Grace Harbor Church, New Bedford: A Gospel beachhead on the South Coast
Grace Harbor Church New Bedford now meets in a restored church building due to the work of church members and volunteers
Located between Cape Cod and Providence, the SouthCoast region of Massachusetts has a population of approximately 350,000. Its largest city is New Bedford. Once home to 500 whaling ships, New Bedford became the wealthiest city in America and was known as "The City that Lit the World." But, today 85% of the people live below the poverty line. And the city that lit the world is now receiving a different kind of light.
Morgan and Jess Proudfoot
In August, 2018, Morgan and Jess Proudfoot left The Village Church in Denton, Texas and moved to New Bedford to plant a gospel-centered church. They were joined by Luke and Dominee Callender and other core team members from The Village Church, while Grace Harbor Church in Providence provided oversight and financial support.
It was the perfect combination of church planting essentials: pastors with complementary gifts and a mutual sense of God's call to New England, generous churches committed to supporting them, and a core team of members who joined in the work.
Volunteers work to restore the building for Grace Harbor Church New Bedford
And work they did! Within six months of arriving, they were given a badly damaged church building in downtown New Bedford that was scheduled for demolition. For a full year, with Nehemiah-like effort, their core team, joined by volunteers from Grace Harbor Church in Providence and The Village Church in Denton, worked to restore the building. They began meeting in the building on June 7th, 2020 and three months later officially constituted as Grace Harbor Church of New Bedford.
Pastor Morgan Proudfoot has also launched Neighborhood Churches for Forgotten Places. Through this ministry he is working to enlist church planters and partners to establish thirty more neighborhood churches in New Bedford and twenty neighborhood churches in nearby Fall River! Once again New Bedford is becoming the city that lights the world!
Sam Taylor serves as the Boston area regional coordinator at the Baptist Churches of New England.
