"Called Together by God's Grace"

A History of Heritage Baptist Church

Heritage Baptist Church, a congregation of free and faithful Baptists, was organized in 1987 by a group of deeply committed lay men and women who felt God's call to move out from downtown Cartersville and establish a new church in an outlying area which would be able to reach those persons moving into rapidly growing Bartow County. The new congregation of more than 100 people began meeting on the 2nd floor of what was then C & S Bank of Cartersville. They soon called the first staff members, a secretary and a pastor.

In September of 1988, in order to meet the demands of the growing fellowship, the church called its first time minister of music and youth.

Within two years of organization, property had been purchased and the first stage of building completed. The church moved to its permanent location at 324 Pine Grove Road (now 1070 Douthit Ferry Road) on January 8, 1989.

Recognizing the uniqueness of God's call to each particular congregation, Heritage Baptist Church, after months of research and work, drafted in February of 1989 the first version of its church covenant-a fluid document which seeks to define and redefine the church's vision of its ministry and goals within the framework of God's leadership. This document serves the church as an important guidepost and measuring stick for its fellowship and ministry.

Throughout its brief history, the church has felt a strong sense of mission-both to the local community and to the world beyond. In the summer of 1989, the church sponsored with Habitat for Humanity the building of the Heritage-Habitat Miracle House in a one-week "blitz-build" campaign. The house was constructed on the church's property and then moved to its location on Herring Street. In 1990, Heritage Baptist Church participated with other area churches in the builiding of another Habitat house. A team of lay missionaries was commissioned by the church for service in Haiti in 1989. Youth groups have participated in mission trips to places such as New York City, Miami, Atlanta, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The church's Good Shepherd Committee continually fields calls for help of various sorts within the community.

In the fall of 1990, the continued growth of the church prompted the drafting of plans for the construction of additional educational space. In a bold move, it was decided that no additional money would be borrowed and that much of the building would be done "in-house" with the commitment of talent, time, and the monetary contributions of church members. Work on the facility began in the summer of 1991. In September of 1993, the church moved into the completed, debt-free facility. Early in 1994, the church purchased a new Allen organ and grand piano for its worship center.

In the spring of 1990, in an effort to broaden its denominational horizons, Heritage Baptist Church voted officially to affiliate with the Southern Baptist Alliance (now the Alliance of Baptists). Since that time, the church has also affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In the intervening years since these beginnings, the church's mission vision has grown. The Good Shepherd ministry of the church has helped Heritage establish a community-wide reputation as a church who cares deeply about those in need on our local area.

Believing strongly in the importance of Christian education for all age-levels of the church family, in September of 1994, Heritage Baptist Church expanded its professional staff with the addition of a full-time minister of Christian education and youth.

In January of 1996, the church established an official sister church relationship with the Mount of Olives Baptist Church in Holguin, Cuba. Groups of church members have visited Cuba on several occasions, taking with them humanitarian gifts of money, medicine, toys, expertise in the medical field, and other forms of assistance.

Heritage also shares the task of Christian ministry with churches of all denominations in our community. As a supporter of the Cartersville Counseling Service, the church helps make professional Christian counseling available to all people in our community.

The church participates in other mission endeavors via its support of the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, as well as other designated missions projects. As the Southern Baptist Convention has taken stand after stand at odds with the covenantal principles which guide Heritage Baptist Church, any affiliation with that body has now ended. The fact that the church sees the professional clergy as servant-leaders rather than authority figures, and the church's inclusive spiritin affirming diversity in its members and its elected leaders has precluded relationship to a convention which no longer values the historic Baptist freedoms of the autonomy of the local church, the priesthood of every believer and the separation of church and state.

"We believe that God gives Heritage Baptist Church a vision of a fellowship that accepts all who confess Jesus as Savior and Lord, and of a fellowship that is committed to loving God and all people" (Church Covenant)