First Person: The Story of Great Commission Baptist Church

BENNINGTON, Vt.—Great Commission Baptist Church (GCBC) is a church plant located in Bennington, Vermont. We planted the church with the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 28:18-20. We work to obey the Great Commission by Evangelizing the Sinner, Edifying the Saint, and Exalting the Savior. We are a church planting church; so our mission is to spread the Gospel and, as the Lord leads, send out church planters to start new churches throughout Vermont, New England, the Northeast, the United States, and the world. The church plant is led by a five-person pastoral team, all leading the various ministries of the church: Dr. Mark Ballard, Aaron Spiller, Caleb Rodriguez, Reese Sweeney, and Hunter Simpson.

Great Commission Baptist Church was established on October 6, 2024 in a business meeting held directly following the first worship service. We began by meeting in the chapel of Northeastern Baptist College (NEBC), which is where we are still currently holding our weekly worship services. When the church was forming, Dr. Ballard, president at NEBC, prayerfully formed the pastoral team with all of the associate pastors being current students at NEBC; which allows us to grow as pastors through mentorship and experience while also growing in knowledge through our hands-on academic studies. With gathering directly on campus, a significant portion of the congregation at the church is associated with NEBC, whether as students, staff, or faculty. Furthermore, with our focus remaining in reaching the lost around us, the Lord has blessed our church with several families and individuals from the community.

I have recently been asked several questions regarding the ministries of Great Commission Baptist Church, to which we hope will provide you and your local church additional clarity about how we are currently fulfilling our mission.

What fruit has God been producing at the church?

During the summer of 2025, GCBC directed a stronger focus toward evangelism efforts in order to reach the community in Bennington. With help from mission teams, sent by partnering churches from across the country, we set out to engage in community outreach by using community surveys that lead to a number of fruitful Gospel presentations. During these surveys, we shared the Gospel with the people we contacted and saw one person profess faith in the Lord. We also invited the people we contacted to participate in a block party we hosted, where over seventy people heard the Gospel presented and three more professed faith in Christ. However, our evangelism efforts have not been limited to one season. Throughout 2025, we baptized ten people and saw our membership nearly double, growing to over forty active members.

How is the church supporting the Lord’s work beyond itself?

The purpose of the church to spread the Gospel throughout the world has not been overlooked or forgotten by the leadership or congregation, despite the church being so young. GCBC has been determined, since the beginning, to give faithfully to other ministries that are working to spread the Gospel to every area of the globe. Since the church was founded, we voted to give fifteen percent of the church income to various ministries such as other church plants, biblical academic institutions, the Baptist Churches of New England, the Conservative Baptist Network, and more. We believe it is never too early for a church to work toward furthering the Gospel to areas beyond itself and there is no criteria for a church to meet before they can begin multiplying. At our most recent business meeting, we voted as a congregation to increase our monthly giving to sixteen percent toward missions and church planting. In addition, the pastoral team at GCBC is currently praying through where and when to plant another local church.

We believe it is never too early for a church to work toward furthering the Gospel to areas beyond itself and there is no criteria for a church to meet before they can begin multiplying.

What does discipleship look like at the church?

When a person is led to the Lord or a believer begins coming to GCBC, they are baptized if they have not been since the time of their conversion in accordance with the biblical order. Once they are baptized, they may be presented to the congregation who votes to count them as a member. When somebody becomes a member, a place is immediately found for them to serve in the church. For anyone interested, member or not, we have various classes established for the individual to grow in their walk with the Lord. These classes include a men’s Bible study, a study for new converts explaining how to grow biblically called Map to Maturity, an evangelism training course, and a Spiritual Gifts study to help every believer see how the Lord has called them to serve in the local church. We also offer a children’s church to disciple children and a youth group to provide discipleship to the teens in the church.

Every single person at Great Commission Baptist Church are fully committed to fulfilling the Great Commission through the ministries of the local church and by planting a local church in other communities so everyone is reached with the Gospel. We would love to have you and your local church partner alongside us in planting another distinctly Baptist church. Whether it's through prayer, short-term ministry trips, financial giving, etc. we would love to chat with you as we continue to fulfill the Great Commission work in the northeast.

This first-person story was written by Hunter Simpson, one of the associate pastors serving at GCBC and a current student at Northeastern Baptist College.

If you and your local church would love to partner alongside GCBC, please contact our team at the Conservative Baptist Network or contact the church directly via email or their website at gcbcvt.org.