Our History
Grace Baptist Church was incorporated in December of 1970 as the Grace Community Chapel. George Swanson was the first pastor, and they met in the United Church of Christ on Flagg Road in West Hartford.
After Pastor Swanson resigned in September 1972, Russell Sykes was called to be the next pastor in February of 1973. During his ministry the church began looking for a new location to worship. Pastor Sykes was instrumental in the move to Windsor.
After two years, Pastor Sykes resigned to pastor in South Carolina. In 1976 the church called Keith Gephart to be the next pastor and soon after, Tim Coley, was called as the Assistant. Shortly thereafter, Grace Baptist Church merged with the Windsor Bible Fellowship and on December 4, 1977, they had their first meeting together. The following year, 1978, the church voted to rent the facilities of the Loomis-Chaffee School in Windsor. The following year, Pastor Gephart resigned to take a teaching position at a Seminary in California.
In 1979 the church voted to call Glen J. Farnham to be their pastor. During Pastor Glen’s ministry the Lord blessed Grace Baptist with a new building. Both Ben and Jon Sasportas were instrumental in helping locate the land and also building the facilities. Under Pastor Glen’s leadership, God used the Sasportas’ to build what we see today. During Pastor Glen’s ministry, his brother, Clay, was called to be the assistant pastor and served for 3 years.
After Glen’s death, the church voted to call Clay as the Pastor. He accepted the pastorate in 1990. Clay served the Lord for 14 years as Pastor. Clay resigned in 2004.
During the fall of 2004, God led the church to ask Jason Stephens to pray about Grace.. Jason had been an Assistant pastor and youth pastor for nine years. After prayer and counsel from family and mentors, he was led to pursue God’s call. Jason and Clare were burdened over the mission field in New England.
Throughout Jason’s ministry, three core values have been taught and lived out: Conversation. Transformation and Mission. These values are seen in our biblical worship of Jesus, discipleship training, transformed lives and mission pursuit. Jason believes that a commitment to Biblical Discipleship and Small groups are an important to helping the overall health of the church. These disciples can help others grow closer to God. Our desire is to give hope and help to the hurting by leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
The pages of our church’s history are still being written. We want to please God and experience His blessings. We want to reach our world and those across the street with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The future at Grace is bright! Will you pray about joining us for this journey?