Students Join Northeastern Baptist College Chancellor in Growing Great Commission Baptist Church
Mission teams supported Great Commission Baptist Church by hosting a block party in historic Bennington, Vermont. Seventy-five people attended the downtown outreach and three professed faith in Christ. The Bennington Battle Monument (lower right) commemorates a pivotal victory for American forces on the New England front of the American Revolution.
Mark H. Ballard announced in September 2024 that he would be planting a church in Bennington, Vermont. The founding president and chancellor of Northeastern Baptist College (NEBC) shared a vision from the Lord for planting a local church in Bennington, reaching the community with the gospel, and multiplying itself across New England, the country, and the world.
After three meetings were held to provide information about the local church plant, Ballard prayerfully searched for a pastoral team to lead the church. Over the following weeks, he said he felt the Lord lead him to call Caleb Rodriguez, a sophomore from Butte, Alaska, as the exaltation pastor; Hunter Simpson, a junior from Asheboro, North Carolina, as the edification pastor; Aaron Spiller a junior from Wilmington, Vermont, as the administration pastor; and Reese Sweeney, a sophomore from Cortland, New York, as the evangelism pastor.
What makes this interesting, though, is that all four pastors he selected are full-time NEBC students. As the lead pastor, he would train them in local church planting and pastoral ministry while they were still studying those topics.
Four Northeastern Baptist College students and Mark Ballard, the college’s founding president and chancellor, planted Great Commission Baptist Church, Bennington, Vermont. They are (left to right) Reese Sweeney, Aaron Spiller, Ballard, Hunter Simpson, and Caleb Rodriguez.
When the pastoral team was established, others were led by God to join the local church and its first service was held October 4, 2024 in the NEBC chapel. (A new location has been acquired and it may be ready to use by September.)
Following the service, a business meeting was held to establish Great Commission Baptist Church in the midst of what is often called the least-churched state in America. The congregation then voted to establish its founding documents, which state that its purposes are to be a congregation that plants local churches, and that is dedicated to furthering the gospel and multiplying itself until Jesus returns.
A 2026 budget of $60,000 was established to immediately begin fulfilling these purposes by committing 15 percent of its income to planting local churches, missions, and church-planting organizations including Baptist Churches of New England.
It didn’t take long for GCBC to begin making an impact. A year ago, in January 2025, the church held its first baptism service and baptized three people. The church members then served throughout the summer, working hard on community outreach to build connections with the local residents and invite them to visit or join the church.
“There’s nothing quite like watching new believers start following Jesus. God is always faithful and we have really seen his faithfulness this year at GCBC.” —Reese Sweeney
“I tend to struggle with a doubt about whether God will bless the work of his laborers, yet he is showing his faithfulness to me daily through the blessing of his church.” —Caleb Rodriguez
“Starting at GCBC was full of challenges and uncertainties, especially while also being in college; but the one thing we knew we could always be certain of is the faithfulness of our Lord, which has been evident without fail since the beginning.” —Hunter Simpson
“One way I have seen God moving at GCBC is how he prepares our hearts during worship to go before him humbly and be edified by his word.” —Aaron Spiller
Since GCBC has a large population of college students, numerous members were unable to join the summer outreach, but the Lord provided help. Mission teams from Cedar Grove Baptist Church, Asheboro, North Carolina; Currey Creek Church, Boerne, Texas; Quail Springs Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Hibernia Baptist Church, Fleming Island, Florida; traveled to Bennington to help with door-to-door surveys.
Reese Sweeney taught evangelism for a week last spring at OneLife Christian Academy in Moralia, Mexico.
The mission teams also hosted a block party on Bennington’s Main Street. Seventy-five people attended the downtown outreach and three professed faith in Christ. The help from visiting mission teams made a drastic impact on the ministries of GCBC throughout the rest of the year.
By the end of 2025, GCBC counted forty members, three baptism services, and ten people baptized. Going into 2026, the church has voted to increase their missions giving from 15 to 16 percent of their general income. This decision was made because the church is dedicated to faithfully fulfilling the Great Commission by evangelizing the sinner, edifying the saint, and exalting the Savior.
This process will lead naturally to more local churches being planted. In addition to giving financially, the GCBC pastoral team and members are praying about where to plant another church. Great Commission Baptist Church, which was planted to multiply itself, recognizes that there is no better time than now to diligently seek where the Lord is leading the next plant to go.
Northeastern Baptist College gives students a biblical foundation for a lifestyle of missionary service.