Who We Are

Farmstead Baptist church is a Southern Baptist Church.  We affirm the BFM and partner together with fellow Southern Baptist Churches in our association, state, and national convention to spread the gospel by training pastors, sending missionaries, and planting churches.

Click here to read the Baptist Faith and Message.

While salvation is by grace through faith, God has commanded the church to practice certain ordinances that proclaim the gospel in the local church, they are Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Believer’s Baptism is done by immersion and is an outward sign of an inward activity.  Baptism does not save nor add to our salvation, but it declares to the church what God has done in our hearts already.  All members are to be baptized by immersion either at Farmstead or through a church with a similar theology.  Also, the Lord’s Supper does not instill anything within us spiritually but is a proclamation of Jesus’s sacrifice in paying the penalty of our sin.

Because we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture (that scripture has no error), we practice expository preaching in our preaching and teaching ministry. That means we preach verse by verse through books of the Bible in order to faithfully proclaim “the whole council of God” to his people.

Our goal is not to grow as fast as we can.  Our goal is to be as healthy as we can.  The church is not a social club, but God’s tool to reach the world with the gospel.  We want to make sure our members do not just “walk the aisle”, but they understand the basics of church membership.  Church membership is for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, repented of their sin and followed God’s command of Believer’s Baptism by immersion.  Church members are expected and encouraged to strive to follow God in their lifestyles and to be an active participant in the life of the church.

The New Testament has surprisingly little to say about worship styles. However, one thing is sure: we are to engage in Christ exalting worship through praying, preaching, Scripture reading, singing, giving, and obeying God.  At Farmstead Baptist Church, we are not interested in being “Contemporary” or “Traditional.” Our mission is to exalt Christ. We value worship that is theologically sound and doctrinally correct. We value hymns and praise choruses as they draw us to worship in Spirit and Truth.

The Church is not a building, but a community of believers. As such, we are to live in fellowship and community with one another. We must do more than just occupy chairs near each other on a weekly basis to call ourselves a church. We also believe the New Testament gives us clear teaching that Biblical Converts (Regenerate Believers) were a part of Christian Community. We do not believe that a true convert of Christ will live a life apart from the community of Christ – His Church.  At Farmstead, community is demonstrated through serving in the church and small group involvement.  Our small groups, Sunday School, meet on Sunday mornings before our worship service.

The head of the church is Christ.  As a church, it is our goal to honor Him in all we do.  Part of this involves striving to govern the affairs and finances of the church in the most God honoring way we can.  Because men are imperfect and Proverbs says there is wisdom in many counselors (Proverbs 15:22), we have a congregational church government.  While our church is governed congregationally, we also understand the leadership responsibilities God has assigned to pastors (Hebrews 13:17, 1 Timothy 5:17, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13) and the practical reality that not everything can be voted on.  Because of this, our church is pastor led, committee represented, deacon served, and congregation affirmed.  Our church votes on the yearly budget, big expenditures such as buying land or building new buildings, and the addition of new pastoral staff positions.

Although Church discipline is a foundational doctrine in Baptist history, it is now almost non-existent among “contemporary” Baptists. This forgotten and almost misunderstood Biblical doctrine (Matthew 18:15-20) is practiced at Farmstead Baptist Church. If we truly seek to honor God and care for the well-being of His people, we must obey Christ’s commands to practice Church discipline. When practiced biblically and compassionately, it is a powerful tool to restore the fallen, avoid meaningless and unholy conversation, maintain unity in the Church and preserve Christ’s honor in the Church and among the unbelieving world.  The goal of church discipline is always repentance and restoration, never shunning or hatred.