A Southern Baptist congregation in Kentucky has donated $100,000 to assist a neighboring church in paying down the cost of a recently purchased worship facility.
Bethany Baptist Church in Warren County provided the financial gift to Mission Church of Bowling Green, another Southern Baptist Convention congregation founded about 12 years ago. Mission Church currently has roughly 50 members, with weekly worship attendance reaching around 100 people.
Mission Church Teaching Pastor Eric Baker said in an interview with The Christian Post on Monday that the congregation was deeply moved by the unexpected generosity.
“We were simply overwhelmed by the generous gift of Bethany Baptist,” Baker said. “The grace of Jesus is unmerited, hilarious and lavish — this gift was a reflection of the greater gift and miracle found in salvation by grace alone, by faith alone, and in Christ alone,” he said.
Mission Church had recently purchased an older property from the South Central Baptist Association in December, securing the building for $500,000 to serve as its new sanctuary, according to Baptist Press.
“This gift will go toward helping us accomplish this,” he said. “We also want to pay a portion of the gift forward as well and are considering other churches to bless,” Baker added.
Although this is the first time Mission Church has received direct financial assistance from Bethany Baptist, Baker noted that the two congregations have maintained a supportive relationship over the years.
“Our churches and leadership are like-minded and have supported each other through prayer and some activities,” Baker said. “Our pastors meet monthly for prayer and encouragement.”
Bethany Baptist Pastor Lucas Page told Baptist Press that the church saw the donation as a natural opportunity to support a ministry with shared convictions that was facing a practical need. “It was a clear opportunity of a like-minded faithful, healthy church that had a need and we had more than we needed,” Page said.
Page explained that the funds did not come from recent offerings but from a legacy gift left to the church years ago that had grown over time.
“That significant amount of money is not money that the current membership at Bethany raised or gave sacrificially. That is part of an investment account that someone I never even met gave years ago,” Page said.
He emphasized that the congregation simply chose to steward the inherited funds by directing them toward a meaningful ministry need.
“They left it to the church and it grew and its amount was more than we had a current need for. It was good that we’re giving this money, but the real sacrifice wasn’t even to us. We’re just taking that money that we kind of inherited and found a need for it and gave it away.”
Baker expressed hope that the financial support will help the church focus its efforts on ministry and outreach from the new facility.
“Our prayer is from this new space many will be saved, baptized, become covenant members, and be sent out as missionaries to neighborhoods and to the ends of the Earth,” Baker said.
Mission Church is already engaged in partnerships both locally and internationally, including ministries in Africa and Poland as well as a local outreach called Hope House.
