Pastor Brad Cranston
Iowa Director
Brad Cranston was born in Sewickley, PA, on December 2, 1962. He accepted Christ as his Savior a few weeks before turning seven.
From 1981 to 1988, Bro. Cranston attended Hyles-Anderson College, where he earned a bachelor of science degree and a master’s degree.
In June 1985, Bro. Cranston was married to Heidi Marie Christner at Marion Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, IA. God blessed them with eight children, seven of whom are married, and eleven grandchildren.
From the summer of 1988 until the spring of 1992, Bro. Cranston served as the assistant pastor at his home church, Allegheny Baptist Temple, near Pittsburgh, PA.
In the Spring of 1992, the Cranstons moved to Burlington, IA, where Bro. Cranston assumed the pastorate of a 16-month-old church plant, meeting in a rented room at the local community college. In the fall of 1992, the church was chartered and organized as Heritage Baptist Church. In 1996 the church acquired and moved to an old theatre building where the attendance grew to average between 150-200 in the Sunday morning services. In March of 2016, the church purchased an 18,000 sq. ft. church building on the south side of Burlington. The church relocated to that facility in December 2016, following extensive renovations.
In 2008, sensing the moral and spiritual decline of our nation and the impending threat to religious liberty, Bro. Cranston founded Iowa Baptists for Biblical Values as a ministry of his church. Over the years, that effort has increased to include a weekly presence of Independent Baptist pastors at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines and trusted relationships with numerous godly Iowa legislators. In 2014 Bro. Cranston began reproducing that effort in other states. Today those states include Alabama, California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New York, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia.
In January 2020, Bro. Cranston resigned from his position as senior pastor of Heritage Baptist Church to focus full-time on his work with the state organizations. As Pastor Emeritus, he and his wife continue to live in Burlington, IA, and remain members at Heritage Baptist, pastored by Mick Hall. Their work is supported by churches and individual believers who share their burden for the country and see value in their work.
In 2022 Bro. Cranston founded Baptists for Biblical Values and Baptists for Biblical Values Action to provide a financial and legal framework to continue the ministry into the future.