About Grace Covenant

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church is a community of Christians from all over the New River Valley of Virginia. Our church building is in Blacksburg about 2 miles from the Virginia Tech campus, and we have home fellowship groups that meet in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Dublin. You may hear us referred to as GCPC or Grace Covenant or GraceCov. Like any church in a college town, the size of our Sunday services ebb and flow with the rhythm of the school year. You’ll find all kinds of people here, and you’ll be welcome. Learn what to expect on a Sunday morning at Grace Covenant.

A Short History

Grace Covenant was founded in 1980 as a church plant from Blacksburg Christian Fellowship. A few families at BCF wanted to start a reformed church, so the elders there sent them off with their blessing. We met on the Virginia Tech campus for a while, then moved around a bit, and finally built our own building in 1994. We’ve grown steadily since then with a variety of families, singles, college students and internationals.. In 2012 we planted a daughter church called Providence Presbyterian Church in Christiansburg.

What does “Reformed” mean?

“Reformed” is a nickname for a particular set of Protestant beliefs which are held by a variety of denominations. GCPC is part of the Presbyterian Church in America, a denomination that endeavors to be faithful to the Scriptures, the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Learn more about our beliefs.

What does “Presbyterian” mean?

There are many different “presbyterian” denominations. They don’t all share exactly the same beliefs, but they have similar governance. Presbyter is the greek word for “elder,” and one of the key aspects of any presbyterian church is that they are governed by a group of elders who are elected by the congregation.

There is never just one person in charge (except Jesus of course), and the elders are all accountable to each other. Pastors are a special type of elder called “teaching elders” who preach the Word and administer the sacraments. But they don’t have greater authority than the other elders.

In addition, each congregation elects deacons who oversee the physical aspects of church life, such as maintaining the building and coordinating mercy ministry. Both elders and deacons are ordained to their offices to minister Christ to His church.

Finally, each church belongs to a regional Presbytery that meets regularly, and the elders of the churches are accountable to each other through the Presbytery. This helps keep any of us from drifting into error. The churches of a Presbytery also encourage one another and work together to plant new churches and support missions work. Grace Covenant is part of the Blue Ridge Presbytery.

All the presbyteries in the PCA meet once a year for a General Assembly, usually sometime in June.