Church History
The story of GBC begins long before the first Bible study or worship service. It begins with a calling from God upon the life of a young man who was transplanted to Nebraska from Illinois.
In 1995, the Lord directed Roger & Sheryl Ridley and their children to Gretna, Nebraska as the possible site of a new church plant. The first Bible Study that would lead to the formation of the church was held in the Ridley’s living room in 1996, and the first service of Gretna Baptist Church was held September 7th, 1997 in rented space at Gretna Middle School.
Through much prayer and God’s provision, the church constructed a building in the heart of Gretna near the intersection of Hwy 6/31 and Angus Street, and they held their first service on this site in March of 2006. Through the blessing of a building, God’s work in Gretna broadened tremendously and the church graduated from mission status to self-supporting on September 7, 2008, 11 years to the day after the first service was held in the school. Intentionally planned to be a “Church Planting Church” this was also the day that a group from GBC was commissioned to start a church in Bennington, NE, and shortly thereafter one in the Chalco Hills area of Millard.
The year of 2009 brought heartache when God saw fit to take Pastor Roger Ridley home on August 8th. The congregation took time to recover and in 2010, called Pastor Bryan Clark as their second pastor, along with his wife Anita and their two children. In 2012 they brought on Pastor Steve Carper as their associate pastor, along with his wife Kendra and their 4 children.
Over the years God has brought change and growth, the implementation of new programs, and many new faces. In 2019, Gretna Baptist Church was happy to welcome in, through grafting, many members of the former Karen Street Baptist Church, and to take to heart the desire to see a vibrant fellowship established in the former KSBC building located in South Omaha. God provided, as He always does, and GBC has had the blessing to be an encouragement to Iglesia El Shaddai who now meets in that space.
God has continued to be faithful to GBC through the recent pandemic, protecting its ministries and members during a time of uncertainty. He has used this trial to encourage church leadership to be creative in how we do ministry and has done beyond what we could ask or think during this time by growing our fellowship, both spiritually and by the addition of many new families to our church.