Imagine What God Can Do on the North Shore
North Shore Community Baptist Church meets at 9 Hart Street in the village of Beverly Farms, on the eastern residential end of Beverly, Massachusetts, minutes off Route 128. From this one campus the congregation draws members from Beverly, Wenham, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Topsfield, Danvers, and Salem, and welcomes students from Endicott College, Gordon College, Salem State University, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. The vision that shapes everything here is short enough to fit on a banner and ambitious enough to take a lifetime: to see a gospel movement on the North Shore. The church's own self-description is even simpler. It calls itself a community of ordinary people, united by an extraordinary hope.
What makes NSCBC unusual for its region is its confident blending of old and new. Two centuries of Baptist life sit behind a congregation that uses organ-led hymns from a new hymnal called The Sing! Hymnal alongside a contemporary worship band, that runs small groups geographically organized by neighborhood, that supports a college ministry which picks up students in church-branded cars at Gordon College's Chapel Loop, and that sends more than 200 volunteers each February to host a prom for neighbors with special needs. The church is affiliated with Converge, a movement of almost 1,300 churches worldwide, and identifies as congregation-affirmed, pastor-led, elder-governed, deacon-served, and policy-based.
A Two-Hundred-Year Story in One Building
Preaching through books of the Bible each Sunday is the rhythm at NSCBC, but the church itself is a long-running story. Its roots reach back to 1795, when Miss Rebecca Goldsmith, a Baptist teacher in Wenham Neck, is recorded as the first person of Baptist persuasion in the town. In 1826, Benjamin Knight of Salem began holding services in a small schoolhouse in Beverly Farms, and in 1829 the group formally organized as a church, baptizing believers and sharing communion. A meetinghouse was built in Wenham in 1831, and in 1836 the congregation voted to observe one Sunday evening each month as a season of prayer for the abolition of slavery.
In 1860 the church built the structure that still anchors the present Beverly Farms campus. The contractor, George Hanson, was required to include a spire strong enough to hold a bell of at least 800 pounds. The building was dedicated on Christmas Day 1860, and the church grew steadily through the rest of the nineteenth century. The early 1900s, however, brought decline as the congregation drifted toward universalism, dwindling to about 15 people by 1938. A small band of believers held on, and in 1950 they called Millard Fraumann, the first evangelical pastor in fifty years. Fraumann and his successors, William Nigel Kerr, Wayne Hill, Richard Schoenert, and Mark Coleman, rebuilt the church over the following decades.
In 1971, the Wenham Neck Baptist Church and the Beverly Farms Baptist Church merged to form North Shore Community Baptist Church. Land was purchased at the corner of Rubbly and Grapevine Roads in 1975, a building committee was formed in 1977, and the congregation began the slow work of imagining a single shared facility. Today the church describes itself in language it returns to often: We are the same church. It also points out that Essex County, where it sits, is one of the least-reached counties in the United States, with less than three percent of residents reporting a meaningful relationship with Christ. The dream that began in a small schoolhouse is unfinished, and that unfinished-ness is now the point.
Sundays: Hymns and Band, Side by Side
Sunday is the center of life at NSCBC, and the service has been thoughtfully designed. From Labor Day to Memorial Day, two identical services are held at 9:15 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. During the summer, the schedule condenses to one combined service at 10:00 a.m. Each gathering runs about 75 minutes, with roughly 30 minutes of biblical teaching. The music is a deliberate mix: an organ-led entrance hymn, usually from The Sing! Hymnal, followed by contemporary praise songs led by a worship band that the church deliberately positions to the side of the platform so that the congregation, not the musicians, is visually centered. The worship style is described as blended, both/and rather than compromise, drawing on the music of the whole church for the sake of the whole world.
Each week the service follows a four-act liturgy drawn from the historic worship of the church for over two thousand years. God gathers the people through call and praise, then speaks through the reading and preaching of Scripture. The congregation responds in prayer, song, and trust, and on the first Sunday of every month this includes communion at the Lord's Table. All who seek to follow Jesus are welcome to receive, whether or not they are members, and those still exploring faith may come forward for a blessing or remain in their seats. The service closes with a benediction and a sending.
Visitors who arrive in jeans or a suit will both fit in. There is no dress code. The building is handicap accessible with handicap parking adjacent to the main entrance, an elevator just inside the lobby, handicap seating closest to the sanctuary doors, and assisted listening devices available from the ushers or the tech team. Coffee is served between the two Sunday services in the Family Room, which doubles as the church's gym, and there is plenty of parking in the lot, with extra street parking mapped for busy Sundays like Christmas and Easter. Services are also livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend in person.
Leadership and Governance
The senior pastor is Bobby Warrenburg, originally from Austin, Texas, who came to NSCBC after church-planting in China and eight years of ministry in southwest London. He is joined by Associate Pastor Richard Wallace, who grew up in Northern Ireland and moved to the United States for a Master of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Wallace and his family live in Beverly Farms near the church, and he coordinates the small groups ministry. Laura Range, the Minister of Children and Families, oversees the entire children's ministry wing and the MomCo program. Adam Kurihara, the Minister of Worship Arts, leads music and coordinates the choir, the Artists' Fellowship, the seasonal ensembles, and the tech team. Jeri Beaulac is the Interim Youth Minister while the church searches for a permanent leader, supported by Heather Williams as Interim Youth Associate and Christina Solis as Ministry Assistant for Emerging Generations.
Spiritual oversight rests with a board of elders chaired by Russ Tuck, along with Jon Rodgers, Russ Bjork, Andrew Rennekamp, Antuan Weeks, and Bobby Warrenburg. Practical care of the congregation is the work of a board of deacons that includes Ryan Berger (Deacon of Finance), Clay Range (Deacon of Facilities), Joanna Hewitt (Deacon of Personnel), Kristin Gelinas, Laura Gallant, Janet Bjork, Lissa Whitley, Stephen Dagley, Laura Garth, and Sarah Tjalsma. In 2025 the congregation entered a season of collective discernment around two questions: whether to allow members who were baptized as infants to join without rebaptism, and whether women may serve as elders. After a year of surveys, study groups, and family meetings, all four proposed amendments passed at the January 2026 annual meeting.
Beliefs in Brief
NSCBC holds to a classic evangelical statement of faith. The Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. God is one being in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, executing distinct but harmonious work in creation, providence, and redemption. Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, whose virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension, perpetual intercession, and personal visible return are all affirmed. The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, sanctifies, and empowers believers.
The church holds to two ordinances given by Christ to the local church: believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is described as a public declaration of faith in Jesus Christ, a visible picture of union with him in his death, burial, and resurrection, and the new life that follows. Members are described as regenerated persons who have made a credible profession of faith and are associated for worship, work, and fellowship. Each local church is understood to be independent of any ecclesiastical or political authority, with church and state kept separate. The church looks forward to the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the body, final judgment, and eternal life for the righteous. The full text of the constitution is available to read.
The Children's Wing Opens After Two Centuries
One of the most concrete signs of life at NSCBC right now is the new Children's Ministry Wing, which opened in September 2025 after a year of construction beneath the existing Family Room. The project added four new children's classrooms for Children's Worship and Sunday School (Pre-K/K, Grades 1-2, and Grades 3-5), a new foyer check-in desk, an extra-wide eight-foot hallway with built-in seating, and a single-stall child bathroom in every classroom. The basement level now has full-height exterior windows so natural light reaches the spaces, and the design is intentionally flexible so the rooms can change with the ministry's needs over time. The architect was SV Design and the general contractor was Groom Construction, both of which worked closely with a building committee and several rounds of feedback from teachers and families.
The wing is part of a larger capital campaign underway at NSCBC. The congregation voted in May 2026, eighty to two, to authorize the elders and a Building Project Steering Team to resume the work of planning and to prepare a capital campaign for launch in the fall of 2026. Future phases include unifying and beautifying the sanctuary, opening spaces for discipleship and outreach, and improving navigation and gathering areas throughout the building.
Growing Up at NSCBC: Children, Youth, and College
Children's ministry at NSCBC is structured to match how families attend. From September through May, two worship services are held. During the first service, younger children worship with their peers while older children worship with their families. During the second service, there is Sunday School for kids and adults. The Nursery (six weeks to two-and-a-half years) is open every service; Preschool Worship (ages two-and-a-half to four-and-a-half) and Children's Worship (ages four-and-a-half through second grade) use The Biggest Story curriculum during the first service; Sunday School uses the Brite curriculum during the second service for Pre-K through Grade 5. The Care Room overlooking the sanctuary and a Nursing Mother's Room with a livestream of the service are available during both services. All volunteers are background-checked and trained, and check-in and check-out are managed through a secure system. A week-long Vacation Bible School is offered each summer, free of charge, for children entering Kindergarten through sixth grade.
Youth ministry centers on relationships and intergenerational connection. Middle schoolers meet every other Wednesday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the youth room for a large-group gathering, and on the in-between Wednesdays in small groups at host homes for games, Bible study, and prayer. High schoolers meet every other Sunday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the youth room, with weekly small groups meeting in homes during the week. The current team is interim: Jeri Beaulac leads the ministry while the church searches for a permanent Youth Minister, supported by Heather Williams.
College students are treated as full members of the church family, not a separate program. Monthly lunches, Gospel Formation Classes, adult small groups, and discipleship and mentoring relationships all pull them into the wider life of the church. Volunteers with church-branded magnets give rides from Gordon College's Chapel Loop on Sunday mornings. The college ministry is led by Laura Range and has its own email list and group on ChurchCenter.
Adults Together: Small Groups, D-Groups, and Discovery
Small groups are the primary means by which adults at NSCBC grow in community. Most meet on Tuesday or Wednesday nights from September through June, with groups of eight to sixteen gathering weekly or biweekly to study the Bible, pray together, and serve the community. Discipleship Groups, or D-Groups, are four-person same-gender groups that meet weekly for a year with the intention of multiplying, focusing on Bible reading, obedience, openness, and mission. Discovery Bible Groups are designed for the curious and the unchurched, with no prior faith background required; they run for about ten weeks and welcome skeptics, new believers, and anyone with questions about Christianity.
Worship Arts and the New Hymnal
Music is not an afterthought at NSCBC. The Sanctuary Choir sings seasonally for Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter, with rehearsals on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. when in session, typically October through December and January through April. No audition is required, though some music-reading experience is helpful. The Artists' Fellowship gathers visual artists, writers, storytellers, musicians, and songwriters for seasonal connection and the creation of art for devotionals during the church year. Seasonal ensembles and a tech team that handles sound, projection, and livestream round out the ministry.
In 2025 the congregation adopted a new hymnal, The Sing! Hymnal, published by Crossway, after an eight-month study process led by Adam Kurihara and a six-person committee. The hymnal brings together historic hymns of the faith with 155 hymns written in the last few decades, a section of children's hymns, and prayers drawn from two millennia of Christian worship. The hymnal is printed in the Trinité typeface on acid-free paper, and the committee's review emphasized both beauty and durability for use in church and home.
Night to Shine and Shine On
Each February, NSCBC hosts Night to Shine, a prom night experience sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation for people with special needs, ages 14 and older. The event, which is free for guests, draws more than 200 volunteers who serve food, buddy up with guests, run karaoke and beauty rooms, and host a fancy dinner, limousine rides, dancing, and take-home gifts. Night to Shine is followed year-round by Shine On, an accessible worship service held on the first and third Sundays of each month, alternating between Zoom (first Sundays, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.) and in-person meetings in the Family Room (third Sundays, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.). Shine On brings together people of all physical, cognitive, social, and economic abilities for a meal, games, prayer, singing, and a message from God's Word.
Care, Prayer, and the Welcome Fund
Pastoral care is organized through the diaconate. The Deacons coordinate meal trains for new births, adoptions, illness, and recovery; visitation to the sick and homebound; benevolence requests through the Deacon's Fund; and overall practical care. A prayer team is available after every worship service in the back of the sanctuary, and Friday morning prayer gathers in Friendship Hall from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., with a Zoom option for those unable to attend in person. Prayer requests can be submitted online, and GriefShare, a thirteen-week support group for those grieving the death of a loved one, meets on Monday evenings at the church.
The Welcome Fund, established as a restricted account overseen by the Outreach Ministries Director and the Finance Committee, dedicates 100 percent of donations to ministries that welcome, assist, and accompany refugees, migrants, and newcomers in the community. Grants from the fund support housing, transportation, language and cultural orientation, legal aid and documentation, community integration, education and vocational training, and emergency support for families in transition.
Outreach and Service
The congregation is connected to its neighborhood in a number of practical ways. Once a month, on the fourth Wednesday, NSCBC prepares and serves a downtown dinner for those in need at Living Faith United Methodist Church on Dane Street, coordinated by Nanette and Jim Maden. Blessingdales, the church's swap shop for clothing, is open during regular office hours and on Sunday mornings. The Foster Care Ministry partners with Fostering Hope to support bio, foster, and kinship families through care communities, drives, and informational events. The congregation supports local organizations such as Beverly Bootstraps and works alongside other churches through the North Shore Gospel Partnership, a friendship of churches and ministries united around the gospel across the region. Mission giving is organized through a Missions Fund and a Gospel Initiatives Fund, the latter focused on outreach, church planting, and new neighborhood projects.
Weddings, Funerals, and Building Use
The NSCBC facility is open to the wider community. Couples wishing to be married at the church apply at least five months in advance and meet with one of the pastors before approval. Funerals and memorial services are held as services of Christian worship, looking forward to eternal life. The Sanctuary, Family Room, Friendship Hall, and four Children's Wing classrooms are available for rental for outside events, programs, and special occasions. Outside organizations and individuals are welcome to use the space; priority is given to NSCBC ministries and events.