History of North Mason Bible Church

The North Mason Bible Church had its beginnings in the early spring of 1980 as a home Bible study. A group of families and individuals, representing several churches, gathered and began to develop a concern to establish a Christ-honoring and Bible-based church in the Belfair area.

Dwane Shockley, then Director of the Conservative Baptist Churches of Washington, was invited to share information on forming a congregation and an invitation to affiliate with the Conservative Baptist Association of America. On May 18, 1980, the group voted to initiate such action and elected five men to act as temporary officers and lead them through the process of forming a church and joining the CBA fellowship.

In June 1980, the committee voted to initiate a Sunday School ministry until a larger, more permanent program could be established. God blessed, and on July 13, 1980, the new church held their first official church service in the Victor cut-off Grange Hall, which the church rented for the first several years.

Hood Canal Chapel was first employed as the name for the new group. They called Jesse Vail to be their first pastor on July 20, 1980. The Mountain View Baptist Church of Tacoma joined them on that day to witness the certification of their new pastor. They also baptized their first candidate. A constitution containing their state of faith, by-laws, and covenant was officially accepted in October of 1980.

The charter was held open until November 1980 when 20 members were recommended and voted as charter members. Church officers were elected in December of 1980.

The missionary support was taken on in March of 1981, which included the Northwest Conservative Baptist (NWCB) and Judson Bible College (now defunct).

At their first annual business meeting in April 1981, they voted to retain Jesse Vail as their pastor, approved the annual budget, and took on additional missionaries.

The church was growing in grace and numbers. In May of 1983, the large Acerbe home on 2.6 acres located at E. 52 North Mason School Road came up for sale. The church saw this as a provision of God and by September 1983, the deal had been closed and began remodeling to fit the church’s needs.

Most of the remodeling involved opening up the lower level of the house to serve as an auditorium. Extra entries and doors were installed to meet fire codes and standards.

In the spring of 1992, we paid off the mortgage on our property and initiated a program to provide funds, plans, etc., for a building that would accommodate our growing congregation and ministry needs. God has been gracious and His people have been faithful and generous. Thanks to many sacrificial gifts, and untold hours of volunteer labor, we moved into our new building by the end of 1997, completely debt free.

These are exciting days in the life and history of the North Mason Bible Church family, and we believe God is using us to impact our community for Jesus Christ.

God has been faithful over the years and has always met our needs in every way.

Rev. Jesse Vail (April 1981 – June 1985)

Interim: Rev. Norman Nideng

Rev. Richard Yates (March 1986 – January 1991)

Interim: Rev. Douglas Stave

Rev. Douglas Hepting (September 1991 – June 1999)

Interim: Rev. Phil Thompson

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you (us) will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6