Grace and Truth Church

Smiles Welch
Pastor of Preaching and Vision

I'm just a mere man who has been experiencing the power of the gospel at work in my life since 1997, when I got saved at 19 years old from a life of sin and the chaos that sin brings. That is the most significant thing that I can say about myself, and really the only thing that has brought about any good in or through me in this world. Other than the love of Christ at work in me in so many ways, I have nothing good to offer this world. When I turned 18 years old I left my hometown of Parkton, Maryland and started hitchhiking the United States in search of one thing... true love. I had to know it, and I had to have it. I knew it was a spiritual thing, but that was all I knew. Without having any good reason for doing so, I had immediately ruled out Jesus and Christianity completely, and was pursuing every god I could learn about, but I abandoned all of them quickly, as I could see that these gods and religions did not offer or provide the true love that I knew I needed to know and have. 8 1/2 months into my travels, on July 22, 1997, I got picked up hitchhiking in Salem, Oregon by a very beautiful, but also very broken, young lady. She had also been traveling the Country, but in search of something different... true freedom... freedom from the bondage that she had found herself in due to her own sin and the sins of others which were committed against her. She was 18 years old, and I was just about to turn 19. Immediately we were best friends, two peas in a pod, lost souls now searching for love and freedom together. That was beginning what has shown to be the rest of our lives together! In the providence of the God that we didn't know, and who we were both running from, we got rear-ended by a drunk driver in Boise, Idaho, just 7 days after we met. It was a very bad accident, but God had planned it so that 3 days after the wreck we would meet Cynthia and Neal Hegge, another young couple. They brought us into their home and showed the deepest hospitality to us as they shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with us. I had plenty of tough questions and challenging thoughts, but they were always met with truth and love. And, by God's sovereign grace, we were given new hearts on that day... a heart to know and love the God who had made us, given Himself for us, and pursued us with His love every day of our lives. We were saved by His grace. We had become believers. Our life had truly begun, and what's so cool is that our journey in Christ began together. Since then, we've been able to walk through the joys and sorrows together as God has grown our faith in Him. He has always been so, so faithful to us! Together we raised 3 sons, who all grew up to be very godly young men, loving God, loving His church, and loving everyone who comes into their path. Our oldest and youngest sons are married to amazing women, and combined we have been blessed with (so far, as of the writing of this, 12/9/25) 6 grandchildren... The oldest is with the Lord in glory, the next 4 are super-cute granddaughters, and our first grandson is in the womb. We LOVE being grandparents! Soon after my wife and I met, we settled down in Northern California for 9 years. That is where we fell in love with the Church, the body of Christ. God had called me to be discipled into the Ministry of the Word in the Summer of 2000, much to my surprise. I started leading worship at our church in 2005. Then in 2009 the Lord, through our church, sent us to Athens, Ohio... the town that we started talking about planting a church in after we first hitchhiked through it just a month and a half after we met... when we were brand new Christians, having know clue that church planting was even a thing, or what it would entail. After moving to Athens, God saw fit to make our family quickly become well-known and deeply loved in our community, as my wife started up a successful soapmaking business out of our home while she was still homeschooling our boys. I was given various jobs to work, which were very public in nature, so I became well-known by seemingly everyone. Our boys were playing baseball, too, giving them an opportunity to shine the love of Christ among their peers. I was also serving as an elder in our local church. To try to tell of all the the Lord has done during our years in Athens would be futile, as His mercies have been more than abundant. But as it relates to Grace and Truth Church, I'll just say that in the Spring of 2024 I knew that it was very soon time to plant. We had literally everything ready, except that we had no idea where we were going to meet. I had my eyes and ears wide open, considering every potential option, but no "doors" were opening, in God's providence. Then in the Summer of 2024 my lawyer/friend reached out to me saying that he had a client come in and say he had a church building that he wanted to give away to someone who wanted to start a church, and wondered if my friend knew anyone who might be interested... and my friend told him about me! Long story short, within a couple of weeks the absolutely gorgeous building was completely given to us, almost ready for us to just walk in and have service! The lawyer didn't even charge for their time! It was truly a gift from God! And by His grace, we were able to hold our first worship service on August 25, 2024... beginning the fulfillment of a 27 year old dream of planting a church in Athens, Ohio! Great is His faithfulness! Since then the Lord has continued to sanctify me, conforming me to the image of His Son. I am so humbled to be called as this church's pastor, and to be charged with the responsibility to preach and teach the Word, and to shepherd the souls of the people He has put in my care. It is very glorious, but also just as humbling. The only thing that makes me worthy of such a holy task is Christ. I give Him all the glory, honor, and praise. The rest of my story is still being written, but I know it will end up with me seeing Him face-to-face in glory, because my God will never waver on His promise to hold me firm in His hand, causing me to endure by faith unto the end. I so look forward to whatever He has in store for me, my family, and our church family in the future. I trust Him, that whatever it is, is for His glory and for the good of all His people, even if some of it might have to hurt in order to bring about the good that He has purposed. I don't love my Lord or my neighbor as much as I ought to, but thanks be to God, I have WAY more love now than I ever did before. That is a work of His grace in me, and I am sure that He will bring it to completion. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.