Mariusz (Max) Bartkowski is serving as pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Bydgoszcz. He is a graduate of the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, University of marketing and management, and Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to entering full-time ministry in 2011, Max worked as a Trade Marketing Manager at T-Mobile, Poland. He and his wife Agnes, have two children, John, and Adam. Max has served in Polish Baptist Union churches for four years. In 2015, he moved with the family to Dublin (Ireland) to support his mother-in-law who was diagnosed with cancer and was going through chemotherapy. He stayed there for one year and was trying to reach Polish emigrants in cooperation with the local church. As he was planning to come back to Poland he was praying and seeking guidance from the Lord on how they could best serve Him. Max came to the conviction that he must plant an independent, biblical church in Poland. As he had never planted a church before, he needed to seek training. God, in His provision connected him with Grace Baptist Partnership and he moved with the family to Edinburgh (Scotland) to learn from Pastor Ali McLachlan. He was trained and sent with his family as a missionary by Grace Baptist Church, Edinburgh to Bydgoszcz in July 2017. Grace Baptist Church Bydgoszcz was constituted in November 2019.

Update from Pastor Bartkowski (April 2021):

Dear Saints, Thank you very much for your prayers and partnership in the Gospel... We continue to preach the Gospel and distribute tracts. Please pray with us for those who received it. May the Lord open their hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Please pray for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ... May God give both of us wisdom and lead us as we sometimes use three different languages at the meetings – Polish, English (we do not have many good books translated to Polish) and Ukrainian…

Remember us in your prayers. May God continue to encourage us and strengthen us. May He give us boldness to preach the Gospel to the lost. Pray for us to be sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."

I heard the most important “Yes” in my life on Saturday 21st of April 2007. She said “Yes”, and she was mine and I was her. Yesterday we celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary. I am thankful for Agnes – she is my beloved, my helper, and my friend in family life and the ministry. This journey not always was easy, but it was blessed. We love each other, we love our boys and the most important we love our Lord. He is our rock and our fortress and our deliverer; our God, our strength, in whom we will trust. We look forward to continuing this journey together as a family who have a great desire to serve our Him! Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

-Max