A Church on Mulberry Avenue
Grace Baptist Church sits at 5785 Mulberry Avenue in Portage, Indiana, in a residential stretch on the city's east side not far from where Garyton was once a separate community. The congregation carries a single line above its name wherever it gathers: "Where the Spirit of God Dwells." Pastor Randall Forsythe, who has led the church since 2003, opens his letters to the congregation with the simple sentence, "We are a family of faith, passionately connecting to Christ," and the building at Mulberry Avenue has been the steady address for that family for well over sixty years.
Three weekly rhythms keep the doors turning: Sunday School at 9:30 AM, Sunday morning worship at 10:30 AM, and a Wednesday evening gathering at 6:00 PM. The congregation is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, traces its beliefs to the Baptist Faith and Message adopted in 2000, and has built its identity around what it calls the "consistent, vibrant, down-to-earth preaching and teaching of the Bible."
From a Garage to a Building Debt Free
The story of Grace Baptist is a story of building. In the summer of 1955, a layman named Clayton Taylor asked young preachers from Ross Baptist Church in Calumet Township to help him start a new mission in the Garyton area. The first meeting place was a two-car garage on Bell Street, cleaned and furnished with chairs borrowed from Ross Baptist. Sunday afternoon services at 2:00 PM were held there until winter forced a pause. In early spring of 1956, Taylor rented a house on Dombey Road, Black Oak Baptist Church paid the rent, and Sunday School was added in May.
On November 18, 1956, the mission was officially organized as Garyton Missionary Baptist Church. The first convert was a brother of the founding pastor, the first piano came from Black Oak, and growth outran every building the young church tried. A tent was borrowed from an Army Surplus store for worship while Sunday School met in the rented house. After renting space at the American Legion Building on 25th Avenue, where members had to sweep up beer cans and endure the smell of fish fries before each service, the church purchased three acres at the corner that is now 5785 Mulberry Avenue in 1958. In 1959, twenty men dug the foundation in three weeks, and on October 4, 1959, the church held its first service in a building of its own.
By 1968 the church had grown to an average attendance of 110, a Sunday School enrollment of 208, and a new name: First Southern Baptist Church of Portage. In June 1972 the church voted to begin a bus ministry, and four buses brought children, guests, and newcomers to Sunday School for years. In 1981 Pastor Norman Johnston shared a vision for a new auditorium and fellowship hall. Through the labor of the congregation and three partner churches in Texas and Arkansas, that building was finished in 1986, debt free.
In 1994 the name was changed to Grace Baptist Church, new pews and carpet were installed, and the nursery was expanded. On February 9, 2003, Randall Forsythe filled the pulpit for the first time, intending at that point to serve as a missionary in Ukraine. Within months he was called with one hundred percent of the vote, and on June 1, 2003, he became pastor, moving into the parsonage with his wife, Jean. On November 20, 2005, the church's 49th anniversary, the building saw its highest attendance at 243 people, and on June 25, 2006, Forsythe became the first pastor ordained by Grace itself.
The Sunday Rhythm
The Sunday morning schedule is shaped by a single verse, 1 Corinthians 3:9: "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field." Sunday School begins at 9:30 AM with classes for every age, and a Welcome Center in the main foyer is staffed each week to help guests find a place. The morning worship service gathers at 10:30 AM and runs in a familiar order: music, prayer, an offering, and a sermon from Pastor Forsythe.
The congregation aims to worship God throughout the entire service. Music opens the gathering, and the style alternates weekly between traditional and contemporary. An offering is collected each week as a way of "giving back to God just a small bit of what He has so abundantly blessed us with." Forsythe preaches expositionally through books of the Bible, with sermon series on the prayers of Jabez and Hezekiah, the Seven Last Words of Jesus, Advent, worldviews, revival, and a long series on prayer and fasting. Recent messages include "Right In Their Own Eyes," "Choose Joy," "How to Walk With God," "Jesus Is Worthy," "The Lostness of Man," and "Words From The Risen Christ." The audio archive stretches back to 2014 and is available for download.
Wednesday Nights for Teens and Adults
Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM bring the building back to life for two groups at once. The teen ministry, called Soul Survivors, meets in the fellowship hall for students in grades 6 through 12, with a focus on fun, fellowship, and discipleship. At the same hour, adults gather for prayer, Bible study, and connection around the pulpit. The Wednesday program has long been the church's midweek hub, joining the generations around the same hour of the week.
What to Expect as a Guest
Grace has built a Guest Central page around the questions first-time visitors tend to ask. The dress code is wide open. "You'll see people in everything from jeans to suits on Sundays," the FAQ notes. "Our concern isn't what's on the outside, but what's on inside. Come as you are." Parking is available in the main lot in front of the building and in the back lot behind it, with handicap accessible spaces in both.
Inside, the seating is open too. "Don't worry about it. Sit wherever you want. Nobody has a claim on a seat." The Welcome Center in the main foyer is the place to stop first; a Welcome Team member will walk a guest through the list of Sunday Bible study classes and help find a fit for any age. A nursery and a "Crying Room" are available for infants, and the church offers dedicated classes for children from preschool through high school seniors, as well as groups for college-age students and single adults.
Children, Teens, and Young Adults
The children's ministry works in partnership with parents from birth through fifth grade. The youngest babies hear, "Jesus loves you." Older twos begin hearing simplified Bible stories with a snack, and Pre-K and kindergarten children work through complete Bible stories and related verses. First through fifth graders dig into Bible truths with their peers. On Wednesday evenings, Soul Survivors serves grades 6 through 12 in the fellowship hall, and Young Adults gathers separately for single, engaged, and married young adults looking for a quieter place to study the Bible and serve God.
Men and Women Around the Word
The men's ministry meets the second Saturday of every month at 8:00 AM at Tate's in Portage for breakfast, prayer, and fellowship, and welcomes men of all ages. The women's ministry is designed for women of every age and stage, with a focus on studying the Word of God and helping each woman recognize and use the gifts God has given her.
Beliefs Rooted in Scripture
Grace Baptist describes itself in plain terms. There is one true God, the creator of everything, who made human beings in His image. Sin separates people from God, and God sent His Son Jesus to pay the debt of sin so that anyone who believes can receive new life. That free gift is what the church calls grace. Salvation rests on deciding to believe, and questions along the way are welcome.
The congregation holds to the Baptist Faith and Message, the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention, as adopted in its revised form on June 14, 2000. The church affirms soul competency, the priesthood of every believer, religious liberty, and the authority of Scripture. Baptists, the statement reads, "honor the principles of soul competency and the priesthood of believers, affirming together both our liberty in Christ and our accountability to each other under the Word of God."
Becoming a Member
Membership is open to anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, has been scripturally baptized by immersion by a New Testament church, and adopts the church's statement of faith and practice. Candidates are counseled by the pastor and deacons, then presented to the congregation at the next business meeting. Members can join by baptism, by letter from another Southern Baptist church, or by statement of their salvation and baptism. Voting is by the members present at that meeting.
A Church with a Missions Heartbeat
The church's mission statement is a single verse, Acts 1:8: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Mission giving is built into the church budget, and funds are sent every month to a range of mission causes around the world. The church also continues to live the missionary call close to home. In September 1959, Garyton Missionary Baptist helped plant a mission on McCool Road that today is Portage Missionary Baptist Church. The giving page lists several ways to support the work, including secure online giving, the weekly offering plate on Sunday morning, mailed gifts to 5785 Mulberry Avenue, and text giving to 219-233-2326.
Music, Prayer, and the Pulpit
Music has been woven into the life of Grace from its very first weeks, when Mrs. Spann played the first piano (donated by Black Oak Baptist Church) and a new convert named Reedman Vaught led the singing. Today a music ministry anchored by choir, an electronic piano purchased in February 2005, and rotating traditional and contemporary services keeps the worship fresh from one Sunday to the next. Prayer is also a steady thread. Sermon series on the Prayer of Jabez, Hezekiah's Prayer, prayer and fasting, and victorious praying have built a culture of intercession in the church, and the weekly bulletin regularly highlights prayer as the "greatest battle" and the "mighty weapon" of the Christian life.
Finding the Church
Grace Baptist Church is located at 5785 Mulberry Avenue in Portage, Indiana, with the church phone line at 219-762-2663 and text giving available at 219-233-2326. The sermon archive, statements of faith, staff bio, history, and directions are all posted online, and the church can be found on Facebook at gbcportage. For over six decades the same address has held the same calling, and the same motto still crowns the front page: "Where the Spirit of God dwells."