Our Story

Baptist Network Northwest traces its roots to a group of churches that separated from the Northern Baptist Convention in the late 1930s and early 1940s, uniting in fellowship to support church planting efforts. Under the leadership of Rev. George W. Kehoe, Baptists in Washington organized with a strategic vision to plant churches in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project, a massive federal initiative authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1940, this effort led to the formation of the Columbia Basin Mission (CBM), dedicated to reaching new communities with the gospel. Over the next decade, CBM established fifteen mission sites and churches. In 1943, it became an approved agency of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC), and by 1947, twelve Northwest churches had joined the GARBC fellowship.

As Kehoe transitioned to a teaching role at Multnomah School of the Bible in 1950, CBM merged with other regional agencies to form the national Fellowship of Baptists for Home Missions (FBHM). However, Northwest pastors, desiring local oversight of church planting, formed Northwest Baptist Home Mission (NBHM) in 1957 to restore regional leadership.

For the next three decades, NBHM operated as District 11 of FBHM while maintaining autonomy. As FBHM struggled financially and dissolved in 1990, NBHM thrived, largely due to the leadership of Pastor Merle Wood and the establishment of the NBHM Revolving Fund. Launched in 1957, this fund provided a sustainable model for church financing, borrowing from individuals at 5% interest and loaning to churches at 6%. Today, it holds millions in investments and has distributed over $12 million in church building loans.

What began as the Columbia Basin Mission in 1940 has grown into a network of over 200 churches and mission sites, hundreds of church planters, and countless lives transformed by the gospel. Praise God for 75 years of ministry in the Great Northwest!