Grace City Church
Our Leaders
Meet the elders and deacons who shepherd and lead our church family with love, wisdom, and dedication to the gospel.
Shepherds of the Flock
Our Elders
Jeremiah Smith
Lead Pastor
Jeremiah is married to Nicole and together they have three sons. He has been a Pastor at Grace City since 2017. In 2024 he followed God's call to see Grace City multiply and is co-planting the South Mission in the community of Oakridge.
He is a long-suffering Calgary Flames fan, and in his downtime he enjoys reading, Hawaii, coffee, playing and watching sports, music, road trips with his family, and summertime.
Jeremiah and Nicole lead a City Group in Palliser (Thursday's)
Johnny Thiessen
Pastor, South Mission
Johnny has served as an elder with Grace City Church for 10 years and has worked for the North American Mission Board for 6 years as a Send City Catalyst; identifying, assessing, training and releasing Biblically qualified men to plant gospel-centred churches in the city of Calgary and southern Alberta.
Johnny is co-planting and serves as a pastor at GCC South Mission in the community of Oakridge. He and his wife, Tammy, are excited to see the grace of Jesus move across this neighbourhood and change lives as the gospel is proclaimed in Oakridge.
David Robinson
Lead Pastor Apprentice, North Mission
Dave and his wife, Shona, have been a part of Grace City Church since 2014. They have four children: Skylar, Evie, Brooke, and Sawyer. In September 2024, Dave joined the staff as the Lead Pastor Apprentice for the North Mission.
Originally from Liverpool, England, Dave enjoys spending quality time with his family through activities like hiking, swimming, and watching movies. A passionate football (soccer) fan, Dave loves to watch his team Liverpool Football Club. Both he and Shona play together on a local football team.
The couple also lead a City Group in Beddington, which meets on Thursdays at 6:30 PM.
Tim Smith
Elder Chairman
Tim and his wife, Shannon, have been attending Grace City since 2013. Tim has been an Elder at GCC since 2016, and now acts as the Elder Chairman.
Tim and Shannon committed their lives to Christ in 1979, and were married that same year. They have two sons and a daughter (all married), and nine grandchildren.
Travis Martin
Elder
Travis is married to Jessica and they have four kids: Judah, Evangeline, Grace and Elijah. He has been attending Grace City since 2014 and became an elder in 2020. When not elding, Travis is active in Calgary's startup and technology industry and enjoys playing hockey and hiking with his family.
Travis and his wife Jessica lead a city group in Cambrian Heights and have a nice hill in their backyard if you'd like to come over and toboggan with their kids.
Justin Hettinga
Elder
Justin and Tammy have been a part of Grace City Church since 2022. They are passionate about doing life with those in their city group and about serving the most marginalized and unreached of the earth. They do the latter through their work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Justin enjoys serving the church with other godly men who are passionate about God's mission in Calgary and around the world. Justin and Tammy have two married sons and three grandchildren.
Michael Murage
Elder
Mike has been attending Grace City Church since 2019. Mike and his wife, Jadyn, have experienced God's love and grace through the community of believers in their lives, both from university where they met, to the Grace City family. "It is our desire to share this love, inspired by the Truth of the Gospel, with others for the sake of God's glory."
Together, they serve as part of the AV Tech team at Grace City. Mike is passionate about construction, enjoys playing tennis in his free time, and loves singing praises to our King.
John Nicholson
Elder Apprentice
John and his wife Lynn began attending Grace City in September 2022. They have two sons and are celebrating becoming grandparents for the first time. John enjoys serving in the Care and Connection ministry at Grace City. After serving in pastoral ministry in BC, John and Lynn are delighted to be back in Calgary. John has recently started serving as an Elder Apprentice in the Grace City leadership.
Servants of the Church
Our Deacons
Trevor Bacque
Deacon of Benevolence
Trevor and his wife Betty have been part of Grace City Church with their children since 2014. He is excited to build and be in community with everyone he meets. A product of Christ’s grace, Trevor leads the church’s benevolence ministry, an applied extension of the Gospel, as well as an addiction recovery group for men.
Roy Eyre & Becky Eyre
Deacons of Missions
Roy and Becky Eyre first came to Grace City in October 2023 and were immediately drawn in because of the church’s missional focus and authentic community. In leading the Global Missions Board, they both draw on three decades of experience serving minority language communities through administrative roles with Wycliffe Bible Translators and partner, SIL Global.
The Eyres have three adult children and enjoy board games, travel, and riding bikes.
Marvin Friesen
Deacon of Building and Facilities
Marvin and his wife Edith have been attending Grace City since 2023. They have five married children and 10 lovely grandchildren. Marvin and Edith served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 26 years until 2022, supporting the work of Bible translation through construction, maintenance, and administrative roles. Marvin now has his own handyman business. Marvin and Edith enjoy the outdoors and spend their free time camping and fishing, mostly in the summer. Spending time with their family is also a priority for them.
Marvin and Edith are co-leading a city group and enjoy serving in Grace City’s children’s ministry as well.
Nathan Green
Deacon of Men’s Ministry
Nathan and his wife Melissa have been a part of Grace City Church since 2022, and have three daughters: Leona, Esther and Dianne. Nathan loves to see men find their place as brothers in the family of God.
Nathan enjoys hiking, reading, learning other languages, and exploring new places with his family.
Steven Pelzer
Deacon of Audio/Visual Tech
Steven and his wife, Fritzi, have been part of Grace City for 15 years. They started when the average attendance was 15 people at both the service, the city group, and the members’ meetings; it was small. There were almost no kids, and the largest demographic was students. Steve started leading worship music and learning audio very early on, and Fritzi has helped with children’s ministry as long as there have been kids in the church!
“It has been a joy to see the church grow and send over the years and I still love to serve Jesus by serving in the sound and music teams.” –Steve Pelzer
Craig Polk & Siew Lin Polk
Deacons of Hospitality and Service
Craig and Siew Lin Polk got married in the 1980’s in Malaysia. They enjoy greeting and welcoming people with the love of Christ to Grace City, and into their lives. They have three children and six grandchildren.
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