Grace Baptist Church (Tom Ascol) — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Dr. Tom Ascol (Senior Pastor since 1986)

Founded 1983

Denomination Reformed Baptist

Service Times Sunday Worship — verify times on website

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website truegraceofgod.org

Pastor Credentials MDiv + PhD Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; President of Founders Ministries; President of The Institute of Public Theology

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Reformed orthodox; 1689 LBCF Trinitarian Christology.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

1689 LBCF inerrancy; Reformed regulative principle of worship.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Robust elder-led discipleship; men's plurality at leadership level.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Reformed monergism; particular redemption per 1689 LBCF.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

1689 LBCF + Founders complementarian; male-only elder plurality (Ascol + Mitzenmacher + Gunden + 3 lay elders + pastoral assistant).

1689 LBCF + Founders complementarian — male-only elder plurality; documented elder roster all male.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Plural-elder polity; Tom Ascol senior, David Mitzenmacher associate, Graham Gunden assistant + Jorge Alvarez / Brett Miller / Matt Anderson lay elders + Jon H. Thomason pastoral assistant.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Expository Reformed Baptist preaching; Ascol regularly publishes via Founders, Ligonier, Baptist Press.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Founders Ministries umbrella drives extensive pastoral training + reformation work; Institute of Public Theology trains coming generation of pastors.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Founders Ministries — publicly contested SBC drift toward CRT / critical theory / female-pastor accommodation. Tom Ascol ran for SBC presidency 2022 explicitly on confessional reform platform.

Strong

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

SBC + Founders Ministries fellowship; flagship 1689 LBCF SBC congregation.

Strong

Assessment

Grace Baptist Church Cape Coral, founded 1983, has been pastored by Dr. Tom Ascol since 1986 — nearly 40 years of confessional Reformed Baptist preaching. Ascol is President of Founders Ministries and ran for SBC presidency in 2022. The church is widely regarded as the flagship Founders-affiliated 1689 LBCF SBC congregation in the United States, with a robust plural-elder leadership structure (Ascol + 2 paid associates + 3 lay elders + pastoral assistant) and decades-long stability.

#reformed-baptist#1689-lbcf#founders-ministries#sbc#florida#cape-coral#ascol#founders-flagship#anchor-congregation

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Orthodox-aligned signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Dallas Statement (Social Justice & Gospel)

Tom Ascol

Source: statementonsocialjustice.com — hover for details

Nashville Statement

Tom Ascol

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Verified via truegraceofgod.org/about-us/leadership 2026-04-30: address 1300 Ceitus Terrace, Cape Coral, FL 33991; senior pastor Tom Ascol since 1986; full elder roster Ascol/Mitzenmacher/Gunden/Alvarez/Miller/Anderson + Thomason pastoral assistant.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source truegraceofgod.org/about-us/leadership/
[2] Live source founders.org/author-name/tom-ascol/
[3] Live source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ascol
[4] Live source tomascol.com/about/

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.