Target new england Free Will Baptists Return to Their Roots by Richard Atwood     Learn more about the ministry of the Home Missions Department at www.homemissions.net.

MY WIFE SANDY AND I RECENTLY DROVE through the northeastern United States and New Brunswick, Canada to visit home missionaries. The Northeast is a beautiful part of the country and contains a lot of American history, but the area is very needy spiritually. The good news? More and more Free Will Baptists desire to plant churches in that area.

Our first stop was York, Pennsylvania. This growing area lies 100 miles west of Philadelphia. Allen and Jenny Hall (pictured above, left) are just getting started. Although they had services during the summer, their actual Grand Opening Service was September 9.

Eight Free Will Baptist church groups have come from across the nation to help the church in York. They were instrumental in getting out the word that a new church was starting. The church currently meets in a Sheraton Hotel meeting room.

The next stop on our route was North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Bill Reynolds is a Rhode Island native, so he has the right accent to fit into this area. He even knows how to cook lobsters! The Beacon Free Will Baptist Church meets in a rented building (pictured above) in a new shopping center. Bill’s wife Christy plays the keyboard and does an excellent job leading the music. The church has purchased three acres of land in a great location for $300,000. Bill is working hard to raise the money to pay for the land. When the loan has been retired, the church plans to acquire a loan from the Home Missions Department and build their own facilities.

From Rhode Island, we drove to Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, where Jeff and Donna Crabtree are home missionaries. The congregation meets in a new building (9,300 square feet) located on 19 acres. Jeff and the congregation have done a lot of work on the building, aided by several FWB church groups. They have a beautiful church building and a friendly group of people. Eastern Canada currently has about a dozen churches. Jeff hopes to start a Bible institute to train workers and see more churches planted in Canada.

Our next stop was Rochester, New York. Dana and Betty Booth and Jim and Sylvia Martin are starting a Free Will Baptist church in a fast-growing area just south of Rochester. The new church is near the home of David Marks, Free Will Baptist evangelist in the early 1800s. Dana and I visited the American Baptist Historical Society to see several of the records and papers of the northern Free Will Baptists before the merger. The display included several letters written by Benjamin Randall. After starting in a hotel, the church in Rochester now meets in a rented facility. The sign pictured to
the right marks the location of one of the historic Free
Will Baptist churches in this area of New York.

On our way south, we swung through Pennsylvania and visited Greensburg, a growing suburb of Pittsburgh. Tom and Pam Jones, son-in-law Nate Altom, and daughter Jenna (pictured below) have begun their second work in the beautiful city. The church holds services in a Courtyard Marriot Hotel meeting room. It is tough for church planters to find affordable buildings to they can use all week. But the church has been blessed—Pam and their three daughters do a great job singing!

In the late 1800s 500 Free Will Baptist churches were scattered across the northeast. Today, fewer than 20 churches are located in the region. However, our home missionaries are dedicated, hard-working people who know they are in a fight against the devil. Their job isn’t easy, but God is working. They are determined to see the lost won to Christ. Is God calling you to help start a church in the Northeast?

About the Writer: Richard Atwood is the director of missionary assistance for the FWB Home Missions Department. He and his wife Sandy often spend time with church planters across the nation.