Grace Community Church began less as a fast-paced, groundbreaking movement than a series of seemingly unrelated events drawing seemingly unrelated people together around a unified vision and goal.

In the mid-2000s, several individuals began feeling the desire and need for thoroughly biblical preaching. Through God's providence, a pastor in Martin, Tennessee named Matt Brown met Lee Tankersley, Ray Van Neste, and Nathan Young, the pastors of Cornerstone Community Church in Jackson, Tennessee. The Lord called Matt away from Martin to serve in a church in Louisiana, but Matt spoke of Cornerstone and its pastors to some of those individuals in Martin.

After searching for where the Lord would have them to serve, each of the families and individuals in Martin were drawn to one another and to Cornerstone. Given that the one-way drive to Jackson was anywhere from 45-90 minutes, a prolonged membership at Cornerstone was not in the best interests of everyone involved. Discussions began between Cornerstone's pastors and this fledgling group about the planting of a like-minded church in the Martin-Weakley County area.

The newly dubbed “Martin Group” met with Cornerstone's pastors regularly, laying out plans for a statement of faith, church covenant, annual budget, pastors, and more. During this time, the Lord graciously provided a facility for the group to meet in—Old Salem Community Church, north of Martin. The church's building, originally built in 1905, was under the care of a board of trustees and wasn't being used regularly. After meeting with the board, they agreed to allow the group to use the church's facilities rent-free, so long as the buildings were maintained and utilities paid.

Cornerstone ordained a fourth pastor during this time: Chad Davis. Chad and his wife Debi had been members of Cornerstone as students of Union University, and the Lord called them back from Nashville to serve at Cornerstone. Chad assumed the weekly preaching duties previously undertaken by Lee Tankersley, who was pursuing his doctoral degree from Southern Seminary.

As the Lord would have it, Chad and the other pastors agreed that Chad would move to Martin and become the vocational pastor (full-time staff) of the new church plant in Martin. He and the pastors of Cornerstone interviewed and recommended two other men to join Chad as pastors: Philip Smartt and Steven Robertson. The group unanimously voted in agreement with the pastors' recommendation. The group also decided upon the name “Grace Community Church.”

The “Martin Group” began meeting on Sunday mornings in June 2008. Preaching was arranged on a four-week rotation: Chad, Steven, a guest preacher, and Steven. The sermon texts were in parallel with those at Cornerstone and included series through Joshua, 1 Thessalonians, and Daniel.

On June 27, 2009, the Cornerstone and Grace families gathered at the church building in Martin to celebrate the official launch of Grace Community Church. Philip and Steven were ordained as pastors, and Cornerstone commissioned the group, prayed for them, and blessed them as they began ministry officially as Grace Community Church.