The People of Grace

We are a local body of believers: men and women; children, teens, adults, and seniors. We have gathered together to worship God, grow as disciples, serve one another, our community and others as we share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are not perfect and are all sinners saved by God’s grace. We share the good times and bad times as we travel the road of life. When one of us falls down, our brothers and sisters in Christ gently encourage us to get up again.

We call ourselves Baptists, but first and foremost we are Christians. While we have a few Baptist distinctives, we share much in common with many other Protestant denominations. Please review the What We Believe page for more information.

We are a fully cooperating Southern Baptist congregation that participates in the local Immanuel Baptist Association, the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists and the National Convention of Southern Baptists. We truly desire to love God with all our heart, to love one another and to share that love with all the world. This means that we truly study to know the truth of God, live the joy of God and share the love of God with all.

A Brief History

Grace Baptist Church began on July 26, 1959 as the Parkersburg Baptist Chapel. The Chapel was sponsored by the First Baptist Church of Athens, Ohio. In June of 1960 the chapel called its first full-time pastor, Rev. Curtis Porter. In July 1960 the name was changed to Grace Baptist Church and had 26 charter members. In April 1961 the church acquired the property it now sits on. Work quickly began on a new building and was completed in July 1963. Since that time a nursery wing was added. In 1980 an addition for education and fellowship was added. The sanctuary was completely remodeled and enlarged.

Grace Baptist Church has assisted in starting five other churches: Fairlawn Baptist of Parkersburg, North Hills Baptist of Marietta, Ohio, New Life Baptist of Weston, Mineral Wells Baptist Fellowship of Mineral Wells and Victory Baptist Chapel of Belmont.