Why aren't there more churches like this in our area?" asked Eric Craven when he accepted Christ in 1995 at Granite State Baptist Church of Salem, New Hampshire. Today, thanks to men like Eric, Pastor Anthony Milas of Granite State, and some other New Hampshire church planters, there are.

When Anthony Milas became pastor of Granite State in 1997, he articulated a vision to plant new churches in the New Hampshire-Massachusetts area. Matt Kyzer joined the staff of Granite State as a church planter, and in 2001 started Crossroads Baptist Church in Pelham, New Hampshire. Intending from day one that Crossroads would be a church-planting church modeled after Granite State, a fixed percentage of their mission commitments went into a fund dubbed "Church Plant Fund."

Eric Craven and his family, who had been working in a church in another state, joined Crossroads approximately four months after it began and stepped into a volunteer assistant pastor role. Two years later, Crossroads was able to employ him full time.

In the meantime, Granite State stayed true to their church-planting vision and started The Journey Baptist Church in Rochester, New Hampshire (pastored by Rob Willis), and was already planning to begin another church in Manchester, New Hampshire. Then, in early 2006, Granite State was given an abandoned church building and property in Haverhill, Massachusetts. They turned to Crossroads, now a five-year-old congregation of 250, and offered them the property for a new church plant.

Crossroads and Eric Craven were ready for the challenge. The property and church building in Haverhill, though in rough shape, was debt free. Matt, with his experience planting the Crossroads church, designed a plan that would allow the new church to have the best chance at success. The plan included borrowing enough funds to rehab the building (new sanctuary, roof, siding, windows, doors, and landscaping). This made the building look attractive and inviting. Neighbors were thrilled to see someone care for the old church. Enough funds were also borrowed to pay Craven a full-time salary and operate the church (run ministries and outreach events), allowing Craven time to build relationships without having to hold down a full-time job outside of the church. Once the congregation grew, the offerings would extend the one year of operational money. Wayne Guinn and the Judea Samaria Fund (NCPO) secured a loan of $175,000 with the backing of Crossroads, Granite State, and The Journey churches.

Since the church already had a building, there was no need for preliminary services. It was clear to the surrounding neighborhoods that this new work was serious and this new church cared about what they were doing. New Heights held a construction open house midway through the construction process and then held an open house one week prior to the first service. Construction lasted five months and New Heights held its first service on October 1, 2006, with over 100 attending.

Crossroads and The Journey assisted during the first couple of months with the children's ministry, nursery, and praise music. This allowed New Heights the time to begin to acquire its own staffing for these ministries. Granite State Baptist Church sent some of their members during the first couple of months to help fill the seats to provide a higher comfort level for guests.

Eric and the growing membership stayed focused on Sunday mornings and on building relationships over the first three months. The close relationships with the other churches enhanced the Sunday morning worship time and guests could not believe it was a church only a few services old.

The church has grown steadily over the past year and a half. There have been over 50 professions of faith and 20 baptisms, and the church now has two services. The finances have extended themselves well beyond what was expected, and the church fully intends to be self-supporting by the end of 2008.

While most church plants do not have the benefit of being given a building and property, the greater key to the church's success was the church-planting vision and the partnership of a network of New Hampshire churches. Craven treasures the relationship with the sending church. Crossroads provided prayer, people, finances, and its baptismal tank since New Heights does not have one. New Heights has also benefited from a strong network of churches that desire to see each other succeed.Jon K