John Giarrizzo, Founding Pastor

John was born and raised in a Roman Catholic home in upstate New York. He attended parochial school through fourth grade, after which his family moved to Mesa, Arizona, where he has lived ever since. During his senior year of High School, John took night classes in real estate, acquired his real estate license at the age of 18, and was a full-time realtor for 6 years. The Lord powerfully converted John to Christ one day in 1979, while watching a Hal Lindsay program about the Second Coming of Christ. Shortly afterwards, the Lord led him to a Calvinistic Baptist church in Mesa, where he came to embrace the doctrines of grace. John married Roberta, in 1980 and in 1983, they were blessed with their first child, David. The following year John graduated from Redeemer Theological Seminary and was commissioned by his church to plant a new church. On September 8, 1985, Grace Covenant Church held their first worship service in a restaurant banquet hall. In 1986, John and Roberta were again blessed with their second child, Paul. Both of his sons know the Lord. In 2005, John received his Master of Divinity degree from Phoenix Seminary.


Darrell Gustafson, Associate Pastor

Darrellwas raised in South Central Nebraska. Darrell met his wife, Janet, while in high school and they married shortly after he joined the U. S. Air Force, where he served for four years. They moved to Mesa, Arizona in 1971, where Darrell sought employment as a carpenter. After working three years for other contractors, Darrell and Janet started their own remodeling and carpentry business, The Carpenter Company, in 1974. It has been active until December of 2003. TheCarpenterCo.com is now a web site for the encouraging of the believers and the evangelism of the lost.

Darrell was converted somewhere between 1973 and 1976 as God used his wife, a pastor, the Word and the means of the Holy Spirit to show him that Jesus Christ was the only way to be right with God.

Darrell and Janet have three grown children and nine grandchildren. Their two daughters, sons-in-law and five grandchildren attend Grace Covenant Church. Their son, and four grandchildren reside in Pinetop, AZ.

Darrell is a 1984 graduate of Redeemer Theological Seminary. He was an Elder at the Church of the Redeemer of Mesa for 2 years. He was ordained in 1984 and pastored the Church of the Redeemer, Chandler Heights for 3 years from 1983-1986. He was an Elder at Cornerstone Bible Church of Mesa for 4 years. He has been an Elder at Grace Covenant Church since 1993 and is now an Associate Pastor, Administrator and Director of the Grace Covenant Counseling Center, GCTC.

Darrell has his NANC Certification Level II in Biblical Counseling (Nouthetic). He and his wife Janet (Level 1 NANC Certified) head up the Counseling, Discipleship Center at Grace Covenant Church. Darrell counsels the men, Janet counsels the women and they team to counsel couples.

Darrell is also a board member on the newly 2007 established Grace Counseling Training Center, soon to be a NANC Certified Training Center.

MARK FLIN, Elder

Mark is a farm boy from Northeastern Kansas. He was converted during a church youth retreat during his sophomore year in high school. He moved to Mesa in 1980 after having accepted a job as an electrical engineer at Motorola. Mark came to embrace the doctrines of grace while attending Church of the Redeemer in Mesa. It was here that he met Carol, whom he married in 1981. Mark was a Deacon at Church of the Redeemer for two years. When Pastor Giarrizzo was sent out to plant a new work in Mesa, Mark and Carol went as founding members (their oldest daughter, Kristin, was born two days after the first official service in September of 1985!). Mark and Carol were blessed with a second daughter, Allison, in 1987. Mark has been an Elder and the treasurer at Grace Covenant Church from the beginning. He is currently a software engineer at General Dynamics.

JED MILLSAP, Deacon

Jed was born and raised in Oklahoma where he and his future wife, Alma, attended the same school and also worshiped together at Rosedale Baptist Church where they were both converted to Christ in their teens. Jed served twenty one years in the Navy and then moved to the Phoenix area where he started a new career as a pilot. After thirteen years with AirEvac Air Ambulance, he is now employed by NetJets Aviation. Jed and Alma have been married for forty five years and have three daughters and one son. They joined Grace Covenant Church in 1996 and Jed has served as a Deacon since 1998.

RANDY DAVIS, Deacon

Randy Davis grew up on the west side of Phoenix. His family moved to Southern California when Randy was beginning his second year of high school. During his junior year at Cal State L.A. University, God showed mercy on Randy's lost spiritual condition and brought him to the foot of the cross. Thru God's providence, Randy's coworker introduced him to the Doctrines of Grace a few years later. In 1994, the Davis' moved to Gilbert and began attending Grace Covenant Church. Randy and his wife, Julie, have four children.

MARVIN GATZ, Deacon

Marvin Gatz is not only our senior Deacon, but one of our founding members as well. He and his now departed wife Marge moved to the Mesa area from Illinois with their three children when Marvin was in his early thirties. It was at this season of Marvin's life that the Lord gave Marvin an interest in spiritual things and eventually saved him and Marge. Marvin has made his living in the Mesa area doing custom harvesting for many years and is now an indispensable part of our property maintenance team.