Over the course of a three year period, God had placed a burden on the heart of New Salem Baptist Church, Griffin, Georgia, for evangelism in what is known as the Anne Street/Meriwether area. Through the vision God gave to Ed Shepard, a member of New Salem, he initiated a city-wide Vacation Bible School called Kid’s Explosion in that area. Through Kid’s Explosion, a void was identified where during a three year period, over 260 children accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord, but there was not a Southern Baptist Church in the immediate area to plug them in to. New Salem made an unprecedented decision to seek God’s direction to plant an African-American church to fill the void that had been identified.

Through the Flint River Baptist Association New Salem’s desire was brought to the attention of Rev. Nathaniel Lee, Senior Pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Hampton. He was asked if he knew of a minister who would be able and interested in planting a church in the inner city of Griffin. He said that he did know such a man if God would release him. Rev. Grady L. Caldwell, Assistant Pastor of Zion Baptist, was asked to consider it. After seeking God, Rev. Grady and Kathleen Caldwell agreed to be used by God for His work in the Griffin area by planting this church. God led them to Lamentations 3:22-23, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.” As a result, God gave them the name, New Mercy Baptist Church. Through their spiritual journey, God had prepared Pastor Grady and First Lady Kathleen Caldwell for such a time as this.

The process began by New Salem, the mother church, seeking assistance from the Georgia Baptist Convention in May, 2007. A team completed Basic Training in July, incorporated in August, and began development of a core group through Bible Study in September, 2007 at the home of John and Pat Perdew at 928 Poplar Street, Griffin. There were 12 people in attendance at that first historic Bible Study. God has done great things through small beginnings.

God’s hand has been prevalent through the entire process from finding a location to developing partners for the ministry. The City of Griffin owned the building that was identified at 742 Pimento Avenue. It was the former McIntosh Trail Head Start building; Police Youth Community Center; and originally the Cora Nimmos Elementary School. It had been vacant for over five years and was in need of a major overhaul.

God has provided major ministry partners for New Mercy from the very beginning:

Since then, Union Baptist, Carver Road Baptist and First Baptist Griffin have partnered with us as we build the kingdom of God in the inner-city. There have been too many individuals to name who have partnered with New Mercy Baptist Church. There have been many Christian businesses that have helped with what God was doing in planting this church. Through the sovereign move of God, New Mercy Baptist Church celebrated its Dedication Service May 18th, 2008 and launched our first regular service June 8th. For that , New Mercy Baptist Church is enternally grateful. It is an awesome experience to be used of Jesus Christ to help build His kingdom. It is amazing what God can do through small beginnings. New Mercy Baptist Church is no exception. May He continue to be glorified through this work!