Our Mission & Vision

We want to uphold the Word of the Lord that has the power to change lives. This begins with our lives; we want to love God and love others by establishing meaningful relationships with one another that keeps Christ as the central focus.
 
 
 

Staff:

Pastor Kevin Fath, Lead Pastor

Hillside Baptist Church is proud to have Pastor Kevin Fath serve as its founding pastor. Pastor Kevin grew up in the home of a pastor just outside Palmyra, PA for most of his childhood. He completed his undergraduate work at Cedarville University in 1995 and moved to Smithville in 1996. His wife, Heather (Peters) Fath, is a native of Smithville, where they currently reside raising their four children. Pastor Kevin served as the Youth/Assistant Pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Sterling, OH from 2000-2011. His graduate work was completed at Baptist Bible Seminary in Clarks Summit, PA. He is blessed to have received excellent training and has a heart for the Lord and His people.
 

 

Pastor Rick Thompson, Associate Pastor

Hillside Baptist Church hired an additional pastor in August of 2015, Associate Pastor Rick Thompson.  We are excited to have him join our staff here at HBC.  He was raised in a Christian home in West Virginia where his father currently serves as a Pastor. Rick accepted Christ as his savior when he was 5 years old. Rick continued his education at Appalachian Bible College and graduated in 2012.  His degree is a double major in Bible/Theology and Missions.  Upon graduation, he became Associate Pastor of Children’s Ministries at Cobb’s Creek MBC and taught 5th grade at Bible Center School.  His wife, Rebekah, grew up in the Wayne County area where her dad currently serves as the Music Pastor for Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. They are both so excited to be a part of the HBC family and are eagerly expecting the Lord to do great things for His Name!

 

 
 

What Do We Believe?

We subscribe to the following fundamentals of our Baptist faith:

  • We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.
  • We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin, and is true God and true man.
  • We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature.
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as representative and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
  • We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
  • We believe in the Eternal Security of the believer; that it is impossible for one born into the family of God to ever be lost.
  • We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven and His present life there as High Priest and Advocate.
  • We believe in “that blessed hope,” the personal, premillenial, pretribulation and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when the Church will be “gathered together unto Him.”
  • We believe in the literal fulfillment of the prophecies and promises of the Scriptures which foretell and assure the future regeneration and restoration of Israel as a nation.
  • We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
  • We believe that the Scriptural ordinances of the church are baptism (immersion) and the Lord’s Supper; that baptism should be administered to believers only as a symbol of their belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and as a testimony to the world of that belief and of their death, burial, and resurrection with Him, and that the Lord’s Supper should be partaken of by believers only to show for His death, till He comes.
  • We believe that the spiritual gifts of tongues, healings, and prophecies were sign gifts given to verify God’s Word, and with the completion of Scripture, they are no longer exercised.
 
 
 

History of Hillside

Hillside Baptist Church is a church plant with a rich history. The start-up nucleus consists of a remaining core of the former First Baptist Church of Rittman and a committed group coming over from Pleasant Hill Baptist Church to aid in Hillside’s infancy. The two churches have had a sister-church relationship for years as they fellowshipped together in core doctrines. We praise the Lord for the start of Hillside as all parties were in full favor of beginning this work.

 
 
 

FAQ’S

What’s Hillside Baptist Church all about?

We want to glorify God by learning God’s Word in order to live out the principles of God’s Word. This causes us to prioritize the Bible’s main message of sharing that man can be saved from the penalty of their sin by trusting in Jesus Christ to forgive them.
 

Which service should I attend first?

You are more than welcome to attend any of our services. However, most first-time visitors choose to attend our Sunday Morning Worship Service, held at 10:00 AM. This service includes relevant, worshipful music, prayer, and a clear, helpful message from the Bible. This service usually lasts about an hour and offers childcare throughout.
 

What about my children?

*Temporary Update: We are currently not offering a nursery during our Sunday Morning service.  Children are welcome to sit with their families in the auditorium or in the fellowship hall (overflow seating with live stream) during the service. We are offering a Jr Church program for Children age 2 – 2nd grade that meets after the songs and before the sermon.  

Hillside offers nursery care during our Sunday Morning and Wednesday Evening Services. It is there for your convenience, but if your desire to keep your young one’s with you during the service, that is fine too.

Sunday School has age-graded classes for children 2 years old up to 12th grade. Our teachers are always welcoming to visitors, well trained, and enjoy teaching the Bible. They strive to keep their classes active and offer a variety of age-appropriate teaching techniques.

During our Sunday Morning Worship we also offer a Junior Church program for children ages 3 to 5 and a Junior Church Plus program for children going into Kindergarten through the 3rd grade.
 

What is the dress code?

There is no dress code at Hillside. Dress at Hillside is diverse, some attendees dress in traditional  “Sunday” dress, while others do not. We only ask of those attending to dress modestly. Our main goal is that you are greeted and feel welcomed as you join us for any service.