Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel Murr.
Hi Joel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born into a basketball family. My dad and all 4 of my brothers played college basketball. I also have 2 sons and a daughter who played in college.
I came to work in Sanford, NC, in 1999. I love the city of Sanford and the state of NC. I have lived in NC since 1992. I married my beautiful wife Libbie in 1991, and when I graduated from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, TN, I knew I wanted to help people. God led me into youth ministry, and I accepted a position on the church staff at Friendship Baptist Church in Raleigh. I was ordained in 1995 and served there until the fall of 1999 when I moved to Sanford and took a similar position of Student and Missions Pastor at Grace Chapel Church. I was also fortunate to coach basketball for the next 14 years. We won 3 National Championships and, more importantly, built a lot of great friendships along the way. In 2013, I became the interim pastor of Grace Chapel. In 2014, I officially became the Lead Pastor. God has done some amazing things in the past 11 years, and we have seen tremendous growth in our ministry.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not always been smooth, but God has always been faithful and has met our every need. In 2013, our ministry discovered that three people in our financial office were embezzling money. Those three people were later convicted in a court of law. To make a long story short, we also found out that many of our vendors, our payroll taxes, and our mortgage company were also not being paid. All in all, because of these issues, along with the large mortgage loan we had after building a new building, we found out we were about 10 million dollars in debt. While this was obviously difficult to even comprehend, God’s people here at Grace prayed and then rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Today, we operate with a totally new financial system with safeguards in place to ensure nothing like that can ever happen again. We are financially secure and have the debt down to under 1.5 million!!! We have seen God bless and currently have one of the largest Christian schools and one of the largest child care centers in the state of NC, providing education & child care to the citizens of nine different counties.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am humbled to be called by God to serve Him and the great people in Sanford, NC, and the surrounding areas. I am most proud of the body of believers here at Grace who are fulfilling the biblical purpose of what a local church should be doing. Our mission to love people like Jesus, lead people to Jesus, teach people about Jesus, train people to serve Jesus, and send people to share Jesus permeates our campus every week. What separates us from other churches is the large Christian school that comprises the largest ministry of our church. Grace Christian School currently educates 967 students, K-5 through 12th grade. We also have a Child Development Center with over 400 infants through 4-year-olds. This allows us to speak into the lives of the next generation every day.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I believe the reason I have been successful is because of the relationship I have with God and the wonderful wife sho serves beside me.
I think we are also successful as a ministry simply because of the goodness and the grace of God. He has shown favor to us even when we didn’t deserve it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gracechapelsanford.com and www.gracechristiansanford.com
- Instagram: jkm1424
- Facebook: Joel K. Murr and Grace Chapel Sanford
