The Church with a Heart, Sharing the Love of Calvary
Victory Baptist Church sits on the north side of Lake Shore Boulevard in Mentor, Ohio, a block or two back from the Lake Erie shoreline and across from the entrance to Blackbrook Golf Course. The 2 1/3 -acre property at 8911 Lakeshore Boulevard is easy to spot: a large four-by-eight-foot church sign marks the spot and ushers meet visitors at the door. Since 1991 the congregation has been reaching into Lake County with door-to-door soul winning, a bus ministry that pulls in children and families each Sunday, and a steady diet of King James Bible preaching.
The church describes itself as a fundamental, independent, soul-winning Baptist body, and its motto is "The Church with a Heart, Sharing the Love of Calvary." Over the years the ministry has stretched into nursing homes, jails, hospitals, and homes throughout the area, and the church supports missionaries and institutions around the world.
From a Living Room to a Permanent Home in 1991
Victory Baptist Church began on September 15, 1991, when Pastor Philip J. Hilditch, his family, and a handful of others started holding services after he and his wife moved to northeastern Ohio in 1990. The first gathering met in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ledford in the Mentor Headlands. Two weeks later the young church moved into the Makee Insurance Building in Painesville Township. By October 20, 1991, the congregation had grown enough to sign a chartering statement, accept the pastor and Constitution and By-Laws, and hold its first baptism and Lord's Supper on Chartering Sunday. Arnett and Doris Titus were the first converts baptized.
When the original six-month building lease ran out in March 1992, the church rented the historic Old Counsel Hall from the city of Mentor for about three years, then returned to the Lake Shore building in February 1995. Within a few months the property was purchased, and it remains the church's home today.
Pastor Philip J. Hilditch
Pastor Hilditch was raised in Toledo, Ohio, and trusted Christ as his personal Savior on October 30, 1972, while serving in the Marine Corps. He felt called into the ministry in March 1973 and enrolled at Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, Indiana, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Theology. He was ordained on July 23, 1978, and went on to serve as assistant pastor and Christian school administrator in Turlock, California, and as assistant pastor in Adrian, Michigan, before becoming a senior pastor in Michigan and then Ohio. He has more than four decades of pastoral experience.
He and his wife, Lil, have four children - Jonathan, Rachel, Micah, and Daniel - and fourteen grandchildren.
A Sunday Built Around the Bible
Sunday mornings at Victory Baptist are organized around two hours. Sunday School begins at 10:00 a.m. for every age from nursery through adult, with smaller classrooms, coffee and donuts, and teaching aimed at the life-stage of the group. The main worship service follows at 11:00 a.m. and runs a little over an hour. The choir, special singing groups, and soloists lead the music, and Pastor Hilditch preaches a Bible message. The evening preaching service begins at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday night brings two gatherings. The Children's Choir, for first through sixth graders, practices at 6:30 p.m., and the mid-week Bible Study for the whole church meets at 7:00 p.m.
Soul winning teams go out from the church on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday at 10:00 a.m., knocking on doors and sharing the Gospel in the surrounding neighborhoods.
What a First-Time Guest Finds
Ushers meet people at the door, help families find the right classrooms, and escort visitors wherever they need to go. Clean, staffed nurseries are open during every service for children three and under. During the 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. hours, classes for three-year-olds through sixth graders use Bible stories, visual aids, and practical application in age-appropriate rooms. There is no dress code: many of the members and ministry leaders wear traditional Sunday dress, but guests are welcomed in whatever they wear.
Guests are not expected to put anything in the offering plate. The morning offering is reserved for members and regular attenders; visitors can simply take in the service.
The Bus Ministry: The Highlight of the Week
For many children and families in the Mentor area, the bus ministry is the reason they come to church. Volunteers drive church buses through local neighborhoods each Sunday morning, picking up children, adults, and whole families - many of them underprivileged - and bringing them to Sunday School and the worship service. The church calls it the highlight of the week for the riders. Anyone interested in riding the bus can call the church office at 440-257-0007.
Children's Sunday School and the Children's Choir
Sunday School classes for children run from three years old through sixth grade and are divided into a Beginner's Class (three years through kindergarten), a First through Second Grade Class, a Third through Fourth Grade Class, and a Fifth through Sixth Grade Class. Teachers use visual aids and practical application along with the major Bible stories.
The Children's Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. and sings character-building, Scripture-saturated songs in the worship service about once a month, occasionally joining the Adult Choir for special services.
Vacation Bible School Each Summer
Vacation Bible School runs during the children's summer break. Each year has a Bible-centered theme, and the children memorize Scripture verses that tie into it, take in puppet presentations, hear messages geared to their level from Pastor Hilditch, and enjoy a circus time complete with prizes. Kids leave with both a fun summer memory and a stronger grasp of how to live out the Word.
Teens, Adults, and Families
The Teen Ministry offers Sunday School classes, youth activities, summer camps, and a youth conference during the year. The Adult Ministry centers on Bible study and a men's ministry, along with adult activities. The Family Ministry anchors the church's social life with a monthly fellowship dinner, father-and-son cookouts, a mother-and-daughter banquet, and other family activities.
Several annual events knit the church together each year: revivals, a missions conference, a Fall Family Fun Night with a Pumpkin Derby, an Old Fashioned Day, and the church anniversary celebration.
Service Ministries
Two long-standing service ministries keep Sunday mornings running. The Nursery Ministry staffs the rooms for infants through age three during every service, and the Ushering Ministry greets and directs guests and members alike.
Helping the Needy and Benevolence
Beyond Sunday services, the church runs a benevolence fund that helps people - both inside and outside the church - with basic needs. Each request is evaluated individually. In 2013, for example, the church distributed at least 17 Thanksgiving food baskets and 22 Christmas food baskets, along with gifts for some of the needier families. The soul-winning outreach on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings also doubles as practical ministry to the neighborhoods around Mentor.
What Victory Baptist Believes
Victory Baptist describes itself as Baptist by conviction and principle rather than by affiliation. The doctrinal statement affirms the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture and uses the King James Version as its translation, deriving it from the Textus Receptus manuscripts. The church teaches a literal six-day Genesis creation, the full deity and eternal personhood of each member of the Holy Trinity, the virgin birth and sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, total depravity inherited through Adam, salvation by grace through personal faith in the finished work of Christ, the substitutionary blood atonement, and a pre-tribulation rapture followed by the Second Coming, the thousand-year reign of Christ, the Great White Throne judgment, and the eternal state.
It teaches the eternal security of the believer and a clear call to separation from worldly practices. The church identifies two ordinances - believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper - and two offices - pastor (bishop) and deacons. As an Independent Baptist church, Victory Baptist is not part of any convention or ruling body; it answers directly to Christ as Head and makes its own decisions on membership, policy, and discipline.
Getting Involved
Anyone interested in serving can simply contact the church office. There are two lanes for involvement. Many volunteers help behind the scenes each month with cleaning, maintenance, special-day preparation, and office projects. People who want to teach, lead a class, sing in a leadership role, or take on other visible positions meet with the appropriate ministry leader and typically go through a period of training before stepping in. New members are baptized by immersion as believers (or transfer from a church of like faith, or join by statement), and then are welcomed at a new members' reception on a Sunday evening.
Giving and Giving Back
Victory Baptist does not run fund-raising campaigns or apply pressure in its giving appeals. The church occasionally preaches and teaches what Scripture says about Christian stewardship, and the annual budget is voted on by the membership. Monthly financial reports are shared with the congregation. Giving can be made in person during a service, online through PayPal, or by contacting the church office.