*We are in the process of updating the Our History page. If you have any questions about the history of GBF, please feel free to contact the church office.
1965
In 1965, a group of families near the Peoria area was greatly burdened for a strong evangelical Bible church in the area. They contacted an American Sunday School Union missionary to request the start of a Sunday school. As the interest grew, Peoria Bible Church was started. Retired pastor Albert V. Hayes responded to the call to fill the role as pastor and ministered at the church for 11 years. In 1976, Pastor Don Bayne, a graduate of Prairie Bible Institute, took over the pastorate where he continue serving in ministry for 33 years.
1983
By 1983 Peoria Bible Church had outgrown the facility and in February 1984, the church relocated its local gathering to Tangent where it began using the McFarland Elementary School facility. Peoria Bible Church was renamed Grace Bible Fellowship.
1996
Grace Bible Fellowship continued to grow and in 1996 the Lord graciously provided the property that GBF is currently located on. GBF has been known throughout the mid-valley for her outreach to the local community and to the world.
We look back today on our history with gratitude to the Lord for His faithfulness in building His church. And as we look forward, to history not yet written, our hope is that we at GBF will resemble the church described in Acts chapter two: a community of believers committed to “the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship of believers, to breaking bread and to prayer.”
By the grace of God, this church will remain committed to the same Gospel believed by Christians through the centuries, and first proclaimed by Jesus Christ, who is the “same yesterday, today, and forever.”