About

A little about us

Learn more about what we believe, our pastor, and our history.

We Believe


In the inspiration and the infallibility of the Bible.


In the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.


In the deity and virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.


In the sinful, human nature of man.


In the forgiveness of sins only by the Blood of Christ.


In salvation by grace through faith alone.


In the convicting, comforting, and guiding power of the Holy Spirit.


We believe in the new birth, which is manifested by living in obedience to the Word of God.


We believe God gives us His strength through the Holy Spirit, enabling us to live a pure and abundant life as a Christian.

Our Mission


Go – Make Disciples – Baptize – Teach
To accomplish our mission we must:

  • Exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in everything we do.
  • Exemplify the life and love of Christ to the world.
  • Engage in meaningful ministry to needs of others.
  • Evangelize the lost with a biblical gospel message.
  • Embrace one another in true biblical fellowship.
  • Equip believers with life-changing biblical truth.

Our History


Grace Bible Church started on June 16, 1991. Our first meeting was in a rented day care facility in Muskogee, OK. Our first meeting included five like minded families who wanted to be part of a New Testament Church.

A few years later we moved into a rented facility on West Okmulgee, just east of the Muskogee Post Office. We were in that facility for several years while we saved money and searched for a suitable place to build a permanent facility. Five acres of land were donated on East Hancock by a family in the church and construction began on our current facility. We moved into our current facility at 4321 E. Hancock, Muskogee, OK, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 2000. We were able to build and furnish the facility without incurring any debt.

Our vision for GBC has always been to be a New Testament Church. We are committed to the Scriptures as our final authority on all matters of faith and conduct. We want to be as much like the first century church as possible. Acts 2:42 tells us, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” These four activities are at the heart of all we do. We study the Bible because this is where we find the Apostle’s teachings. We share life-to- life in true biblical fellowship. We worship with the Cross of Christ as our focal point. (Breaking of bread is a reference to the Lord’s Supper which serves to remind us of His redemptive work.) We devote considerable time on Sunday morning and all our time on Wednesday evenings to prayer.

We have always been a mission’s minded church. Historically, almost half of our church budget has gone to support missions locally, nationally, and internationally. We currently support thirteen different ministries involved in evangelism, teaching, and discipleship in Muskogee, across Oklahoma, and around the world. We also have a rich history with the Gospel Rescue Mission in Muskogee. We currently serve the evening meal on the fourth Sunday evening of each month and conduct the chapel service.

Brad Schell has been the pastor/teaching elder of GBC since the inception of the church. Brad is a native Muskogee area resident. He has been married to Donna (Hope) since 1976. They have seven children. Brad served GBC in a bi-vocational role for the first 19 years of the church. In January, 2011 Brad started serving GBC full-time.

Our Pastor


Our pastor/teaching elder is Brad Schell. Brad has held this position since our church began in 1991. He has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education from Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK; and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the same school. He has several hours of seminary training from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX.

Our Elders


Don Walkwitz is one of two other elders serving currently. Don lives in Tahlequah. Don is a retired schoolteacher who occasionally teaches our adult Sunday School class. Don was married to his sweet wife Faith until her death in 2023.

Jay Updike also serves as an elder. Jay is a life-time resident of Muskogee. Jay has taught Sunday School for youth and young adult classes for most of his adult life. He teaches a youth class at GBC. Jay is a registered civil engineer and has worked on projects in eastern Oklahoma over a period of 50 years. Jay and his wife Susan have two grown children.

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