Our Mission
The good news of the gospel is simple: through faith in Jesus Christ—his life, death, and resurrection—sinners can be reconciled to God. Yet eternity will not afford us the time to explore all that this means. This good news is unsearchable and our mission is to spread it (Eph. 3:8–10, 14–21). Or, as Jesus proclaimed to his followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20).
OUR IDENTITY
God’s people transformed by a gospel heritage
The name of our church, Heritage Bible Church, is shorthand for the message of our church: the heritage of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. This message is found in the Bible’s earliest pages, when God promises that a descendent of Eve will crush the head of the serpent, thus defeating sin and death. (Gen. 3:15). It can also be found on the last page of the Bible in an invitation by Jesus Christ to share in a gospel heritage:
Here are five facets of our Gospel heritage:
When Jesus says, “I am the beginning and the end,” he claims to be nothing less than the origin, the meaning, and the goal of all things (Rev. 22:13). He is the beginning and end of the Bible’s story, its subject and center. He is the author of our salvation, his blood and righteousness are the sinner’s only hope in life and in death. And he is the head of his church. At Heritage, we want Jesus Christ to be more than important to us. We want him to be precious to us, praised, and joyfully obeyed as King.
God’s Word is true and so it can be trusted. It is inspired by the Spirit, complete in the Old and New Testaments, reliable in all that it affirms, and sufficient to guide our lives and worship. Our identity in Christ is a lofty claim and the authority of Scripture is its solid foundation. At Heritage, we want our Bibles open, seeking to let the Word form and fill our worship and our life together.
How may sinners drink from a spring that lasts forever and satisfies us completely? This can happen only by God’s grace. Because Jesus is the eternal Son of God, our salvation is forever. Because Jesus swallowed death, we can taste fullness of life. Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, this salvation is free to any who will claim it. At Heritage, we want this grace to pervade every dimension of our life together, to shape our affections, to fill our lips, and to motivate our every thought and deed.
This heritage is available to all those who know their thirst and come to Christ by faith. We come as sinners in need of a Savior. Our need is bottomless and so is his supply. Because his supply is bottomless, so is the reach of these waters. Gathered around this spring are sinners of every kind, from every language, and from every place. At Heritage, we want to be a people who know our awesome stewardship of faith and pray earnestly for its global advance.
Jesus promised, “I am making all things new,” which fulfills God’s ancient promise, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). This is the full culmination of all that the Father promised, all that the Son accomplished, and all that the Spirit brings to pass. At Heritage, we want to see the glory of God manifested in our church for his praise and for his fame throughout the earth.
This is our heritage. It is a heritage rooted not only in Scripture, but also in the Protestant Reformation whose gospel recovery rang out in five familiar statements: salvation in Christ alone, revealed in the Scripture alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone.
OUR VISION
We long to see people truly find and treasure Jesus forever.
We live in a place where many think that they know Jesus, but don’t truly know him. We live in a place where many think that they have rejected Jesus, but they’ve never had a fair introduction to him. We want to see people truly find him, and in finding him to treasure him forever. This is a people-pursuing, gospel-clarifying, whole-salvation vision. This vision fuels our prayers and empowers our mission.
Elders, also called pastors, are called to shepherd the congregation and carry out Christ’s pastoral care for his church.
Harry Clement
Dan Cruver
Kevin Delp
Travis Fleshman
Kris Fraley
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John Gardner
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Chris Gerber
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Steve Hall
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Pete Hansen
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Trent Hunter
Kevin Johnson
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Sandy McCormick
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Jason Read
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Dan Rundle
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Deacons are called to serve the congregation in a multitude of ways. They meet the needs of the flock and free the elders for the ministry of the Word and prayer.
Milton Ashley
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Brian Burch
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Doug Goldstrom
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John Grove
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Tom Mackintosh
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Chris McCarnan
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Peter Selby
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Our staff partners with the elders and deacons to serve the church’s mission in strategic areas of oversight and support.
Trent Hunter
Pastor for Preaching & Teaching
Jason Read
Executive Pastor
Kevin Delp
Pastor of Children's Ministry
Chris Groat
Director of Congregational Singing
Matt Jackson
Director of Student & Family Ministry
Jim Knauss
Director of Discipleship & Training
Paul Coss
Director of Facilities
Lisa Hansen
Executive Assistant
Barb Illsley
Bookkeeper
Sarah Asire
Director of Women's Ministry
Brian Burch
Director of Technology
Melissa McKinnon
Preschool Director
Deanna Moore
Music Assistant
Caleb Greene
Creative Director
Confession of Faith
The church is a people with answers to life’s deepest questions: Who is God? What is our position before God? What went wrong with us? How can we be saved from sin and death, guilt, and hell? At Heritage, we find our answers to these questions in the Scriptures. We, as the early church also did, devote ourselves “to the apostles teaching” (Acts 2:42). Together, we are a family with a common hope and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Word.
Our Confession of Faith unites us in the Lord.
Membership Covenant
We belong to Christ and to one another. This is a tremendous privilege; a privilege that comes with responsibility. Our membership covenant is our way of overtly and publicly committing to one another as members.
Constitution
How We Started
Heritage Bible Church began in 1975 with a Christ-centered focus and a prayer-filled vision to “provide a place of worship where born-again, Bible-believing people will be fed on the Word in a congenial atmosphere.” The original name of our church was Bible Believer’s Church. The church grew from a home, to a rented space, and then, in 1980, to a building on its first property on State Park Road. With that move came another change —the new name of Heritage Bible Church.
Where We Are Now
The final move came in 1987 when the church relocated to its present home on the corner of Hudson and Old Spartanburg Roads in Greer, just outside of Greenville, South Carolina. With its home base established, Heritage sought to meet needs in other nearby communities, sending out its own men to plant and pastor other churches. As we look to the future, we endeavor to spread the fame of Christ and his kingdom throughout the world. Our fervent worship continues today, as we desire to know and love Jesus, to see his kingdom advanced, to praise him with our words and hearts, and to serve each other and our community in his name.
