About The Grove
We are a neighborhood church committed to gathering people together, growing them closer to God, and giving back to our community.
We want to be a place where you find purpose, meaning, and opportunities to connect with other people just like you who are trying to navigate this thing called life. Whoever you are and whatever your life looks like we want you to know you matter to us.
Meet Our Lead Pastor
Shepherding our community with wisdom, compassion, and dedication
Pastor Stephen Lohoefer
Lead Pastor
Stephen is the founding & lead pastor of The Grove and has served the congregation since its founding in 2017. Before that, he was on staff at Highland Park United Methodist since 2006. Stephen is married to Paige and has a stepdaughter, Lizzie. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, taking walks with Paige and their dog, Sadie, and playing board games with his family, where he proudly remains undefeated in Monopoly!
Our Beliefs
Christian Beliefs
We share the beliefs of Christians throughout the world expressed through the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. We hold to all of these beliefs as essential and non-negotiable to the Christian identity.
Read the Apostles' Creed →Theological Distinctives
While all Christians hold to orthodox Christian beliefs, there is a wide world of diversity when it comes to Christian thought. This diversity is what leads to different theological emphases (i.e. God's role in salvation) and practices in churches (i.e. baptism). These are also the positions or practices that are non-essential to the Christian identity.
Being Wesleyan
During the 18th century, John and Charles Wesley founded the Methodist Movement to revitalize the Anglican Church. They focused on personal piety and acts of service and emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in both these endeavors. As a UMC and Wesleyan congregation, we respect the heritage that the Wesleys created and seek to live out their hopes of a revitalized, holy church.
Learn More About the UMC →The Christian Life
We believe the goal of the Christian life is this: to become more like Jesus. This process is called sanctification and is achieved through the deliberate process of spiritual formation. While salvation is not based on this continual process, it is the call of every Christian life and requires intentional choices to follow Jesus.
The Christian Identity
When you live into your calling as a Christian, your identity in Christ becomes primary. It is the lens through which you view the world and all the choices you make. While we may take on certain identities during our lives, they are always taken on in the context of better serving the Lord in the world around us. Loving one another and loving God is non-negotiable no matter which "side" you stand on.
Women in Leadership
We believe God has gifted all of his people, regardless of their gender, to serve the Lord and proclaim his good news in and out of the church. In our view, the Gospels speak clearly about the inclusion of men and women in leadership within the early church. Because of this, we celebrate both men and women in all positions of leadership in our church.
