On a quiet street in Lisbon, Maine, a brick-and-clapboard church building rises on the very ground where Isabella Rose Garnett once tended tomatoes and beans and prayed. Her prayers gave the land over to her grandson, Rev. David Garnett, who broke ground there in 1986 for Open Door Bible Baptist Church. Today the church is pastored by Jake Cinereski, with William Job serving as assistant pastor, and the same spot that Isabella cultivated has become the home of a full Sunday and Wednesday schedule, a Christian academy, a childcare center, and a fellowship that welcomes everyone who wants to know more about Jesus Christ.
A Garden That Became a Church
Open Door Bible Baptist Church has its roots in the private devotions of a single woman. Isabella Rose Garnett was an avid gardener and the only Christian in her family. While she worked her soil, she would pray earnestly that her children and grandchildren would come to know Christ and serve Him. Many years later, her youngest grandson, David Garnett, was saved in the front seat of his pickup truck. He went on to Bible school despite strong opposition and, in 1986, began holding services in a small gym in Lisbon Falls.
The congregation soon outgrew that gym. When it came time to build, the church chose 26 Gartley Street, the very location where Isabella's garden had once grown. David Garnett pastored the church for thirty-six years, retiring in May of 2022. Most of the Garnett family has attended as members over the years, and many still do. The building's elegant auditorium has welcomed thousands of worshipers, and the founding story is a reminder that "this ministry has existed since 1986 by the power of God and of prayer."
Sunday and Wednesday Rhythms
The church gathers three times a week for teaching and worship. On Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m., Sunday School classes run for children and adults in age-appropriate groups. The main Morning Service follows at 11:00 a.m., and a smaller Evening Service gathers at 6:00 p.m. for another round of singing, prayer, and preaching.
Midweek teaching happens on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., when the Prayer Meeting and the teen group, TNT (Teens in Training), meet at the same hour. Worship at Open Door is full of life, passion, and biblical truth, with the choir and special singers proclaiming the gospel through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The King James Bible is used in all teaching and ministry at the church, and services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook for those who want to tune in from home or the road.
Children and Teens at Every Age
Open Door makes room for the whole family. During the Sunday Morning Service, the nursery welcomes newborn through two-year-olds. Cubbies Class, for ages three to five, includes Bible songs, a snack, a Bible story, and games. Children in first through sixth grade head to Junior Church in the gymnasium, where they play games, sing, and work through a Bible lesson.
On Sunday evenings, the Patch the Pirate Club gathers kindergartners through sixth graders for exciting games, godly songs, and skits that the children later perform in church. Teenagers meet under the name TNT (Teens in Training) on Wednesday nights for a Bible lesson aimed at their age group, along with singing, games, and refreshments. Throughout the year the youth group also takes part in additional activities and outings.
Bus Ministry: A Ride to Church
For children, teens, and adults who cannot otherwise make it to a service, the church runs a Bus Ministry that provides transportation. Visitors who need a ride can fill out a request form with their name and address, and a driver will be scheduled to pick them up. The ministry grew out of the same conviction that shaped the rest of the church: that no one should have to miss worship because of how they got there.
Adult Fellowships and Small Groups
Beyond the sanctuary, Open Door runs a full slate of adult ministries. The Women's Ministry, open to women ages eighteen and up, gathers for fellowship, encouragement, and prayer, with ladies from different walks of life sharing stories and supporting one another. The Men's Ministry meets regularly for fellowship, prayer, and service, focused on cultivating godly friendships and standing against the broader attack on manhood.
Senior Saints, for adults sixty-five and up, comes together periodically for service projects and special retreats, carrying on the heritage left by earlier generations of believers. Sunday School classes for adults run alongside the children's classes at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, offering encouragement and verse-by-verse teaching through God's Word.
Music and Media
The Music Ministry at Open Door centers on the church choir and a rotation of special singers who lead the congregation in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The Media Ministry is a volunteer team that runs the in-house audio and video, the livestream feed, and the church's social media presence, treating broadcast work as another way of "broadcasting the good news of Jesus Christ." Sermon archives and additional media content are linked through the church's media page, with regular livestreams shared on YouTube and Facebook.
Open Door Christian Academy
Sharing the same 26 Gartley Street campus, Open Door Christian Academy offers a traditional Christian education founded on the principles of Scripture. The school highlights affordable tuition, dedicated teachers, and staff who integrate biblical teaching into the classroom. Enrollment is open, and inquiries are directed to the academy through its dedicated contact at the church's main address.
Open Door Christian Childcare
Open Door Christian Childcare operates Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., serving families with competitive rates and before- and after-school care options. Like the academy, the childcare program is built on scriptural principles and is currently enrolling. Parents can reach the daycare through its own email address, also at the 26 Gartley Street location.
What Open Door Believes
Open Door is a Bible-believing, gospel-centered congregation that "unapologetically preaches the truths of God's Word." It holds the King James Version of the Bible as the inspired Word of God and uses the KJV in all of its teaching, preaching, and ministries. The Articles of Faith cover the doctrines of the Scriptures, the Triune Godhead, the person and work of Christ, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the devil, the literal Genesis account of creation, the fall of man, the virgin birth, the atonement, the new birth, free salvation by grace through faith, justification, repentance and faith, the church, believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, the perseverance of the saints, the resurrection and return of Christ, missions, the grace of giving, and the sanctity of life from conception. The church teaches that Christian baptism is by immersion of a believer and is prerequisite to church membership and the Lord's Supper.
The congregation's purpose is twofold: the teaching and preaching of the Bible in regular public worship, and hearty cooperation through prayer, giving, and service in seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ preached around the world.
Giving, Transportation, and Staying Connected
Open Door treats giving as an aspect of worship. Gifts can be made in person during services or at the church office, mailed to 26 Gartley Street, given online through the church's giving page, or sent by text message to 207-222-7002 by typing the dollar amount and, optionally, a fund name such as "tithe." First-time text givers fill out a short billing form once and then give by text thereafter.
Newcomers and regular attenders can stay in touch through a Connect Card that includes options to indicate a first-time commitment to Christ, a recommitment, interest in joining a small group, interest in serving in a ministry, or a request to speak with a pastor. The church also rents storage units on the property, with sizes ranging from a 5-by-10 at seventy dollars a month up to a 12-by-18 at one hundred fifty-eight dollars a month. The same campus that holds a sanctuary, classrooms, a gymnasium, and childcare classrooms also offers a small suite of practical services to the surrounding community.
A Family-Shaped Legacy on Gartley Street
What sets Open Door Bible Baptist Church apart is the unusual way its founding story is still woven into its daily life. A grandmother's garden became a sanctuary. A grandson's pickup-truck conversion became a thirty-six-year pastorate. The Garnett family that prayed for this place still fills its pews. Around that long legacy, the present church has built a Sunday School for every age, a teen group with its own acronym, separate ministries for men, women, and seniors, a bus ministry for those without a ride, a Christian academy, and a childcare center that opens before sunrise and closes after supper. It is a Bible-believing, KJV-preaching Baptist church in Lisbon that hopes newcomers will come see what God has been doing there since 1986.