A Long history of God’s Grace

Prior to being called Grace and Truth Church, Cincinnati, GTCC was formerly known as Columbia Baptist Church, Duck Creek Baptist Church, and Hyde Park Baptist Church. We have had four previous names and five previous locations.

GTCC has a long and fascinating history. It all started in the settlement of Columbia with the help of a surgeon in George Washington’s Revolutionary War Army. That surgeon was Stephen Gano. Gano’s enthusiasm and leadership, along with his devotion to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, took nine members of the pioneer settlement and formed the first Christian place of worship in the Northwest Territory. The Gano family (Stephen and his father, John) were used powerfully by God in establishing and spreading the baptist work in Kentucky (John) and southern Ohio (Stephen).

On January 20 1790, the Columbia Baptist Church was established. Two years younger than the City of Cincinnati, this church was originally a Particular Baptist Church holding strongly to the doctrines of Divine election (sovereign grace).

On the original site of the Columbia Baptist Church, located near the Lunken Airport, rises a tall pillar which commemorates the courage of the Columbia pioneers. On it are inscribed these words: “The Columbia Baptist Church erected its first house of worship on this spot in 1792. The lot contains two acres of ground purchased from Benjamin Stites and was deeded to the Baptists of Columbia Township.”

Columbia was subject to spring flooding from the Ohio and Little Miami Rivers, so in time people moved to higher ground. Columbia Baptist Church in 1808 decided to resettle also. They moved the church to Duck Creek Road and Edwards Road. A new location brought a new name, The Duck Creek Baptist Church. By the 1870’s the church was facing a familiar problem. Again, population had shifted and people had moved from the area. The decision was reached in 1875 to move the church to Grace Avenue in Mt. Lookout. The name of the church became the Duck Creek Baptist Church at Mt Lookout.

In 1904, the Duck Creek Baptist Church voted to move to Hyde Park. The chapel was built in 1907 and in 1924 construction began on the main auditorium and fellowship hall. Just two years later, the church was completed.

From Hyde park baptist to grace and truth church

Hyde Park Baptist Church has had quite a long history. As the years went on the church was impacted by the influences of liberalism in the 20th century. The last two pastors have guided the church back to a commitment to the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture, and a commitment to the five solas of the reformation. Today, our Statement of Faith closely reflects the original intentions of the Columbia Baptist church plant and is committed to the central importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, he has brought the first evangelical church in Cincinnati through our own exile and returned us to a commitment to His word and mission in the world.

God has transformed us from a frontier church with nine members to an urban church that has members who were born in Cincinnati, Argentina, Burma, The Philippines, and all sorts places in between. Our church can look back at the past and see blessings, challenges, faithfulness and even a period of time of diverting from a gospel-centered biblical teaching ministry. Through it all God is always faithful and has brought us full circle.

In 2021 it was determined that we would relocate from our Hyde Park location. The church surrounded by retail and great difficulty for parking (without its own parking lot), and with a building in need of major upgrade, found greater potential for ministry and fellowship by moving across the I-71 to our current location.

During its time in Duck Creek in the late 19th century, the church pastored by B.F. Harmon planted various churches in Cincinnati. One of them was a baptist church in Pleasant Ridge that eventually moved to Norwood in 1893 and in 1906 built the large Norwood Baptist Church building dedicating it to B.F.Harmon. Eventually that church dwindled leaving the building vacated and in need of major renovation in 2019. This now renovated building has become the new gathering place for our church, GTCC. In this process, we had need again to change our name. This time our name change was not based on location but on our perception of the spirit of our church. The feedback about our church from our congregation was of overwhelming unity in that our commitment to truth was intentionally flavored with love and grace. It was therefore determined that we name ourselves after our dear Savior who is full of Grace and Truth. (John 1:14).

Our challenge is to present the truth of God’s word and the hope of His gospel in love to the City of Cincinnati and the ends of the earth.