Thirteen believers gathered in the home of Gary and Betty Beaty on November 11, 1979.  The group met from November 1979 to March 1980 in the Wilma Crall School’s music room and the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Galion.  Gospel Baptist Church was formed on March 15, 1980 under the authority and auspices of Deer Park Baptist Church of Cincinnati, Ohio; hosted by Calvary Baptist Church of Marion, Ohio; and Dr. Tommy Trammel preached “The Success of a Church” from Acts 4:13-37.  54 people came forward and signed the Original Charter Membership.

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As the congregation began to increase, land was found at 5670 State Route 19 and groundbreaking services were held for the new auditorium and classrooms on June 14, 1982.  The dedication service was held on Sunday, October 31, 1982.

In 1988, the congregation called Monty & Lori Trammel as their Pastor.  The church soon found, like any other growing family, that it needed more room for new members.  As the church quickly grew, a second Sunday morning service was started in July of 1993.  Ground was broken for a new auditorium and offices in March of 1996 and the first service in the new building was Easter of 1997 with an attendance of 751.  This addition was paid off in three years and a Family Life Center was built in 2004.

A series of floods in the summer of 2013 left the church with over $300,000 of uninsured flood damage.  After construction concluded, and the services had resumed in the main auditorium, Monty Trammel resigned on October 5, 2014.  Mike Newman served as interim pastor for several months and helped the church through the pastor search process as well as healing. 

 

On June 21, 2015, 151 members called Steven & Rebecca Hodges as lead pastor.  The church began a 4 year transition to a disciple-making ministry and an updated constitution that reflected a pastor team.  Much necessary renovation and repairs have been done in that time, and the church is currently working on an intense plan to pay off the remaining debt from the floods of 2013.  We look forward to seeing how God uses us to make disciples in Crawford County, Ohio.