Groveland Missionary is celebrating 125 years of ministry to it's community. Founded in 1898 by 41 members of the area, GMC has been an icon at the corner of Queenwood and Springfield since 1911. The original church building, purchased from the Groveland Methodists (first built in 1848), is still in use. Throughout it's history, the church continued to expand and grow. The church has sent out foreign missionaries to a number of countries and still supports works in eight countries. It helped start two area churches, Mt. Olive Missionary in Peoria, and the Pekin Bible Church in Pekin, as well as the Harvester Missionary Church in Fort Wayne, IN. Groveland Missionary is part of the Missionary Church Inc. whose headquarters is in Fort Wayne, IN and is one of the oldest churches in the denomination. The church is inviting the entire community to come and celebrate with them on this historical occasion. Saturday August 12th from 3-5 pm the church is holding an open house of all its facilities along with an ice cream social. Current and previous pastors, missionaries, and attenders will be present to share memories and view pictures from the past 125 years. Sunday August 13th starting at 10 am, the church will have a praise and worship service with special guest Jimmy Santiago, current President of the Missionary Church. There is no cost to attend any of these events. To find out more information on this and other events of the church, you can go to www.grovelandmc.org.