After much prayer to determine God's will and direction, Dr. Lee Roberson, Chancellor of the Seminary, suggested that he go to either New England or the Southwest. During a trip to New England, it seemed that God focused the attention of both Pastor Rowley and his wife Deanna on the East Hartford / South Windsor area.
After knocking on over 10,000 doors, the church was launched on June 29, 1980, with an attendance of six people and one dog besides the four Rowleys. From that day until the present time, the Lord has helped the church grow steadily to a regular attendance approaching 300 combined attendence from the two Sunday morning services. The Rowleys have five children, three of whom are married and two in Christian college.
The Lord has graciously supplied the needs enabling the members of the church to build the current facilities debt free. All praise for these accomplishments must flow to Jesus Christ who alone is preeminent.
Pastor Matt Harper and his family joined our pastoral staff in June of 2004. Matt trusted Christ as his Savior at the age of six and surrendered to God's call on his life for the ministry while in high school. He graduated from both Northland Baptist Bible College (WI) and Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (IA).
He and his wife, Melanie, have three children: David, Daniel, and Jenna.