Our Story
Unlike many churches, Bedford Road Baptist Church has three histories. Because we were formed by the merger of two congregations, we have two amazing stories of God’s grace that have brought us to where we are today. What is Bedford Road today was formed in 2010 by the merger of two existing congregations.
Grace Baptist Church (1974)
Heritage Baptist Church (1989)
In 1974, Stan Rockafellow founded a church in Merrimack, under the direction of Conservative Baptist Home Missions Society (now called Church Venture Network). After meeting in the Middle School, they purchased the current location on Bedford Road and held their first worship gathering there in March of 1978. After Stan left in 1979, the congregation continued to minister to Merrimack under several pastors including Bill Balson, who served for twelve years. During the years of 2004–2009, the congregation had some upheavals and went through some changes.
Paul Shultz relocated to Manchester in 1988 and formed Heritage Baptist Church, meeting first at the junior high school and then moving to a plumbers' union hall in Hooksett. A year after Paul resigned, the congregation called Erik DiVietro as pastor in 2004. At the time, they were meeting in a retail location, and by 2009 the cost of this space was cumbersome. The congregation looked for opportunities to merge with another church of like faith, and through a series of "coincidences" they connected with Grace Baptist Church.
Coming Together
After extensive discussions, the two congregations decided to worship together for a year (2010) and then legally merge at the end of the year. The combined elders then drafted our Defining Documents, which were unanimously accepted as the constitution and by-laws of the new congregation.
Over the intervening years, Bedford Road has continued to work on being more biblically grounded. This means not only in the teaching but also in our methodology. We have also continued to improve the facilities that God has blessed us with, upgrading space and equipment so we can continue to serve our community faithfully.
Why Is Bedford Road a "Baptist" Church?
The Baptists were the original "non-conformists." They rejected the ideas of the Magisterial Reform, which rejected the rule of the Roman Catholic Church but still insisted that the State and the Church were inseparable. They demanded morality through law and administration of city and states. The Baptists, who arose in the Lowlands of Western Europe in the 1600's, held that the Church was separate from the State, and that only those who voluntarily followed Christ (as opposed to those who were baptized as infants) composed the Church. Holding to the belief that one was saved solely by the work of Christ and not through sacraments or moral conduct, the Baptists also believed that the local congregation was the only autonomous, self-determining expression of the Church. The local congregation was subject to the absolute authority of Scripture.
While we at Bedford Road recognize that "Baptist" has some negative connotations, we believe the historical heritage of independent congregations, commitment to Scripture and the preaching of the gospel are something we cannot simply throw away. Although we look and sound a bit different from other baptist churches, we hold to the same foundational beliefs and practices that baptists have held to for centuries.