In the summer of 2013, SPBC merged with Guilford Baptist Church, which was founded in 1857 as Lebanon Grove Baptist Church. In 1873. Guilford changed its name to reflect the name of the surrounding community. For 85 years, Guilford served as a circuit church, sharing a minister with Calvary Baptist Church and Mount Hope Baptist Church.
Guilford was closed periodically in the 1940s and 1950s but remained open from 1954 to 2013. It had periods of growth and health and also several periods of decline since that time. Many faithful pastors and members helped to build up the congregation and keep it faithful to God’s word.
By the early 2000s, Guilford had dwindled to just a few faithful members left without a pastor. In June of 2005, a church planting group from Capitol Hill Baptist Church, led by pastor Mike McKinley, joined the congregation. After that, the Lord blessed the congregation with renewed vitality for ministry. God steadily grew Guilford until the congregation even had to move to new venues for Sunday morning services, including Sterling Middle School and Park View High School in Sterling. During this time, God’s faithfulness also enabled Guilford to launch three church plants, one English-speaking church in Winchester, VA, and two Spanish-speaking churches in Sterling and Herndon, VA, as well as a food pantry, which began to serve those in need in the local community.
After the merger with SPBC, the merged congregation took Sterling Park Baptist Church as the name for its newly-unified local church.