Grace on the Hill Church welcomes new senior pastor

Pastor Gordon McClure has been on the scene at Grace on the Hill Community Church in Corbin for the past three weeks, and in that amount of time he has been impressed with what he’s seen.

“We’re really glad to be here in Corbin,” McClure said. “My wife (Amy) and I had been looking forward to our move here for quite a while.”

The McClures come to Kentucky from Abilene, Kan., where they led a church for over six years. The decision to move was not an easy one, but ultimately, the belief is that it was God’s plan.

“While we were there, we saw a lot of growth, even though covid,” McClure said of his former church. “It was a really great time, but we just felt the Lord speaking to us about a new season of ministry. We prayed about it for over a year before we received the contact from Grace on the Hill.”

“We really believe that God is in this,” McClure added. “We resigned from our church there, which was difficult, but we understood that God was calling us someplace else.”

McClure first became involved in ministry as a worship pastor in the late 90s. With a couple of music degrees, he had made his living as a professional musician for many years prior to that. He also spent some time in education, as a Christian school administrator.

Originally from southern Illinois, McClure has been familiar with Kentucky for most of his life. His hometown was located not too far north from Paducah, but this is the first time that he will actually be residing in the Bluegrass State.

“We are super happy to be here,” McClure said when asked about his early impressions of the area. “We love the community. Everybody has been super welcoming to us, and we really appreciate that.”

When asked about his long-term vision for Grace on the Hill, McClure said that a lot of those details will hopefully get worked out in the weeks and months ahead. As far as the day-to-day operations, though, he said that normal church activities will proceed as they have been, including the youth sports ministries and the food and clothing pantry, which is open to those in need in the local community each Tuesday.

McClure did say that he would like to look into expanding the men’s and women’s ministries at Grace, however, and he also mentioned the possibility of making more opportunities available for missions work, both at home and abroad.

Regardless of how things might look in the future, McClure said that the central focus will remain leading people to Jesus.

“The prevailing vision for any ministry that I am in is that people will have an encounter with Jesus, and come to be Christ followers,” McClure said. “That is the big vision for me. To help them walk into a relationship with the Lord is important. I believe that is God’s high calling for every believer, and that is certainly my first-and-foremost calling.”

“We want people to feel that they’re being loved on when they come here,” McClure said of the goals of Grace on the Hill moving forward. “We want them to sense the presence of Jesus here.”

To find out more about what Grace on the Hill Community Church is offering, please visit them online at www.graceonthehill.com.

The church is also active on social media, regularly posting updates about various activities to their official Facebook page.

Pastor Gordon McClure has published a book titled The Worship Continuum. Copies can be purchased through online retailers, including Amazon.com.