Our History
Amazing Grace has been serving Panama City as a church since 1984 and has been in our current location on Jenks Avenue since 1989. We have been blessed to serve the local military community, as well as our annual winter visitors coming south for some Florida sunshine. As with so many in our city, our building was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018. An outpouring of love, help, and volunteers from around the nation were sent our way to help our church families, the community and rebuild our building. Our deepest wish is that when you visit Amazing Grace, you will hear about your Savior, Jesus, and come to know the grace and love of God more and more.
What We Believe
What We Believe
We are a Biblical church, proclaiming the pure Word of God in its entirety. It is the divine basis for our beliefs and shapes our lives. Every word found in the pages of Scripture comes from God and is completely true. God’s Word reveals our salvation to us and works faith in our hearts to believe in Jesus as our Savior from sin.
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We are a Confessional Lutheran church that believes God saves and strengthens us by feeding our souls through his Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. We stand confidently on the truths of the Bible reclaimed by Martin Luther during the Reformation 500 years ago. We believe and teach that mankind is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of scripture alone. We confess the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed along with the Christians of the past 2,000 years.
Amazing Grace Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). This church body got its name because it was formed in Wisconsin in the 1850s. Our membership in this Synod unites us with Christians across our country and the world. It allows us to pool our resources for mission work as well as for writing hymnals, Bible classes, and other materials. But above all, we can be comforted by the fact that we know there are Christians throughout the world who share a common faith with us.
Our congregation and Synod are solidly based on the Bible. We believe that Jesus is our Savior and the only way to heaven. Through faith in Jesus we are united to him and to each other.
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The name “Lutheran” comes from the great reformer Martin Luther. In a period of history when the church had lost sight of its Savior and the truth of his Word, Martin Luther boldly challenged these errors and preached Jesus Christ as Savior. We are proud to remember his work in bringing to light the truth of God’s Word by using his name to identify ourselves.
About Our Church Body
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod - WELS
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Rev. David Kehl and his wife Joan joined the ministry of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in June 2019. They previously lived in Hong Kong where David served WELS World Missions as the Asian Coordinator with Multi-Language Publication (MLP) for countries China, Indonesia, Philippines, and Japan.
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Rev. Kehl earned his Master of Divinity degree (M.Div) from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI. Over the years David felt blessed to serve as local pastor in Redwood Falls - Minnesota, East Providence - Rhode Island (relocating it to South Attleboro Massachusetts), and Deltona - Florida. From 1990-2000 David served in Antigua as mission developer for the islands of the Caribbean which included helping to plant new churches in the islands of St. Lucia and Grenada. And from 2010-until moving to Hong Kong, David served as Executive Director of Ministry Advancement at Atonement Lutheran Church and School in Milwaukee.
​David and Joan are eager to participate for what God has planned in the future to see the gospel spread wide and deep into the hearts of people who do not yet know or follow Jesus.