A Swedesboro church family proclaiming the Gospel in southern New Jersey.
History
Grace Baptist Church was established in 2008 after Pastor Stephen Keith followed God’s call to plant a church in his hometown of Swedesboro, NJ. In 2016, Pastor David Schank took over directing the congregation, continuing the mission of proclaiming the Gospel in southern New Jersey. We are a member congregation of the American Baptist Association.
Leadership
Lead Pastor
David Schank
Pastor Dave began attending Grace in 2009 with his family and quickly became an active member of the church, serving and playing drums on the Praise Team. After following God’s call into ministry, David was ordained and became the Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor in 2013. He is honored and blessed to now be the Lead Pastor of Grace Church.
Both Pastor David and his wife, Heather, grew up in Logan Township and still reside here with their family. They have two wonderful children, Norah and Libby, and a wonderful dog, Hope. They feel it a great honor to be pastoring at their church in a town that they absolutely love.
Associate Pastor
Chad Shoemaker
Pastor Chad has grown up serving in church and felt the call into ministry in 2010. After coming to Grace Church in 2017, Pastor Chad and his family quickly became active members of the church. He served in youth ministry as a volunteer until 2021, when he transitioned to Associate Pastor. Pastor Chad attended Liberty University, graduating with a B.S. in Religion: NextGen Ministries in 2020.
He currently lives in Swedesboro with his wife, Sam, and their two children, Thomas and James.
When not running student ministry activities, you can find him leading the monthly men’s group, assisting his wife with outreach events, and practicing soccer and baseball with his two children. You can find Pastor Chad and his family each Sunday, ready to greet you with a hello and friendly smile.
Portrait photos are temporary placeholders — fresh headshots coming.
Statement of Faith
These twenty-one articles define what Grace Baptist Church believes and teaches. They are drawn from Scripture and expressed in the traditional language of the American Baptist Association. Tap any scripture reference to read the verse in four public-domain translations.
Preview style
Six designs below — same 21 articles, different presentation. Tap any scripture reference to open the verse in KJV, WEB, ASV, or BBE.
1.
We believe that love one for another as Jesus loves the believer manifests our discipleship, proves our love for God and symbolizes our authority as New Testament churches. Love is therefore the great commandment of the LORD Jesus Christ upon which all others are dependent.(;;;;;)
2.
We believe in the infallible, verbal inspiration of the whole Bible and that the Bible is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.(;)
3.
We believe in the personal triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in divine perfection.()
4.
We believe in the Genesis account of Creation.(;)
5.
We believe that Satan is a fallen angel, the archenemy of God and man, the unholy god of this world, and that his destiny is the eternal lake of fire.(;;;;;)
6.
We believe in the virgin birth and sinless humanity of Jesus Christ.(;;)
7.
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.(;;)
8.
We believe the Holy Spirit is the divine Administrator for Jesus Christ in His churches.(;;;)
9.
We believe that miraculous spiritual manifestation gifts were done away when the Bible was completed. Faith, Hope and Love are the vital abiding Spiritual Gifts.(;;)
10.
We believe that Man was created in the image of God and lived in innocency until he fell by voluntary transgression from his sinless state, the result being that all mankind are sinners.(;;)
11.
We believe that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ was substitutionary for all mankind and is efficacious only to those who believe.(;;;;;)
12.
We believe in the bodily resurrection and ascension of Christ and the bodily resurrection of His saints.(;;;)
13.
We believe in the premillennial, personal, bodily return of Christ as the crowning event of the Gentile age. This event will include the resurrection of the righteous to eternal heaven, and the Millennium will be followed by the resurrection of the unrighteous unto eternal punishment in the lake of fire and that the righteous shall enter into the heaven age.(;;;;;;)
14.
We believe that the depraved sinner is saved wholly by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and the requisites to regeneration are repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,(;;;;)and that the Holy Spirit convicts sinners, regenerates, seals, secures, and indwells every believer.(;;;;;)
15.
We believe that all who trust Jesus Christ for salvation are eternally secure in Him and shall not perish.(;;;;;)
16.
We believe that God deals with believers as His children, that He chastises the disobedient, and that He rewards the obedient.(;;;;;)
17.
We believe that Jesus Christ established His church during His ministry on earth and that it is always a local, visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers in covenant relationship to carry out the Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and each church is an independent, self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it. We believe that Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to the New Testament churches only, and that He promised the perpetuity of His churches.(;;;;;)
18.
We believe that there are two pictorial ordinances in the Lord's churches: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Scriptural baptism is the immersion of penitent believers in water, administered by the authority of a New Testament church in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord's Supper is a memorial ordinance, restricted to the members of the church observing the ordinance.(;;;;)
19.
We believe that there are two divinely appointed offices in a church, pastors and deacons, to be filled by men whose qualifications are set forth in Titus and 1 Timothy.(;)
20.
We believe that all associations, fellowships, and committees are, and properly should be, servants of, and under control of the churches.()
21.
We believe in freedom of worship without interference from the government and affirm our belief in civil obedience, unless the laws and regulations of civil government run contrary to the Holy Scriptures.(;)
