Grace was chartered in 1891 with twenty-two members by the Methodist Protestant Church. The Methodist Protestant Church had broken off from the larger Methodist Church decades earlier, because they wanted laity to have more authority in the life of the church. Methodist Protestants also ordained women long before other Methodist (and many other) denominations. This DNA, about equality in participation and authority in church, matters and is still part of Grace's identity.

Today, laity have a major voice in church decisions across the denomination largely because of the Methodist Protestant influence. The Methodist Protestants reunited with other Methodist groups in 1939, a precursor to the United Methodist Church (UMC) which formed in 1968. The UMC is the largest denomination that traces its lineage back to John Wesley, an 18th century Anglican priest who began a worldwide movement based on small groups gathering together to grow in God's love and reaching out to share that love with others. You can read more about Methodist history here.