ahead of Sunday, send a note through the contact page.
The New Testament gives elders a clear job description. It is not glamorous, and it is not optional. Here is what our elders actually carry.
“He must hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). Our elders preach, teach, and correct from the Scriptures — not from opinion, trend, or the latest Christian fashion.
An elder is a shepherd, not a CEO. He knows the sheep. He visits when they are sick. He prays for them when they cannot pray for themselves. He confronts in love, and he is willing to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15; 1 Peter 5:2).
False teaching creeps in — Paul was blunt about that (Acts 20:29–31). Elders watch the gate. They protect the flock from drift, from novelty, and from teaching that would cut the cross out of Christianity. They keep the message at the center.
“For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). The goal is not a church where paid professionals do ministry to an audience. It is a church where every believer is trained and sent — and that training is the elders’ job.
Grace Fellowship Church walks under the covering of Church Team Ministries International — an apostolic team of leaders strengthening churches in more than forty countries. CTMI was founded in 2001 by Pastor Miki and Audrey Hardy, and has grown into a family of local churches committed to one gospel: the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
CTMI is not a denomination. It is a relationship. An apostolic team — in the New Testament sense of Ephesians 4:11 — that walks with our elders, visits Sarasota regularly to teach and encourage, and holds us accountable to the same gospel preached in sister churches from Mauritius to Mexico.
That connection shapes who we are. It means the preaching on Sunday is anchored in the wider life of the church, not the whim of one leader. It means the nations are never far from our prayers. And it means when you gather with us, you are gathering with a family that stretches far beyond our building in Sarasota.
A church with no outside accountability is a church waiting for a crisis. At Grace, we have chosen a different path — one the New Testament lays out from the beginning.
In the book of Acts, local churches were strengthened by apostolic teams that traveled among them: Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Titus, and others. These teams were not bosses. They were not a head office. They were servants — coming alongside local elders, teaching sound doctrine, confirming the disciples, and appointing leaders (Acts 14:21–23; 15:36; Titus 1:5).
That pattern is what CTMI embodies in our day. When an apostolic leader visits Grace, the sermons go a little deeper. Our elders sharpen against iron. Counsel flows in both directions. And a church in Sarasota is connected, in real time, to a worldwide work of the gospel.
It is also a safeguard. Preaching drifts easily — especially when no one is watching. Money corrupts easily. Celebrity corrupts easily. Walking under apostolic oversight means there is always another voice in the room — a voice that loves us, knows us, and is willing to speak the hard word when it is needed.
Transparency matters. Here is plainly how our leadership is structured and to whom we answer.
Every elder’s teaching, every pastoral decision, every church practice is tested against the Bible. If something we do cannot be defended from Scripture, we are willing to stop doing it.
No elder at Grace has unilateral authority. Major decisions are made together. Teaching is shared. Care is shared. If one elder drifts, the others are free — and obligated — to say so.
Our elders meet regularly with CTMI leaders. When hard questions come up — doctrinal, pastoral, practical — we do not carry them alone. We have a team walking with us, from the same gospel stream.
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” — Ephesians 4:11–12
— Sundays at 10:00 AM · 4350 17th Street, Sarasota, FL.
The best way to know a church’s leadership is not to read about it. It is to sit under it for a morning. Walk in as a guest, walk out as family.