Haven Baptist Church was an affiliated church with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in association with the Baptist Convention of New England (BCNE) and the Massachusetts Baptist Association (MBA) under Deacon Hector Bourque. Pastor William (Bill) Stack; BRE; M. DIV of New Bedford, Massachusetts had served at Haven Baptist along with his wife Carol until his death in 2022 at age 67. The church's moto was "Sharing the Hope, Adoption and Victory Everyone Needs in Jesus Christ," which partially formed the acronym "HAVEN."
The church location at 519 County Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts was previously donated to another ministry and became Grace Harbor Church. The Haven Baptist congregation remained together and held Sunday services at King Village East, 276 Cottage Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts pre-COVID. Pastor Bill remained the heart of the congregation and was always available by phone and in person to anyone who needed him. After the church location was vacated, many bible studies and fellowship gatherings were held at Pastor Bill and Carol's loving home.
Pastor Bill
Pastor Bill called upon Jesus Christ as Savior in July 1973 after attending the Teen Bible Fellowship at Mullen Hill Bible Church. He enlisted into the United States Air Force in August of 1973 and served until July of 1977. He married Carol Perry from Taunton, Massachusetts on July 4, 1974. After discharge from the USAF, he attended Citadel Bible College in Ozark, Arkansas from 1977 through 1984. He graduated with a Bachelors in Religious Education with a triple major in Bible, Pastoral and Mission Studies.
The Family moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in January of 1986, where he was employed by WLNE channel 6 as a Broadcast Engineer. He also filled in as a substitute instructor for the Electronics Technology program at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School. He and his family attended Calvary Bible Church until he was called as Pastor of Haven Baptist Church in 1992. Ordained to ministry in November of 1994, he served Haven Baptist until 1995 when he left to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, graduating in 1999 with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies.
As a Church Planter, he served as Pastor of Eternal Grace Christian Fellowship, a house church, until it was merged with Haven Baptist, thus bringing Pastor Bill back to the pulpit. In 2002, he and his family went to Dartmouth Bible Church, where he served and taught many studies while an Elder there. Finally, Haven Baptist extended another call to Pastor Bill to bring him back for the third time on Easter Sunday of 2014. He remained with the congregation until he received his final calling from his blessed Savior.
Haven-Baptist.org
Haven-Baptist.org went live in 2017 with the assistance of Richard J. Cabral, Haven Baptist's Media Director. RJ was a friend of Pastor Bill, having first met him at GNB Voc-Tech while a high school student. Pastor Bill had purchased the domain name for a 10-year period, while RJ donated the web hosting. Upon Pastor Bill's passing, RJ converted this website to the single page memorial you are now viewing. It will remain online until at least 2027 to pay tribute to both Pastor Bill and Haven Baptist.
