Erik DiVietro served as the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church and led our congregations in the merger. When the two congregations merged, he became the senior pastor of the new church.

He served as the associate pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church prior to being called to Heritage in 2004. Since then, he has brought his blend of postmodern relevance, historic acumen and slightly warped humor to the study of God’s Word.

Erik is a graduate of Boston Baptist College (B.A. 1998) and Master’s School of Divinity (M.A. 2006). He and his wife Nichole have one child.

Grace is led by a community of leaders called the joint elders. It is comprised of:

• Our senior pastor, who is ordained and paid by the church to be our primary teacher and vision caster. The pastor is called by the church and serves indefinitely.
• Any pastoral staff would serve as elders and must meet the qualifications of an elder.
• A group of non-paid elders who meet the spiritual requirements laid out in Scriptures and act in concert with the senior pastor. Elders currently serve three year terms, with a required year of rest between terms.

The elders are equal in authority, but the pastor is considered the “first among equals” because of the clear calling of God upon his life into vocational eldership.

As of December 2009, we have four non-paid elders and our senior pastor.

In our church, deacon and deaconess are not leadership positions. While they lead in areas, they do not set the direction for the church ministries.

Because Grace is a merged congregation in transition, we currently have two constitutions. The ruling documents will be reviewed and revamped during 2010.

Grace Baptist Church Constitution

Heritage Baptist Church Constitution

FROM: Erik DiVietro

Rick Frost is the worship leader at The Dialogue Church in Manchester. He suffered a seizure and is going through tests at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. They have not yet found anything.

Heritage Baptist Church and Grace Baptist Church have merged. Currently both websites are pointed to this site. Soon, a new site will be developed to reflect our new identity as one church.

On January 10, Heritage Baptist Church of Hooksett, and Grace Baptist Church of Merrimack will unite as one congregation for the next stage of our merger. We will publicly covenant together to work toward this unification.

The service will include the baptism of people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ in 2009 and Erik DiVietro’s first message as the senior pastor of this united church.

The Gagnons and the Larnards need help moving on December 26 and 27. If you can help, contact Greg Jones, one of our elders.