Two local churches merge

 Two local churches, Heritage Baptist Church and Sembach Bible Church, merged together to form the Sembach Bible Baptist Church.
The church is located on B40 in Mehlingen.

 Heritage Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church, started when Missionary Pastor Gary Craft and his wife Karen came to the KMC in July of 2006. Their congregation met in the Crystal Room at the Hotel Barbarossahof in Eselsfürth.

Pastor and Mrs. Craft have ministered to the U.S. military for more than 23 years, 15 of which have been in Europe. Most recently, they served at Rhein Valley Baptist Church in Wiesbaden.

The Crafts have also pastored at stateside churches in Missouri, Iowa and Texas.

Pastor Craft also has served as a professor at West Coast Baptist College teaching Bible and missions courses.

Mrs. Craft, his wife of 36 years, serves by his side and coordinates the church music, organizes church functions and speaks to women’s groups.

Sembach Bible Baptist Church has a rich history of many blessed lives. It has ministered to active duty personnel, civilian employees, local nationals and their dependents for more than 35 years. Over the past several years, hundreds of military personnel and their families have called SBBC home.

The two churches voted to merge in August with Pastor Craft becoming the Pastor of the joined congregations.

With the recent merge, the church has begun renovations on the property. Phase I is scheduled to be completed this month and will include renovations on the auditorium and the exterior of the building.

The church is hosting an open house at 11 a.m. Nov. 4 at the church.  
During the transition period, the church service schedule will be 11 a.m. Sunday worship and 6 p.m. Sunday preaching. (Courtesy of Sembach Bible Baptist Church)