About Grace Baptist Church
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Grace Baptist Church, McArthur is the result of the vision of several churches within Scioto Valley Baptist Association. The need of a Southern Baptist witness in the McArthur Community was seen by Emmanuel Baptist Church, Jackson; First Baptist Church, Waverly; and First Baptist Church, Athens. The first service was held on November 3, 1957 in an old residence on Main Street in McArthur. This initial effort only lasted for a few months. Start up was again attempted in June 1958, meeting in the old skating rink on South Street in McArthur. In these early days, Grace Baptist Church started and stopped several times and met in a variety of different places, of which included the Swan Township Hall on State Route 93 North of McArthur and the Episcopal building at 202 North Sugar Street. On July 4, 1971, Grace Baptist moved into a residence at 509 South Market Street. During that year, a larger residence was purchased at 201 East High Street with grounds that allowed for expansion. It is this site that has become the permanent location. The church moved into the new facilities on May 7, 1972. Sunday School attendance was over 100. Two buses were used to bring people to the services. Constitution Services were held on July 2, 1972 with 66 members. On June 9, 1984, 128 men, ranging in age from 11 to 73, with Carpenters for Christ began the construction of a new building. This group of men slept in the old High School. Completion of the building was in six days. In 1995 another need for construction was met with the building of the educational wing. The Head Start program also utilized the educational wing to meet the needs of the local community until November 2009.
In recent years the church began new ministries such as AWANA, GROW, Junior Church, and An Active benevolence outreach. In 2003 the youth went on a mission trip to First Baptist Church of Chesnee, South Carolina. Eighteen teenagers and five adults were participants in this mission endeavor and were blessed in their efforts of spreading the gospel with our Southern neighbors.
During the summer of 2003, Grace Baptist Church acted upon a vision and burden for a Southern Baptist work in Wellston, Ohio. The church assumed sponsorship of Grace Baptist Fellowship Mission in June 2003, and both congregations were exceptuionally blessed to witness the Constitution Service of Grace Baptist Fellowship Church on August 30th, 2009. Grace Baptist Church continues to look for outreach opportunities in McArthur and the surrounding communities.
In May 2008, a group of eight adults and one youth went on a mission trip to Murphy, North Carolina. The mission team taught VBS for a week at Pine Log Baptist Church, and all who participated were richly blessed.
Grace Baptist Church continues to seek God's will for our church body, and remains excited about God's plans for our future.
