Who We Are

Welcome to Amazing Grace.

We’re here in Amarillo to speak a simple truth which has eternal impact. It’s only by God’s grace that we are saved, and through faith we are brought into God’s family. We like to say that “Grace Leads Us Home”—grace leads us home to heaven.

Take a minute to hear from Pastor Thomford about our church and God’s message.

Have Some Questions?

Walking through the doors of a new place can be hard. Learn a little bit about what to expect before you visit.

  • We worship at 8700 Clinton Glenn Rd, Suite 300 in Amarillo, TX. Our worship begins at 10:30 with Bible Study & AG Kids before at 9:15.

  • Please come as you are - always! For some, it’s their Sunday Best. Others prefer jeans and a t-shirt. The point is, we want you to be comfortable so that you can focus on building your relationship with God.

  • Our worship is a modern take on historical worship practices. Our goal is for our music to be accessible to everyone. We have a worship team, but their goal is to lead participation, not to give a performance. We’ll always make sure the music is either on the screen or printed for you, and we’ll do our best to teach new songs when we sing them in worship.

  • Every Sunday follows a similar pattern of worship to focus on the gospel. We sing songs, speak responses from God’s Word, hear lessons from the Bible, and have about a 20-minute sermon based on one of those lessons.

  • Services at Amazing Grace are usually about an hour, but no longer than 75 minutes.


  • We believe that it is important for children to be a part of worship. During every service, we offer a Children’s Message so that children can learn about Jesus in an age-appropriate way.

    We welcome kids of all ages to worship, and we won’t be bothered if and when they make noise. Parents can take children who need a break back to the nursery room. This is a nice way to separate yourself, but still listen to the service in the room.

  • waypoint with a cross in the middle

    Centered

    Consistently centered on God’s amazing, freely-given grace—for everyone.

  • arrows pointing in with a cross in the middle

    Inward

    Actively and intentionally supporting one another in faith and life.

  • arrows pointing out with a cross in the middle

    Outward

    Committed to serving Amarillo and the community with a focus on the gospel.

  • arrow pointing down in a waypoint symbol

    Deep

    Pursuing a deep, mature understanding of Biblical teaching—for all ages.

BY GRACE ALONE | BY FAITH ALONE | BY SCRIPTURE ALONE

Pastor Hans Thomford

When I was young, I dreamed of driving through farm fields, raising livestock, constructing a house, or possibly even serving our country in the armed forces. But I always loved talking to people. And there was something else. I was able to learn and study God’s grace and what a Savior over sin always means. So, I studied to be a pastor. After eight years of pastoral training, original Biblical language study, and an intern year in College Station, TX, I started out serving as a college instructor, coach, and pastor at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN.

In July 2021, my wife (Amelia) and I arrived in Amarillo, and we were excited to make West Texas our home (her Texas home again since she grew up in Allen). And now almost four years later, we have been blessed with two boys (Henry and George).

Amarillo is amazingly beautiful with its scenery, genuine people, and great local business and industry. But people continue to ponder, question, and struggle to see what grace really is and really means. Often, it really takes seeing God's Word for oneself. It's the only thing in life that's really a gift - undeserved love, forgiveness, and life forever in a Lord who loves you eternally. It compels us - to live, to love, and to learn what this really means.

If you would like more information about Amazing Grace, have a spiritual question, or want to grab a coffee and chat, you can contact me anytime. I would love to chat, get to know you, and share what your Savior has already done - no decision, no work, no this or that - just grace.

Derek Gulrud
Worship Leader

Hey! I’m Derek, our worship leader at Amazing Grace.  I love leading God’s people in worship, blending the rich Lutheran tradition with music that is modern and proclaims the Gospel. For me, worship isn’t just about singing—it’s about the incredible grace we have through Him.

I’m a big fan of using technology to enhance worship, making sure everything—from the music to the visuals—helps communicate God’s Word in a meaningful way. Some of my favorite artists include Shane and Shane, Phil Wickham, and Aaron Williams. Their music inspires me to lead worship that’s not only excellent but deeply rooted in God's Word.

When I’m not at church, you’ll find me spending time with my amazing wife, Becky, and our son, Luca. Whether I’m leading worship, working on new technology for church, or just hanging with my family - my life and mission is to share the hope we have in Christ.

Questions About What We Believe?

Here are some quick answers. Reach out to Pastor Hans for more answers to your questions.

  • Grace, as defined by God’s Word, is God’s free and wonderful gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8; John 3:16).

    It’s God’s undeserved love because all people are incapable of doing anything to produce or win God’s love or favor (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 3:23–24). It’s amazing because it’s so free down to the very fact that the reason you know and understand is called a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8–9).

    So, we let God's grace be God’s grace and not anything mankind does to earn or win God’s grace. Instead of an eternal life away from God, we are given grace—amazing grace that takes us home to him forever.

  • We believe that every person was born into this world as a sinner, completely unable to save themselves. But God solved that problem of sin by sending his son Jesus into the world to live the perfect life that we could not, die on the cross to pay for our sins, and rise from the dead to give eternal life in heaven to all who believe.

    Therefore, as the Bible states, people are like Christ in the sense that God sees them as he sees his own Son, holy and perfect (2 Cor 5:17-21).

    Therefore, as a “little Christ” (a literal translation of Christian), Christians are people who can be assured they have the gift of grace through faith about their eternal life proclaimed alone through the Bible.

  • In short, it means that we allow God’s grace to be God's grace. Even though the Lutheran church took on the name of a man named Martin Luther from the 16th century, being Lutheran means we are constantly focused on what the Bible teaches (grace, faith, scripture).  Luther didn’t have some great awakening or clever turn of events, he let the scripture speak for itself as he even translated it in the common language of German for all people. He wanted all people to see God’s grace for themselves. He wanted people to know God’s grace fueled their faith in the Savior of the world.

    Today, Christians follow in Luther’s footsteps as they want God’s Word to go out to all people as it is understood and proclaimed with truth and purity. 

  • We belong to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Being a part of a synod (a large group of churches) allows us to be involved with more ministries than we possibly could on our own. Those ministries include an excellent pastor and teacher training system, humanitarian aid efforts both nationally and internationally, and global mission work.

  • The Lord’s Supper is another great blessing that gives and assures the forgiveness of sins through Jesus (Matthew 26:28).  We celebrate the Lord’s Supper often with those who have expressed a shared unity of faith as the Bible relates (1 Corinthians 10:16–17; 11:27–29).

  • This is another great way that God draws near to a person and makes them a child of God through the water and His Word. Jesus commanded his followers to go and baptize all people and nations.

    Through the Bible, we see the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit happen through the means of baptism for all people regardless of age or race, culture or background. Even greater, forgiveness of sins is given and assured through the waters of baptism (Titus 3:5).

  • Pastor Thomford attended pre-seminary training and study at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN where he studied Greek, Hebrew, and German. After four years of study with a liberal arts degree and minor in German, he attended Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI. There he studied for four more years the entirety of God’s Word and teachings through Greek, Hebrew, classical languages, and other seminary coursework.

    In 2019, Pastor Hans Thomford graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and taught Old Testament Biblical survey at Martin Luther College for two years before arriving in Amarillo, TX to begin planting and shepherding the friends and members of Amazing Grace Amarillo.