GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — After 17 years, Grace Fellowship Church of Georgetown is having to move locations. Since 2007, the church has met at a strip mall on the east side of Georgetown, just off of I-75.
“Here recently, new owners bought the mall,” Pastor Jack Shoup explained. “I don’t believe it fits into their vision for a church to be in this space. They’ve asked us to leave, and so we’re actively looking for another place to hold our services.”
Shoup explained that the current ownership group decided not to renew the lease, and asked the church to move out.
“I understand we are not a retail outlet,” Shoup said, “and I’m assuming they want the whole mall to be retail. I understand why they want to do it. Did we want to stay? Certainly. But at the same time, God has always taken care of us. He’ll do it again.”
We reached out to the ownership and did not hear back. Despite having to move out, Shoup mentioned that they were given an extra month to clear out the building. He also explained that the church sees this as an opportunity, not an offense.
“People are quite positive,” said Shoup. “I’ve maintained a positive attitude, everybody else has. There’s been no complaining about it. We’re excited about it.”
“Again, we didn’t want to go, we love this space, but we recognize that sometimes, the eagle stirs up the nest to get the young ones to fly out and we just believe this is going to cause us to rise to another level. “
With the uncertain future, Shoup knows for sure that the church will continue to meet.
“It’s the closest-knit church I’ve ever been in. It’s a church of love,” he said. “We are not going anywhere, we’re going to be here. It’s just a matter of the process of finding where. If I’ve got to meet in somebody’s garage, I’ll do that.”
“If anybody out there has a space for us, give me a holler.”
