On the corner of 22nd Street and LaForest Avenue in Bismarck, North Dakota, Bismarck Baptist Church has been gathering for worship and teaching for more than a century. The congregation was organized on February 25, 1912 by a small circle of German Baptist believers and is now part of the North American Baptist Conference. Today the church is known for its Wednesday-night dinners for students, a steady rhythm of discipleship for every age, and a far-flung network of global partners that reaches from Bismarck to Romania, Cameroon, Brazil and beyond.
Sundays are simple at BBC: a single morning gathering at 10:30 am in the sanctuary, with children's ministries available the same hour. The week that follows is full. Youth programs run on Wednesday evenings, Sunday School classes meet at 9:30, Community Groups gather during the week, and the building opens its doors for weddings and community events. Lead Pastor Kerry Bender, who previously served twelve years as pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Minneapolis and six years as Vice President of International Missions for the North American Baptist Conference, frames the church's invitation with two short sentences that sit at the top of every page: “Come as you are. Grow with us.”
Sundays at Bismarck Baptist
Sunday morning starts earlier than the service for many. Sunday School classes meet from 9:30 to 10:15 am for every age, from birth through fifth grade, through middle school and high school, and into an adult class led by Pastor Kerry through books of the Bible. The 9:30 hour also has a slot for students called 412 Sunday, after which they join the rest of the church for worship.
At 10:30 am the sanctuary fills for the weekly gathering. The service pairs spirit-filled contemporary songs with hymns and choruses that have shaped the congregation for decades, and includes time for teaching, communion and baptism. BisBap Kids are dismissed partway through for an age-appropriate lesson that walks them through the Bible as one connected story, and a nursery is open the same hour. For those who cannot be in Bismarck on a Sunday, the service live-streams at 10:30 am on the church’s YouTube channel. Past messages include series on the Fruit of the Spirit, the Minor Prophets and Paul’s letters, with archives that go back through many volumes of expository teaching.
BisBap Kids: Venture Out with God
The children’s ministry runs on a motto drawn from 3 John 1:4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Sunday morning is Kid’s Church, when children from birth through fifth grade study the unifying storyline of Scripture. On Wednesday evenings the church hosts Pioneer Clubs, a Christ-centered program that integrates Bible study, Scripture memory, life-skills training and relational discipleship for elementary-age kids. Parents can register for both programs online, and a BisBap Kids Facebook page keeps families connected.
Kasie Huether leads BisBap Kids as Pastor of Children and Families. She moved to Bismarck with her family in 2023 after spending time in Montana, where she met her husband at Montana State University Billings.
BisBap Youth: Grow Down, Grow Up, Grow Out
Pastored by Caleb Almen, who has been in youth ministry since 2020 and graduated from Crown College, BisBap Youth is organized around three words. Grow Down means rooting students in Scripture and the Gospel itself, not in personalities or programs. Grow Up means walking alongside students in the everyday rhythms of life, showing up at games and mentoring them in their gifts. Grow Out points to multiplication, sending students into the world to teach the next generation what they have learned.
Wednesday evenings are the anchor of the youth week. A shared meal is served at 5:00 pm, followed by a gathering that runs through the evening. Sunday mornings bring students together at 9:30 for 412 Sunday, with everyone joining the corporate worship service at 10:30. A weekly update email is available for parents and students who want to follow along.
Community Groups and the Rhythm of Discipleship
The church’s small-group ministry is called Community Groups. They are intentionally mixed - married couples, singles, men, women, parents, teens and empty-nesters - and meet in homes across the Bismarck area during the week. The aim is as uncomplicated as the lists themselves: develop relationships, support and pray for one another, and study God’s Word together. Anyone who would like help finding a group can simply contact the church office.
Bismarck Baptist teaches a “rhythm of life” for disciples that includes daily Bible reading, weekly service to someone outside the church, monthly meals with a Community Group and a monthly meal with someone outside the church. Sunday morning, the church teaches, should function as a Sabbath anchor - attended intentionally with technology set aside and heart prepared in advance.
Following Jesus: Transformation, Mission, Love
Bismarck Baptist describes itself with three short phrases: committed to transformation, called to mission and catalyzed by love. Transformation refers to the spiritual practices that shape a Christ-follower over time. Mission means showing God’s love in the home, neighborhood, city and region - partnering with local schools to mentor children, supporting Pioneer Elementary, encouraging members to host neighborhood block parties and small groups. Love is presented as the catalyst: “the Love of Jesus that one has felt through others” is what stirs both mission and transformation.
The church is governed by a team of Elders (called Deacons in the NAB tradition) and led by the staff. Members are encouraged to grow in five marks at BBC: experience God, gather for worship and teaching, connect in a small group, contribute through spiritual gifts and build redemptive relationships.
Beyond Bismarck: Global and Local Partners
If you walk into the church you quickly discover that Bismarck Baptist considers itself part of a much larger family. The missions program links BBC to a circle of regional and global partners:
- Brazil - Chain of Love Orphanage, an orphanage ministry Bismarck Baptist helped establish with other American churches.
- Cameroon - ongoing partnership with Kristi Ten-Clay, together with the more than 1,700 churches established there through the generosity of BBC members over the years.
- Japan - Paul and Melissa Ewing.
- Romania - Paul and Tanya Gericke, Camp Falcon Rock (a summer camp reaching the next generation in Eastern Europe), and a sister-church partnership with believers in Tomeasu working to plant a church in the village of Parhida among Hungarian-speaking Roma people.
- Russia - Russia Bible College.
- International - Alan and Judy Steier with Barnabas Ministries.
On the local side, the church partners with Pioneer Elementary School, mentors children and supports local schools through CRU’s campus ministry with Neal and Kristin Brown, and supports first responders through Crisis Care Chaplaincy. A pair of long-time NAB institutions continue to be part of the BBC story: the Baptist Care Center in north Bismarck, originally the Baptist Home for the Aged that Bismarck Baptist helped found, and Crystal Springs Baptist Camp, built jointly with other Midwest churches and visible from I-94 about sixty miles east of town.
A Century on LaForest Avenue
Bismarck Baptist’s story begins in 1912. A group of German Baptists had been meeting in homes across the city when, on February 25, they gathered at Will School to organize the church formally. Thirteen charter members signed on that day. Within a year the congregation dedicated its first sanctuary at 322 8th Street, with Henry Hirsch serving as the first pastor.
Growth brought the need for a larger home, and a new building went up at 11th and Avenue B in 1951. By the mid-1960s even that facility was overflowing. In 1966 the church moved to its present location at 22nd Street and LaForest Avenue. Five months later, in the early hours of January 17, 1967, a fire swept through the new sanctuary and gutted the building. The congregation returned to the Avenue B building while the structure was rebuilt, and six months later Bismarck Baptist was back on LaForest Avenue.
Out of those early decades came more institutional fruit: the founding of the Baptist Home for the Aged (now Baptist Care Center), the launch of Century Baptist as a daughter church on Washington Street, and the joint building of Crystal Springs Baptist Camp with other Midwest churches. Those partnerships continue today as part of the NAB family.
What Bismarck Baptist Believes
Bismarck Baptist holds to the North American Baptist Conference Statement of Faith. Theologically the church holds three guiding principles. On core issues the congregation aims for unity, anchored in Ephesians 4:4-6: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all.” On peripheral issues the church grants liberty. In everything the church shows love, drawing on 1 Corinthians 13:2.
Two areas of belief are spelled out in more detail. On human nature, the church teaches that every person is made in God’s image but is marred by an attitude of disobedience, or sin, that separates people from God. On salvation, the church teaches that salvation is God’s free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ, not earned through self-improvement or good works. Eternal life begins when a person receives Jesus by faith, and people exist forever either separated from God by sin or reconciled to God through Christ.
Weddings and the Wider Life of the Church
The Bismarck Baptist sanctuary and gym host weddings throughout the year. A wedding ceremony in the Worship Center costs $600, which includes custodial work, set-up and tear-down, an audio tech with recorded music, and a coordinator. A suggested clergy honorarium is $150. Couples who want a reception can add the gym ($400), a fellowship hall ($200) or a lobby dinner ($100), plus a coordinator fee and additional audio for live music or a band. A $350 refundable damage deposit is required, and all weddings performed by an outside officiant must be approved by the Lead Pastor before booking.
The church’s app keeps the calendar at hand for members. RightNow Media is offered as a free gift to anyone in the BBC community, granting access to a streaming library of more than 20,000 Bible study videos. Regular bulletins are posted online and a weekly email newsletter keeps subscribers posted on what is coming up.
Bismarck Baptist meets at 2211 Laforest Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58501. The church office can be reached at 701-223-4445 or office@bb.church.