Location: 29 Huntington Street, New London, Connecticut 06320

Voice Phone: (860) 443-4607; Fax: (860) 439-0171

E-mail: huntington.street@snet.net

Rev. Byron Westbrook, Pastor

Huntington Street Baptist Church is affiliated with the Conservative Baptist Association and (since 1997) the Southern Baptist Convention. The church is historic: in 1999, we celebrated 150 years of worship in New London.

The church is located in downtown New London, a town of 30,000 on the southeastern coastline of Connecticut. Despite its small size, New London has social problems found in larger cities such as high drug use and gang activity. At the same time, the city seems to be on the edge of something of a Renaissance, in that Pfizer pharmaceuticals has recently completed a new research facility, and the waterfront and downtown sections are targeted in specific, credible ways for re-development. The mood of the city is optimistic, with more people expressing hope for better times than most long-term residents have seen in 20 years or more.

The ethnic makeup of New London is primarily African-American, Hispanic, Native American (the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans both operate casinos nearby), and Caucasian; the local public schools are 70% minority populated. Cities such as New Haven (home of Yale University) and Providence, RI (site of the first Baptist church in America) are within an hour's drive; Boston and New York can be reached in just over two hours. Local attractions include:
 

Mystic Seaport (http://www.mystic.org/), a reconstructed colonial whaling village
complete with authentic restored tall sailing ships (a key
site in the filming of Steven Spielberg’s Amistad).

Mystic Aquarium (http://www.mysticaquarium.org/), a world class sea life learning center and
environmental/oceanographic research facility (Robert Ballard,
the discoverer of the Titanic, is on the aquarium staff).

New London’s Ocean Beach is available for a nominal parking fee,
and Misquamicut Beach is about 45 minutes away, on the coast
of Rhode Island.

The church currently has an active membership of 65, with an average worship attendance of 60. While Anglos and Caucasian-Americans are still the majority, the church has been historically ethnically diverse. Caucasian, Hispanic, and African-American members fill key leadership positions. The Sunday School ministry currently has 15 active members. The Awana Ministry brings 30 or more children and youth, mostly from local low-income housing. n addition, we have an active board of deacons, trustees, a ladies’ guild, and adult choirs. The local Baptist Campus Ministry integrates its work with the ministries of the local churches in many ways.
 

Our vision as a Church is to be a fellowship of Christians who are:

Spiritually alive

Unified in spirit

Mobilized for ministry

Expressing compassion for the whole person

Sensitive to human needs, and

Aggressive in carrying out its mission

In 2007, after a time of intensive prayer and study facilitated by our Director of Missions, Dr. Rafael Hernandez, we adopted a new vision statement:

"Gathered Around Christ's Throne

... from Around the World

... We Would See Jesus!"

We realize New London is a place where God brings the nations to us, in order that we and partnering Christians on mission may bring them to Christ.

A major prayer and action goal for the coming church year is to have an accessible, inviting building.

We are blessed with a four-story education wing with 10 classrooms, office space, a large kitchen, showers, and a small gymnasium, and a large subdividable recreation center/choir room. Mission teams of up to 50-60 participants have stayed at the church. The buillding is structurally sound, but in need of exterior painting and renovation (see The Bridge at NAMB. and click on "New England" and "Construction); extensive interior renovation and upgrades have been made, and a few small-to-medium projects remain undone. We wish to see it fully utilized and open to the community to build relationships that honor Christ, share God’s love, and spread the Gospel of Christ.