About Us
The History of Faith Baptist Church
In February 1947, Pastor Kenneth Muck of Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, began Bible studies in Palmer. In May of 1950, Rev. George Carapelle was chosen to be the first pastor of Faith Baptist Church. On September 8, 1950, Faith Baptist Church was incorporated and began meeting at the Silver Street Chapel in Monson and then moved to the Palmer Grange Hall. From the Palmer Grange Hall, services were held at the building in Thorndike which is now New Birth Christian Church. The first land was purchased on Rt. 181 in October of 1955. Due to a storm and the future of the Massachusetts Turnpike, another parcel of ground, which is now our present location on Shearer Street, was purchased in January of 1956. Ground breaking for the church was on February 24, 1957, and the dedication was November 29, 1959. The parsonage was then built in 1962.
Groundbreaking for the educational building behind the church began the spring of 1984, and opened for the fall of 1986.
Faith Baptist Broadcast over radio W-A-R-E began September 1950, and our television ministry over M-Pact Channel 15 in 2000. Faith Baptist Christian Academy opened the fall of 1971, and has since closed their doors as of September of 2014. Faith Bible Institute began September of 2014.
Former pastors of Faith Baptist Church are George Carapelle (May 1950), J. Allen Ardsma (December 1961), Leon Dittzell (September 1965), William McMahon (September 1969), Darrell Lewis (January 1978), Paul Anderson (September 1980), and Matt Ohman (November 2015).
Our Mission
Growing Together.
Pointing to Christ.
Our Pastor, Matt McNeil
Pastor McNeil and his family were installed as the Pastor of Faith Baptist Church on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Pastor Matt grew up on a farm in Ohio, and later moved to Iowa. While working at Southland Christian Camp in Ringgold, Louisiana, Pastor Matt met his wife, Sarah. Pastor Matt holds a Masters in Biblical Counseling and is currently pursuing certification for counseling from ACBC. Before moving to Palmer, Pastor Matt served as Youth Pastor in Tennessee for 8 years. The McNeils have two sons, Emmett, who is 2 years old, and Oliver, 1 year old.
Our Beliefs
We believe in the Bible as the inerrant, verbally inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
We believe in the trinity of the Godhead: one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(John 6:27; Ephesians 4:6; John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8; Acts 5:3,4; Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 5:7)
We believe in the Christ’s deity (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8)
We believe in the Christ’s virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:20-23)
We believe in the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial return of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
We believe in the personality and work of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:8; Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:26); through whom men are regenerated (John 3:6) and led to repentance and faith (Romans 8:14); and that He convicts of sin (John 16:8-11)
We believe in the local aspect of the church as a body of believers, independent and self-governing, and is to edify itself (Ephesians 4:11-13), glorify Christ (Ephesians 3:20,21), and evangelize the world (Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 1:8)
We believe the two ordinances of the church:
a. The Lord’s supper (1Corinthians 11:26)
b. Baptism by immersion (Acts 8:35-39)
9. We believe in the need for members of the local assembly to live fully separated from worldliness and ecclesiastical apostasy (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17)
We believe in the eternal security of the believer (John 10:29; Romans 8:29,30; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 1John 5:13) and in the bodily resurrection and translation of all believers at Christ’s return (1Corinthians 15:51,52; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18)
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. (Genesis 2:24; 19:5, 13; 26:8,9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4)
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion, which constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life, is murder (Job 3:16; Psalms 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18, Luke 1:44)