Sovereign Grace Ministries

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Sovereign Grace Ministries is a non-denominational group of Christian churches primarily located in the United States. Sovereign Grace comprises over 70 churches[1] and are sometimes referred to as reformed charismatic churches. They emphasize the centrality of the Cross, the sovereignty of God in salvation, the doctrine of Indwelling Sin, the sufficiency and authority of Scripture, and the continuation of all the gifts listed in the New Testament. Sovereign Grace is led by author and former pastor C.J. Mahaney. The flagship church, Gaithersburg, Maryland's Covenant Life Church, is now pastored by author Joshua Harris. The group has roots in "Take and Give" charismatic meetings held by Mahaney and Larry Tomczak in the Washington, D.C. area. This group eventually grew into Covenant Life Church. In 1982, Mahaney and Tomczak founded People of Destiny International as an umbrella organization for their ministries. It changed its name to PDI Ministries in 1998 and to Sovereign Grace Ministries in 2003. Sovereign Grace Ministries[2] differs from typical Reformed churches in two ways. First, they believe in the existence of present-day apostles and prophets. Second, its continuationist theology differs from the cessationist beliefs of many Reformed churches that insist that certain spiritual gifts (tongues and interpretation, prophecy, miraculous healings) no longer exist. The group is additionally known as the home of Joshua Harris, author of best-selling Christian relationship book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which has had a strong impact on the teaching within the movement. Sovereign Grace authors and composers produce literature and music used by many other churches and host many conferences each year such as Together for the Gospel conference. Sovereign Grace Ministries is also well-known for its New Attitude conference, which is primarily targeted toward single young adults and young married couples and was started by Joshua Harris in 1999.