Grace Lin
Allow me the pleasure of introducing Rev. Grace Lin. As her husband, I have had a front row seat watching and benefitting from her leadership and ministry in the church, in the home, and everywhere in between. To know Grace is to know someone who defies any single label or category, except that at her core, Grace loves God and each day seeks to follow Jesus faithfully. Grace is a gifted preacher, though she would rather avoid the limelight, preferring to empower other leaders than to take center stage. Yet when moments call for courage, Grace responds, such as when she stood on behalf of other AAPI women at a rally in downtown Houston. Grace is committed to excellence and knows how to rest deeply. Grace has a wide set of interests and a persistent hunger to grow and mature. What follows, then, is not an attempt to “label” Grace but rather an attempt to share some of her story—the successes, struggles, and surprises that have punctuated her life.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Grace came to the United States at the age of one. Her parents met through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in college and emigrated to Mississippi for graduate school before eventually settling in Houston.
Grace came to Christ at a youth camp before she entered high school and was baptized at West Houston Christian Church (WHCC). Through the care and discipleship of Rev. David Hsu, and through serving as a student leader in the WHCC youth group, Grace’s faith and love for Jesus began to flourish. As a freshman at Trinity University in San Antonio, Grace sensed God giving her a vision to reach Asian Americans on campus. Soon God led an InterVarsity staff worker named Jon Parker to dedicate his time to supporting Grace and other student leaders as they founded FOCUS, the first Asian American InterVarsity chapter at Trinity where grace served as inaugural co-president. In her senior year, she began to pray about overseas missions. The following summer, Grace joined a WHCC team on a short-term missions trip to Thailand, where they taught English. Filled with God’s love for the world, Grace felt an unmistakable nudge to say “yes” to vocational ministry.
During the summer of her senior year, Grace volunteered as a summer camp youth leader. There, she got to know Rev. Ed Lee, who was then serving as the English Pastor at Fort Bend Community Church (FBCC). (The late Rev. Lee would later go on to be ordained in the ECC and plant Mosaic Community Covenant Church in Missouri City, Texas.) Ed invited Grace to join him in the ministry as a youth intern. Grace had never before considered serving in a local church because she had only seen or read about women becoming missionaries. She was surprised by this invitation, but after much prayer, decided to say yes. Grace’s parents initially resisted the idea, hoping that Grace would use her business degree instead. However, God changed their hearts, and they gave their full support to Grace’s service in local church ministry.
Grace began her vocational ministry at FBCC in 2001. Several months later, another youth worker was hired to co-lead the 200+ youth ministry with Grace as youth directors. John was wide-eyed and eager. Together, they led with the energy and zeal which only young twenty-year-olds can. Just when the youth had all but given up hope that they would get together, something unexpected happened. Grace and John started dating and were married in January 2005. That summer, they packed up a truck and headed west, arriving in Pasadena, California, to attend Fuller Theological Seminary.
Fuller marked a major milestone for Grace. At Fuller, Grace had the space to work out her own theological questions about women in ministry. Affirmed by professors who saw Grace’s potential, Grace decided to pursue a Master of Divinity alongside her husband John. Within the first year of study, Grace became pregnant with their first son, Caleb. While taking a break from school would have been one option, Grace and John decided that by taking the idea of partnership seriously, they could both stay in school and both care for Caleb. Their second son, Caden, was born April 2009, and by God’s grace, Grace and John walked together at commencement June of 2009.
Grace’s time in Los Angeles was extremely formative. Through her seminary classes and her two-year pastoral internship at Evergreen Baptist Church of LA, she caught a glimpse of what the church could be—a picture and preview of God’s coming kingdom. She saw how the church could be a “faith village” where young and old, singles and families, could live in authentic community, and where women could be called into all forms and levels of leadership.
In 2010, Grace and John moved to Austin to join InterVarsity staff as Area Directors. Grace supervised a team of four campus staff, leading one of the largest Asian American campus ministries in the country. After four years, they moved back to Houston, where her husband took a pastoral position at Access Church, a vibrant predominantly Asian American Covenant church planted by Rev. Ted Law. During this season, Grace worked as a vocation formation group leader at Fuller Texas and homeschooled her older boys. Through that time of recalibrating and recovering, Grace and John discovered they would welcome identical twin boys, Luke and Noah, into the world in 2015.
When an opportunity to join the ministry staff of Access presented itself, Grace discerned it was time to step into her first pastoral position. In 2018 Grace became the first female pastor at Access, after an extensive candidacy and congregational vote. Stepping into this role felt monumental, given the cultural milieu of the community and Grace’s long journey to get there. In time, the testimony of Grace’s obvious giftings galvanized congregational trust. She built and oversaw a thriving children’s and youth ministry, walked with people through hardship, officiated weddings, and dedicated and baptized young children, students, and adults. Phoebe Wong, a founding member and leader at Access, captured this spirit well: “I’ve loved and learned from Grace’s intellectual and strategic side—diving into ministry plans and social and political issues without hesitation. And I’ve loved and learned from her exuberant, joyful side, as she planned fun events and drew so many with her hospitable nature and infectious laughter.”
In words addressed directly to Grace, youth director Josh Yip described her leadership just as vividly: “You’ve never sought to use your power or position to wield it forcefully. Instead, you’ve used your position to empower me and grow my own leadership abilities—and you've done all of it with so much grace.”
Grace’s most memorable moment united both ministry and home life, when she baptized all four of her sons alongside her husband John.
In June 2022, Grace Lin was ordained to Word and Sacrament at the Covenant Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. Rev. Dr. Willie Peterson prayed over her; and her husband, children, and parents joyously celebrated this milestone.
In 2024 Grace’s sabbatical was cut short when she learned that ECC Rev. Ted Law, the beloved lead and founding pastor of Access Church, had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. He passed away within two weeks. While processing her own grief over losing a good friend and colleague, Grace stepped into the role of Interim Lead Pastor—as if all the experiences of transition, loss, resilience, and leadership from her past had prepared her for such a time as this. She brought a calming, hope-anchored presence to the church, and the community experienced a renewal of engagement and energy as they became inspired to carry on Ted’s legacy.
Today, Grace continues to lean into her unique calling with all the uniqueness of who she is. She has weathered the waves of inevitable change that characterize the life together of any church community, and in so doing, has cultivated deeper wisdom, authority, and, most of all, love. The blessing given at her ordination applies as much today as it did then:
Pastor Grace shows up in her ministry in the fullness of who she is—loving God and God’s people and God’s world with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. May you continue to show up in all the ways God has made you to be, both in your strengths and your limitations. We have been and will be blessed as you continue to lead out of your authentic self.
-Phoebe Wong
[All direct quotes taken from Grace Lin’s August 21, 2022, ordination reception. ]