History

Weare Bible Baptist Church celebrates a rich history in the town of Weare, NH dating back to the 18th century when the first Baptist church in Weare was established in 1768 by Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill, MA. In the early 19th century, debate between the Calvinist Baptists and the Freewill Baptists of Weare split the church in two. The Freewill Baptists experienced a period of great revival and grew rapidly during the early 1800s under the leadership of Elder Hezekiah Buzzell, but this period of growth eventually ended when the many members of the Freewill Baptist Church in Weare splintered into five individual, small churches in the middle of the century. One of these, the East Weare Baptist Church outlasted all of the others and continued into the early 1900s. This church met in the old village of East Weare, a part of town which is no longer in existence today after multiple floods from 1927 through 1959 forced the government to build a series of dams (including Everett Dam) and residents had to abandon the area. After the evacuation of the old town, the East Weare Baptist Church moved to North Stark Highway and changed its name to Weare Bible Baptist Church.

In May of 2002, a new Baptist church was formed in Weare. Village Chapel Baptist Church began as a Bible study and held their first service on June 30th in a remodeled barn. In September of that year they began meeting in the Francestown Elementary School. Three and a half years later, they moved into the old Weare Middle School on Mother’s Day, 2006 where they met for a year until the construction of the new Middle School building and demolition of the old one necessitated their move into the Center Woods Elementary School. In October of 2007 they moved into the Twin Bridge Road facility which began a decade of great growth and service in our community. In 2018, amidst merger talks with Weare Bible Baptist Church (which was then without a full-time pastor), Village Chapel’s founding pastor, Andy Dean, departed from the ministry. This impacted their merger considerations and it was eventually abandoned. In 2020, after an 18-month search, Pastor Brock Mawdesley was selected to lead Village Chapel. Weare Bible Baptist continued without a full-time pastor until 2021 when they selected Pastor Josh Barnes to the position. In 2023, God saw fit to move Pastor Mawdesley from Village Chapel back to his previous ministry, and the Baptists of Village Chapel began another pastoral search. God has used this recent search to reforge the relationship between Village Chapel and Weare Bible Baptist Church. In September of 2024 the membership of both church voted unanimously to merge the two ministries and the Baptist churches of Weare became one and the history of Village Chapel Baptist Church became the history of Weare Bible Baptist Church.

After more than 250 years in the town of Weare, WBBC is still a pillar for truth in the community and a witness proclaiming the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to all.

*This information was derived primarily from the following sources: The Baptists of New Hampshire (by William Hurlin, O. C. Sargent, & W. W. Wakeman), The History Of The Freewill Baptists For Half A Century: From 1780 to 1830 (by I. D. Stewart (Author), Alton E. Loveless), & The History of Weare, New Hampshire (by William Little)