Although we had a facility at
which to meet and worship there were other things needed. Tuesday, May 15,
a group of S.S. teachers met with the Wheelers in the annex at Gladstone.
"Concern was felt as to where the pupils would sit as we had no chairs."
(1)
After prayer they went home. "Wednesday word was received that an unnamed
source was giving us seventy-six chairs, wooden upright type." (1)
Of concern also was a place for the Wheeler family to live. After resigning
from Calvary Baptist, the Pastor had to vacate the parsonage which was next
door to the Church. "A family living near Cain Lake was leaving for the summer
and needed someone to live in their home and care for the grounds." (1)
Clearly, God answered the prayers, and saw to the needs of this small body
of believers.
The first year 1956,57,
saw some familiar names come through our Church. Especially notable were Bill
and Lillian Lancaster, missionaries to Japan, who visited the Church
in September, and evangelist Elton Crowell who held evangelistic meetings
during October. Church attendance was usually sixty to seventy in the morning
services, with a record S.S. attendance of ninety-three in Dec. of 56'
On May ninth of 1957 Articles
of Faith were read and approved and they drew up the dedication that is now
in the foyer. "Following a year and a half preparation and planning, Grace
Baptist Fellowship has completed its organization to Grace Baptist Church."
(2)
In July of 1959 articles of incorporation were read and approved and later
filed with the State.
Shortly after our organization
we applied for membership in the Regular Baptist Convention (GARBC). Certain
members of Calvary Baptist did their worst to prevent our acceptance. Apparently,
still holding a grudge from the split, they sent letters to the "Convention"
trying to prevent our acceptance. When a representative of the governing
council visited Bellingham, they paid him a visit in an effort to stop us.
Their efforts proved fruitless, during June of 1960 the GARBC approved us
for membership in the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
In 1959 the congregation that
owned the Gladstone building was anxious for us to buy that facility. We
looked at several options, including buying some lots on Lakeway Drive
and building our own church. However, in early September the price for the
old Faith Lutheran building had been lowered to a sum thought affordable
by our congregation. The motion was made that we buy this building. On October
4th of 1959 we held our first services in our "new" (3)
building. We continued our services in our "new" building at the corner of
High and Maple Streets in Regular Baptist fashion. Fifty to eighty regulars
attended most services. Now and then, the pastor's "musical saw" would ring
out, accompanied by Mrs. Wheeler on the piano.
In 1960 Mrs. Watson joined
us after her baptism. She has been an active member ever since, longer than
any other person in our membership. People moved on and new people came in
to replace them. However, an important turning point came in September of
1962, when Pastor Wheeler read his resignation in a Thursday night business
meeting. One deacon protested and admonished Pastor Wheeler, saying that
Grace Baptist needed him. Pastor Wheeler in a loving and gracious manner
told the congregation that ‘no church is, or should be dependent on one man,
that he would move on. A new pastor would take his place, and eventually
that pastor would move on also. What happened to us, depended on our
willingness to follow the Lord's leading in our selection of a new pastor,
and our faithfulness as stewards of what God has given us.' In October,
Pastor Wheeler moved on to pastor First Baptist Church of Tumwater, WA.
Pastor Wheeler lead us through the formation and organization of our Church
and the purchase of our first church building. Thank you Pastor Wheeler!
On January 20th of 1963
the members voted to call Cordell
Baker as pastor. According to the records, we offered him the whopping
sum of seventy dollars a week and three weeks vacation. Pastor Baker and
his family joined us about a month later. We got our money's worth and then
some, as the pastor was a very capable Bible teacher. Pastor Baker was even
more music oriented than was Pastor Wheeler. Nearly every service had some
special music. He also organized a church choir. The choir sang a song at
nearly every morning service, at times there were as many in the choir as
were seated in the pews. How many still remember, O Worship the King?
At one time or another it seems, nearly every member served in the choir.
The sixties saw a gradual increase
in attendance. By the late sixties our morning worship service saw an average
attendance near one hundred. We were starting to outgrow our building, and
we had nowhere to expand at that site. Our parking strip had room for only
six or seven cars and people were having to park all around the neighborhood.
Thoughts started going to the idea of buying property and building a suitable
facility. We were given one property as a bequest, but at the time it was
landlocked and access was too costly. We purchased five acres on Donovan
Street with the intent of building there. However, we later decided to purchase
the ten-acre parcel that is now our present site for $14,000. We didn't jump
in hastily, records show that it was six years from the first ideas in 1967
to the start of construction in 1973. During these years, nine of our current
members, including the Neufelds,
joined our ranks.
Ground was broken for our present
building in 1973 and the building was fully completed in 1976. We sold the
High and Maple facility to a martial arts teacher and the new church was
not finished enough to occupy. During a short period in 1974 the Church was
without a physical home. We held Sunday services in the YWCA building
for about six months. Late in 1974 we moved into the basement of our church
as work continued on the main auditorium and offices. Mr. J. Helgeson acted
as the general contractor and Pastor Baker acted as the construction supervisor.
Except for a few items, a crew of volunteers from our membership and others
in the county constructed the building, which was a major factor in keeping
costs down. Total cost for the building including the pews was about $76,000.
Many local GARBC churches gave assistance in the labor to construct our building.
Especially noted are Nooksack Valley Baptist, and Grace Baptist of Lynden.
We held the dedication service in November of 1976. We thank God for the
men and women who's effort and perspiration have given us our building and
our Church.
The year, 1982 was another year that saw major changes at Grace
Baptist. In February of 1982 we called Mr. Moir as Minister of outreach.
In the summer Pastor Baker resigned as pastor with the intent of serving
as a church planter for Baptist Mid Missions. We asked Mr. Moir to serve
as interim pastor while we looked for a new pastor. Pastor Baker was still
part of our congregation until 1984 when he went into a church planting ministry
with Baptist Mid-Missions. He had served our Church for almost twenty years
as pastor, lead us through the acquisition of our property and the building
of our Church. He worked long and hard in the service of the Lord and in
service to the congregation. We as a Church owe Pastor Baker our gratitude
and our thanks for a job well done.
In December of 1982, we called
Mr. Hoefs as pastor. In 1985 we installed the sign that now faces James Street
Road. It was paid for in part with the memorial fund of Carl Sorstokke, who
was one of the original members of Grace Baptist. During the mid eighties
Bellingham Baptist School operated in our building. The School was a cooperative
effort between Grace Baptist and Bellingham Baptist. The mid eighties also
saw our Church come free of rent or mortgage for the first time in its history.
Praise the Lord! Pastor Hoefs served us for seven years, until 1989. In these
seven years, twelve of our current members, joined our church. Thanks Pastor
Hoefs.
After Pastor Hoefs left, Pastor
Vater came to Grace Baptist to serve initially as an interim pastor. While
here as an interim pastor, we called him to work as full time pastor. Pastor
Vater put time, effort, and thought into how Grace Baptist could better do
the job God has called us to. After evaluating member surveys the pastor
made the observation that "Our purpose as a church is to evangelize and to
edify believers. . . . Too often we gear our church programs to meet our
tastes, when we need to consider the needs of the unsaved around us." Perhaps
this is still true. One item Pastor Vater looked into was the idea of bringing
in a youth pastor. There were some hopeful candidates, but, it was not to
be at that time. Pastor Vater served our congregation until 1991. During
his tenure we saw five more current members join our church. Thanks
Pastor Vater for your service to Grace Baptist.
After Pastor Vater resigned, we
were without a pastor for nearly a year. We had several prospective candidates
for the job during that time, but we were not able to make things come together.
According to one member, these were bleak times for Grace Baptist, attendance
and participation were dropping to a very low number. The one bright spot
was that we saw a new member, Vera, join us.
The struggles and trials proved worth
it when we called Pastor Mordhorst to our pulpit in 1992. where he
still serves. In the past few years we have built the garage, improved the
landscaping, repainted the church. We saw our attendance start to come back
up too. Praise the Lord! In the past few years we have added twenty-three
new members to our rolls. One of our most recent bits of church history was
the installing of Mark Irving as our Youth Pastor.
God has blessed us at Grace Baptist
by giving us such distinguished and capable pastors. We have never been wanting
in quality Bible preaching and teaching. Truly the Lord has blessed us through
these men. Thanks again to Carl Wheeler, Cordell Baker, Hank Hoefs, Virgil
Vater, and Bob Mordhorst. Lest I forget, we should also thank the wives of
these men who served along side of their husbands. Thanks to Florence Wheeler,
Virginia Baker, Deanna Hoefs, Marty Vater, and Cynthia Mordhorst for their
service to the Lord and to Grace Baptist Church. Lastly, thank You LORD for
providing these men and women to bless us and to serve the church called
Grace Baptist Church of Bellingham.
During November of 1999 we held
our first church reunion. All former members were invited as were the former
pastors. Many of the old members attended our reunion weekend. With the exceptions
of the Wheelers all of our former pastors attended and took part in the various
services. Although not physically able to attend, Pastor Wheeler was interviewed
on tape by Pastor Mordhorst and explained some of the history of our church. Pastor
Wheeler, though now in his late eighties is as sharp and witty as ever. The
interview was taped, courtesy of KCCF radio and engineer Andy Struiksma,
thank you KCCF and Andy. (Click
here to hear the interview)
This year has seen some notable
events at Grace Baptist. We have hired our first youth pastor, as a step
in faith to help continue the work here. We have recognized the pastors and
church members, past and present, who have been such an important part of
making our Church what it is today. Lastly, as we close out this year, and
this millennium, we have gone "on line" with this first Grace Baptist web
site.
I started by subtitling this
paper "where we have been." It is important that we not forget the struggles
we as a church have gone through and the people that have lead us through
them. We have come a long way since 1956. In forty-three years, we have occupied
three different buildings and have had five different pastors. We have seen
the joy of babies born to our members and we have had the sorrow of burying
old and dear friends in Christ. We have seen new members come in and we have
seen some move away and others fall away. Yet it is more important
to consider where we are going. Pastor Vater stated it well when he said,
"Our purpose as a church is to evangelize and to edify believers." We need
to work as individuals and as a body to carry out this purpose. As Pastor
Wheeler said, "Hats off to the past and coats off to the future." Pray that
God will use each of us, this body, and this building for his glory. -FLM-
1. This quote was taken from the
notes and diary of Grace Baptist Church, written and compiled by Margaret
Sorstokke. Thank you Mrs. Sorstokke
2. Quote is taken from an article
in the Bellingham Herald, Sept. 1957
3. Although "new" to us, the building
was constructed as the First Presbyterian Church in 1889. Our "new" church
was 60 years old when we moved in.
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not at that meeting, formed the nucleus of our church. 
