A concern for remaining faithful to the Word of God led to the founding of Grace Theological Seminary in 1937 and Grace College in 1948. In, 1939, the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches was born. "Grace" was chosen as part of their name because of the firm belief that salvation is by God's grace alone.
It was God's grace working that prevented the Brethren from becoming bound up in man-made rules and traditions, or from drifting away from the solid foundation of God's Word.
Today, hundreds of Grace Brethren congregations around the world share the conservative stance in theology while being progressive by a commitment to God and His Word. And it is in that spirit that in 2017, the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches changed their name to Charis Fellowship. 'Charis' is the Greek (New Testament) word for Grace. Since other 'brethren' groups have very different theology and methodology, they chose to omit Brethren.
The goals of renaming:
To refresh our identity in the language of a new generation.
To better connect with our global movement.
To maintain our commitment to Biblical Truth, Relationship, and Mission.
To move forward to start new churches, train new leaders and to do good in our communities for the sake of the gospel.
The Charis Fellowship is just in the United States and Canada. Our global movement is called the Charis Alliance and is made up of fellowships in more than 20 countries.