Building relationships across state lines and serving as one family is what Bethlehem Baptist Church in Clarksville and Emmaus Church in Manchester, N.H., have been doing together for the past four years.
“It’s been honestly a real special partnership. I don’t know if we could have found a more perfect church to partner with. The heart behind both churches just perfectly fits for each other. It really does feel like we kinda have a little family, just a little further north basically,” said Graham Parris, Bethlehem’s minister to students and mission team lead since 2024.
It’s been a huge blessing for Emmaus, a church of 30 people, to walk alongside a church of 500, said Emmaus Pastor Kevin Fortier. “They come up here every year, and the two churches have gotten to know each other. There’s been a real connection.”
Since 2021, the two churches have come together in the spring and summer.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Jason Queen and originally published by the Christian Index.