A Congregation on Riceville Road
Grassy Branch Baptist Church sits on Riceville Road in east Asheville, a worship center and a cluster of classrooms that has been the home of this congregation since 1980. Three generations of Buncombe County families have walked through its doors for baptism, Sunday school, choir practice, and the long work of raising children in the faith. Today, under the leadership of Pastor Colton Ingle and a small team of deacons, the church holds to a steady rhythm: Sunday morning community groups, a worship service that gathers children and adults under one roof, and a Wednesday night set aside for prayer.
Seventy-Five Years on the Same Hill
Seventy-five years of history are folded into the property. Grassy Branch Baptist was organized on November 13, 1949, with twenty-five charter members who first met in an old storefront. Within a year the small group had purchased land and begun to build, and by 1959, under the leadership of Jay Blankenship, the church was growing in numbers and in mission outreach. The mid-1960s brought a gift of land set aside as a church cemetery, and in 1980, during the pastorate of Ridings, the present worship center was completed. The current sanctuary and the attached education wing are still the heart of the campus.
Sunday Mornings for the Whole Family
Sunday morning begins at 10:00 AM with Community Groups for every age. Four adult classes meet in different corners of the building: a traditional all-ages class in the choir and media room, a class for adults in their twenties, thirties, and forties that meets in the prayer room beside the sanctuary, and a ladies' class that has built a family atmosphere of its own. Youth from sixth through twelfth grade gather in the youth room above the kitchen, and children from newborns through fifth grade have classes of their own on the same hour. After a brief Sunday school time, the congregation moves into the sanctuary for worship at 11:00 AM.
GBKIDS in the Worship Hour
Children are not sidelined for the worship hour. GBKIDS, the church's children's ministry, is woven into the service. Nursery care is provided for infants through four-year-olds throughout the morning, and children from age four through fifth grade are invited to Children's Church upstairs after the singing portion of the service. The goal, the church says, is to partner with families in teaching biblical truth and encouraging a lifelong relationship with Jesus. The worship service is also livestreamed each Sunday at 11:00 AM on YouTube so that members who are traveling, sick, or away at college can still take part.
Wednesday Nights in Prayer
Wednesday nights add a second weekly gathering. At 6:00 PM the church opens its doors for a combined time of prayer and worship, a more intimate setting that draws both long-time attenders and newer friends.
What the Church Believes
Grassy Branch's beliefs are clearly stated and anchored in Scripture. The church holds that the Bible is the very Word of God, that there is one God eternally existent in three persons, and that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, died a sacrificial death, and rose again for the atonement of sin. Members affirm the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit, the reality of heaven and hell, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the existence and final defeat of Satan, the second coming of Christ, the eternal preservation of all saints, the priesthood of believers, the church as an organized body, the two ordinances of baptism and communion, and the support of the church through the tithes and offerings of believers. The church distinguishes these essential doctrines from non-essential matters of preference such as worship style, dress, or Bible translation, and asks that the latter never bring division.
Grassy Branch Preschool
Grassy Branch Preschool is one of the church's most visible arms of ministry to the wider community. Founded by the church and housed in the same building at 499 Riceville Road, the play-based, part-time preschool serves children ages 18 months through five years. The school year runs from September through May, Monday through Thursday, 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, with families choosing two, three, or four days per week. Two teachers staff each classroom, and the daily mix of learning centers, art, music and movement, Bible lessons, group time, and outdoor play is built on developmentally appropriate practice. Tracy Duyck serves as preschool director, and a separate phone line, 828-458-4934, and email handle the preschool's inquiries.
Leadership and the Days Ahead
The pastoral team is small and steady. Colton Ingle serves as pastor and is supported by a trio of deacons: Travis Duyck, Jim Payne, and Daniel Ingle. Together they shepherd a congregation that ranges from young families drawn by the preschool and children's ministry to longtime members who can still point to the storefront where the first twenty-five members met in 1949.
Planning a First Visit
The church is located at 499 Riceville Road, Asheville, NC 28805, with a phone line of 828-298-6451 and an email at grassybranchbc@gmail.com. The community group hour begins at 10:00 AM and the worship service at 11:00 AM, with nursery care available from birth through age four throughout the morning. Giving is accepted online through the church's Realm account, and a sermon and live broadcast archive lives on the church's YouTube channel. The church is also active on Facebook at /gbbc.avl and on Instagram at /grassybranchavl.
In every season of its life, Grassy Branch Baptist has kept the same shape: a gathering of neighbors on a quiet road, a building raised by their own hands, and a steady witness to the gospel that first drew twenty-five charter members into a storefront in 1949.