A Replanted Beacon on Hearne Avenue
Springs of Grace Baptist Church sits at 6300 Hearne Avenue in the Sunset Acres neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana, a corner of the city where a 1950s church plant called Sunset Acres Baptist Church first met in an old airplane hangar. Seven decades later, the same address still serves as a place of worship. The congregation now identifies as a replanted church, called and committed to seeing the kingdom of God take root in Shreveport as it is in heaven. Its mission statement is a single, repeated cadence: for the glory of God, the good of the church, and the growth of the kingdom.
Seventy Years on the Same Corner
Sunset Acres Baptist Church began in the 1950s to serve a growing neighborhood in the heart of Shreveport. During its first forty years, the congregation built a sanctuary, classrooms, and a Christian Life Center with a gymnasium. In the 1990s, under Pastor Rex Blankenship, the church changed its name to Springs of Grace Baptist Church, a title meant to capture the way God's grace had kept springing up in that place. In 2005, straight-line winds stripped the sanctuary roof and set the steeple in the middle of Hearne Avenue. Services moved into the gym for two years while major renovations took place, and the storm's aftermath allowed the church to pay off all of its mortgages. The replanting effort began in 2023, when Pastor Jahill Richards returned to Minneapolis and Grant Rose was called back to his hometown as lead pastor. On August 11, 2024, the church reconstituted and covenanted together as a family, marking a fresh start without leaving the building or the block that had defined the ministry since the 1950s.
Sunday Mornings: Worship and the Word
The Sunday schedule is built around a clear rhythm of learning and worship. Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m. and offers classes for babies through youth, as well as three adult groups: a discussion-based class for men and women, a lecture-style class for men and women, and a lecture-style women's class.
Worship follows at 10:30 a.m. Visitors who come to the rear parking lot follow signs to the sanctuary, where the gathered church sings everything from contemporary worship songs to old hymns and centers each service on verse-by-verse preaching of the Bible. Nursery is available for babies through age four. The Lord's Supper is observed on the first Sunday of each month. The same stream of services is broadcast live on the church's YouTube channel, and a sermon archive and the current series are available for watching or sharing any time.
Midweek Around the Table
Wednesday nights at Springs of Grace center on shared food and shared study. The gym opens at 5:30 p.m. for a meal, after which children and students gather for Bible study. Adult prayer time begins at 6:15 p.m., with nursery provided for infants through age four. The pattern is meant to be a low-barrier midweek gathering for families who want a little more of the Bible and a little more of one another between Sundays.
Community Nights and Community Mornings
Two recurring programs open the building to the surrounding neighborhood. On the second and fourth Mondays of each month, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the gym is open for children and their families to play in a fun and safe space for fellowship. On the first Tuesday of every month, from 10 a.m. to noon, men and women of all ages gather in the gym for coffee, conversation, and games. Together, those evenings and mornings keep the doors of the church open to neighbors beyond the Sunday schedule.
The Family Covenant and the Core Values
Springs of Grace describes itself as a covenanted family, and the church's written covenant spells out the commitments members take on together. It begins with the solas of the Protestant faith: by grace alone, through Scripture alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone. Members pledge to love the Bible and search the Scriptures with biblical vigor, to pursue unity that showcases God's wisdom through beautiful diversity, to cling to an eternal mindset as citizens of a kingdom that cannot be shaken, to live life together through laughter, tears, service, and worship, and to walk in humble confidence before God and others.
Those commitments are tied to a Statement of Faith based on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the confession of the Southern Baptist Convention. Five core values shape how the church carries out its mission: biblical vigor, beautiful diversity, an eternal mindset, vital community, and humble confidence.
Women's Ministry, Students, and Vacation Bible School
The women's ministry of Springs of Grace hosts a free Bible study that meets at 3 p.m. on most second and fourth Sundays in the main building's dining room. The current study walks through the book of Exodus, gathering women around a shared reading of Scripture and conversation.
A dedicated students ministry serves the church's youth and is integrated into the Wednesday night meal and Bible study, as well as the Sunday morning schedule. Each summer, the church hosts Vacation Bible School for children who have completed kindergarten through fifth grade, held in the gym over three evenings. Recent VBS programming has centered on Peter, the friend of Jesus, helping younger children encounter the same gospel that shapes the rest of the church.
Staying Put in Sunset Acres
The Sunset Acres neighborhood has shifted economically, demographically, and spiritually over the past seventy years, but Springs of Grace has stayed at 6300 Hearne Avenue. The church is connected to a wider network of resources through a church app, a newsletter, a church calendar, and online giving. Sermons are streamed on YouTube, and a shop offers church merchandise. The church's leaders, Lead Pastor and Church Replanter Grant Rose, Elders Brenton Gryder and Micah Strange, and Ministry and Content Coordinator Jen Strange, share one conviction: that the gospel, faithfully preached in this place, is the same power that first turned an airplane hangar into a sanctuary and that keeps the springs of God's grace flowing into the neighborhood today.