Our Story

New Life Baptist Church began as Riverside Southern Baptist Church in 1990 as a mission church.  As New Life began to grow, the leadership saw a need to increase the building size. Under the leadership of Pastor Wayne Hett, the church was able to purchase the old skating rink in Independence from the city for a dollar with the stipulation that they move it in thirty days. With plenty of volunteers, they were able to get it moved in twenty-nine days. The church eventually moved into this building in 2017. We believe only God, along with some determined volunteers, could have made this happen.

Over the years, God has used New Life to change lives and contribute to our community.  Early on in our history, we came alongside Berean Mission, another church in our Southern Baptist Association, and helped them grow. We have also seen many people come to faith in Christ. Yet, the flagship ministry of our church has been the clothing closet, which began in 1990, shortly after the church was formed.  Over the years, many have come to get free clothing. However, in 2012 the old building on the property that was used to store clothing developed mold and had to be torn down. This ended the clothing closet ministry for a time.

During the next five years, many asked when the clothing closet ministry was coming back. In February 2017, God answered the prayers of many and lead the church to reopen the clothing closet ministry. It wasn't long before we saw between seventy-five to one-hundred twenty-five people come back through our clothing closet once a month.

In January 2019, our new pastor, Jason Sperling, felt led to take our clothing closet ministry to the East-Open 4H Building at the park in Independence, which we did in April. With a few workers and a lot of hard work, we took a significant amount of clothing to the park. Today, we still go to the park twice a year, once in the spring during Love Independence Day, and once in the fall right before school starts back up.

Our clothing closet ministry has expanded to giving out clothing in emergency situations, such as house fires, partnering with Four County Mental Health, Community Crisis Team, HSH Ministries, Beautiful Feet Ministries out of Dallas, TX, DCF, Midwest Pregnancy Centers of Independence and Coffeyville, foster care parents, police and fire, schools, other churches in our community, and more. We also give out day-old bread, provided by the Community Access Center, and hand out small bags of non-perishable food.  Yet, we don't do this for our own glory, but because Christ commanded us to take care of those who are in need (Matthew 25:35-40). We also use it as a time to share another free gift with people...the free gift of salvation through faith in Christ.  It is our desire that this ministry will be a tool to "help people know the God who heals and restores."

Under the leadership of Pastor Jason Sperling, a new vision and mission of the church was born, which has its roots in the original mission of the church. The current vision of New Life is to build deep authentic relationships through small groups. These groups are safe places where people can be themselves, grow deeper in their faith, or learn what Christianity is all about. They create environments where people are there for one another when needed. These groups are also designed to help those in their neighborhoods as they are able.

The reason we do what we do is that we desire the opportunity to be able to introduce people to Jesus Christ and help them know the God who heals and restores. We believe every person is designed to have a relationship with God. Life only works as it should when we seek God and trust Him with our lives.

It is ultimately through authentic and meaningful relationships that others come to faith in Christ and grow in that faith. How we care for one another has become a hallmark of New Life. Romans 12:10 says, "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. " This is our intention as we love each other and those within our community. If you want to be where people are real, where we truly love the way Christ would want us to, and where you can know God, then we invite you to check out our church and see if this is a place for you. We look forward to seeing you soon!