Grace International began out of one church in Long Beach, California, in 1934. O. C. Harms founded Berean Chapel, and as the congregation grew—with many coming to the Lord—a significant number were also called to the ministry. The congregation quickly outgrew the Berean Chapel facility, prompting the construction of a larger facility and a name change to Colonial Tabernacle. Colonial would become the mother church and headquarters for a new church organization called California Evangelistic Association. As couples were called of the Lord into pastoral ministry and were trained by Pastor Harms, they were sent out from Colonial to plant churches in other cities across Southern California. Eventually, churches were also planted in Oregon and Washington, leading to a name change to Christian Evangelistic Assemblies. As the organization expanded into Arizona and Texas, and with churches now in 15 states, the name was changed once more to Grace International to reflect its rapidly growing global family of churches and ministries. Today, the membership of the more than 5,400 churches now exceeds 500,000 people.

Over ninety years of Kingdom growth—which began in the heart of one man in 1934—now continues to impact nations around the world. Over these nine decades, Grace International has been led by four presidents: O. C. Harms, R. H. Harms, Orvel Taylor, and the current President, Steve Riggle. The first headquarters office building on Redondo Ave in Long Beach, along with the Colonial Tabernacle church site, was sold many years ago with the intention of using those proceeds to establish a new headquarters location. With the completion of our new Global Headquarters facility in 2024, that vision is now being realized. This beautiful new facility in The Woodlands, Texas serves as a fitting memorial to our visionary founder, O. C. Harms.

To God be the Glory!