The groundwork for Grace Baptist Church was laid in the early 1950s when a few missionaries from the Southern Baptist Convention of the U.S. began doing door to door evangelisation work in the small community of Kampong Bahru (just behind the Singapore General Hospital). A small shop house rented from the government was used for holding meetings and as a centre for outreach.
By August 1959, Grace Baptist Church was officially organised with 51 chartered members. In the ensuing 19 years till 1978, the Lord blessed the work in the community where we saw a steady growth in the number of families and children coming to personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through the concerted work of teaching and household visitation.
In 1978, the shop house had to give way to the urban redevelopment program embarked by the government. We then began four years of nomadic existence – renting public auditoriums and other church premises to continue the work of the Lord.
God is faithful. By 1980 we were able to locate and purchase the land at 17 Mattar Road, where the present building still stands. All the funds totalling $1.2 million (a substantial sum in those days) were sacrificially contributed by church members (assisted by a love gift of $50,000.00 from the Southern Baptist Convention). Testimonies abound of how God had answered prayers and moved hearts to give towards the progress payments as they fell due.
The completed building was officially dedicated to the faithfulness and glory of God on 22nd January 1983, with every bill paid.