Visiting a new church can be a little scary and overwhelming. We invite you to explore the options below to make your visit something to look forward to.
We are here because of the good news of Jesus Christ.

We are sinners who have been rescued from sin by Jesus Christ. Though we have different backgrounds, ethnicities, opinions, and personalities, we find commonality in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We gather each week to worship the one true God revealed in the Bible. We're grateful for the privilege He has given us to worship, live, and serve in our local community.

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We rely on God's grace to give us true unity to function together as one body in Jesus Christ, submitted to the Word of God and committed to living that Word out in our daily lives.

Learn What the Good News Is

Who We Are

 

We are called Heritage Baptist Church because we believe in the Godly heritage of the Baptist Church.  There are certain core beliefs that set Baptists apart, which are known as the “Baptist Distinctives.”

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We also believe that many churches of today have forgotten the heritage that they have and have moved to a more entertainment, “consumer-oriented”  style of church.  Heritage Baptist Church stands for the Biblical mandate to edify the believer through the Word of God not just to “tickle the ears” of the hearer.

 

What to Expect

Walking into a church for the first time can be intimidating, so we want you to help you know what to expect when you visit.

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We promise not to embarrass you or point you out. If you wish you can fill out a connection card and we’ll follow up with you later. You can come knowing you are in the midst of a group of broken people, whom all need God’s grace.

Children

We are thankful to have a congregation with many children. We encourage all parents to train their children to worship as part of the church. We provide nursery for children up to age 2 for the entire worship service and dismiss children ages 3-8 for children’s church before the sermon. Some children remain in the service the entire time, and we welcome their presence.

Service Format

Our service is intentional, in that it follows a deliberate order of worship, but it’s not formal in style. We sing several songs, offer congregational and pastoral prayers to God, hear Scripture read, and give our offerings and tithes. 

Sermon

Preaching is generally expositional, meaning that it seeks to systematically work through passages of Scripture, declaring the point of a particular Biblical passage, with practical application rooted in the redemptive story of Scripture. Sermons usually last around 45 minutes and are packed with material for reflection. Our sermon series regularly alternate between the Old and New Testaments. All preaching is driven by the Gospel, the Bible’s main message of God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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We preach and teach from the King James Bible, our final authority for faith and practice.

Music

​​We sing hymns that are both theologically rich traditional in their style. We strongly prefer congregational singing, which emphasizes the gathered body enthusiastically singing praise to God with one voice. 

Meet Our Pastor

 
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Rob Kinney

Pastor

My Name is Pastor Rob Kinney.  My wife and I met at Pensacola Christian College in 1999.  After graduation in 2001, Michelle and I were married.  Immediately, we moved to Illinois where I became a youth pastor, and Michelle taught second grade.  In 2003 we moved to Stevensville, MI where I took a position as Assistant Pastor.  Our daughter, Michaila-Ann was born in February of 2004.  Then came Matthew in 2005, Weston in 2007,  Nathan in 2009, the final addition to our family is Noah, who was born in 2012. 

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While in Stevensville, the LORD called us to start a Church and in April of 2009, we moved to the Traverse City area to begin planting Heritage Baptist Church.  We are sent out of Maranatha Baptist Church in Lansing, MI.  In February of 2010, we started meeting in the Cass Commerce center on Cass road.  

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Until the Church is self-supporting, I work a full-time job as an eighth-grade math teacher at Grand Traverse Academy. Michelle is a stay-at-home mom and a wonderful one at that.  The kids enjoy playing in their back yard and with each other.  

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My deepest desire is to magnify my Lord, to do His will, and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Please pray for us as we start His church and consider this a personal invitation to visit us at Heritage.  

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“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”  Phil. 1:20

What We Believe

 

Baptist Distinctives

  • B – Biblical Authority: The Holy Bible is our sole authority for faith and practice.

  • A — Autonomy of the Local Church: The local church should be self-governing and self-supporting

  • P — Priesthood of the Believer: Every saved individual has the authority through Jesus to come boldly unto the throne of grace.

  • T — Two Offices Pastor and Deacon: The Church has two offices — Pastor and Deacon. 

  • I — Individual Soul Liberty: Every soul has the liberty and responsibility to choose to accept or reject Christ and His commandments

  • S — Saved and Baptized Church Membership: Every member of a local Baptist church should be saved and followed with being baptized

  • T — Two Ordinances Baptism and The Lord’s Supper: Two ordinances were given to the Church by Christ Himself as pictures of His death, burial, and resurrection.

  • S —  Separation: Every believer ought to be separated from the world.

Articles of Faith

  • We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Tim. 3:16, 17; II Peter 1:19-21).

  • We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Ex. 20:2, 3; Matt. 28:19; I Cor. 8:6).

  • We believe in God’s direct creation of the universe, without the use of preexisting material, and apart from any process of evolution whatever, according to the Genesis account.  (Gen. 1:1-31; Ex. 20:11; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 11:3).

  • We believe That Jesus Christ is God the Son eternally existent, and co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy spirit. (John 1:1-14, Gen 1:1).

  • We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary, a virgin, and is fully God and fully man.  (Isa. 7:14; Luke 1:35; Gal. 4:4).

  • We believe that Man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; that all human beings are born with a sin nature and are sinners in thought, word and deed. (Gen. 1:26, 27; 3:1-6; Rom. 5:12, 19; 3:10-13; Titus 1:15,16).

  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe on Him, repent of their sin, and accept God’s free gift as the only way of salvation, are justified on the grounds of His shed blood.  (Isa. 53:4-11; Acts 13:38, 39; Rom. 3:24,25; 4:5, 5:1, 8, 9; 6:23; II Cor. 5:19-21).

  • We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there as our High Priest and Advocate. (Matt. 28:1-7; Acts 1:8-11; I Cor. 15:4-9; Heb. 4:14-16).

  • We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes, seals and indwells every believer at the moment of salvation and that the Holy Spirit empowers every believer for holy living.  We believe that the Holy Spirit today bestows service gifts upon believers and that the miraculous sign gifts (see Addendum 1 Our Position on the Charismatic Movement) ceased with the end of the Apostolic period. Eph. 1:13; 4:11-12; 5:18; Rom. 8:9; 12:6-8; I Cor. 12:13; Heb. 2:3, 4; I Cor. 13:8-13; Eph. 2:20).

  • We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are regenerated (born again) by the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.  (John 1:12, 13; 3:3-16; Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8,9).

  • We believe in the “eternal security” of the believer, that it is impossible for one truly born into the family of God never to be lost again.  (John 6:39, 49; 10:28, 29; Rom. 8:35-39; Jude 1).

  • We believe in the personal, imminent, pre-millennial return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. when the Church will be gathered together unto Him. (John 14:1-3; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-58; II Thess. 2:1-13).

  • We believe in the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church (“the body of Christ”) when the Church will be gathered together unto Christ in heaven.  (John 14:1-3; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-58; II Thess. 2:1-13).

  • We believe in the literal fulfillment of the prophecies and promises of the Scriptures which foretell and assure the future regeneration and restoration of Israel as a nation.  (Gen. 13:14-17; Jer. 16:14,15; 30:6-11; Rom. 11).

  • We believe in bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved in a literal Heaven, and the everlasting punishment of the lost in a literal Hell.  (Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 21:1-8).

  • We believe that the Scriptural ordinances of the church are Believers’ Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and are to be administered by the local church:

    • That baptism, by immersion, should be administered to saved individuals as a symbol of their belief in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and as a testimony to the world of their salvation and of their death, burial and resurrection with Him;

    • The Lord’s Supper should be partaken of by baptized believers in the assembled church as a memorial of His death until He comes. (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47; 8:26-39; I Cor. 11:23-28; Col. 2:12).

  • We believe that all Christians must be separated in three areas:

    • Separated from worldly and sinful practices.  They are to be holy, even as He is holy, and this desired behavior will always be diametrically opposed to the course of this present age. 1Peter 1:13-16; I Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2; I John 2:15-17.

    • Separated from apostasy and unbelief, whether in ministry, worship, or by joint religious activities. 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; I Timothy 6:3-5.

    • Separated from disobedient brethren and doctrinal compromise with respect to all ministry. Rom 16:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14-15; 2 John 10-11.