A Mission on Baxter Avenue
Baxter Avenue Baptist Church traces its roots to 1936, when Albert Hopkins, a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, set out to plant a new mission on Louisville's east side. Hopkins and his wife looked around the Baxter Avenue corridor and found Baptist families eager for ministry in their own community. Highland Baptist Church, a sister congregation, came alongside the effort in 1937 with financial support and a team of women - Asehath Brewster, Eva Dawson, Jeanette Wiggenton, Emily Rhen, and others - who helped organize Sunday School classes, ministries, and departments.
The first meeting place was an empty building at the northeast corner of Baxter Avenue and Payne Street. On March 3, 1937, the mission held its first Sunday School with 36 children in attendance and 25 adults at the first worship service. As the work grew, it moved several times before settling into its present location, where the congregation erected a building in 1948 on a site that had once housed a brewery. The Baxter Avenue mission was officially constituted as a church in 1952.
Loving Phoenix Hill and Irish Hill
The church continues to focus its ministry on the Phoenix Hill and Irish Hill neighborhoods of Louisville. Baxter's leaders acknowledge that the surrounding area has changed dramatically over the decades with the urbanized connection of the Highlands and the Market District (NuLu), but the mission of the church has not: to love and serve the community by meeting needs and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Members often refer to themselves simply as "Baxter," a family of sinners saved by the grace of God who have "tasted and seen that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8). The congregation longs to see people from every nation worship God forever and know the one whom they were made for (John 17:3).
What Baxter Believes
Baxter Avenue Baptist Church holds doctrinal statements that are largely drawn from the Abstract of Principles of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000. The church teaches that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God and are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, without error in the original manuscripts.
There is one God, the Maker, Preserver, and Ruler of all things, infinite in every perfection, revealed to humanity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - three persons with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being. God from eternity decrees or permits all things that come to pass and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events, yet so as never to be the author or approver of sin. Election is God's eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life, not because of foreseen merit in them but of His mere mercy in Christ.
The Fall of Man is part of Baxter's confession: humanity was created in God's image and free from sin but, through the temptation of Satan, transgressed God's command and lost original holiness and righteousness. As a result, every descendant inherits a nature corrupt and opposed to God and His law, stands under condemnation, and becomes an actual transgressor as soon as capable of moral action.
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and humanity. He took on human nature without sin, perfectly fulfilled the law, suffered, and died on the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, rose again the third day, ascended to His Father, and now remains at His right hand making intercession for His people. Regeneration is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit, awakening the spiritually dead to understand the Word of God and renewing the whole nature so that the believer turns from sin, believes the Gospel, and practices holiness. Saving faith is belief in all that Scripture reveals concerning Christ, accompanied by other saving graces and leading to a life of holiness. Justification is God's gracious and full pardon of repentant sinners who believe in Christ, made possible by Christ's obedient life, atoning death, and resurrection. Sanctification is a progressive work carried out by God's Word and Spirit indwelling the believer.
Baxter also confesses the perseverance of the saints: those God has saved and sanctified by His Spirit will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace but will certainly persevere to the end, kept by the power of God through faith. The church is composed of all the true disciples of Jesus, who is its head, and the regular officers of a church are pastors and deacons.
Two ordinances are central. Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, in which he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of the washing away of sins, and of giving himself up to God to live and walk in newness of life. The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, administered with the elements of bread and wine and observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice but is designed to commemorate His death, confirm the faith and graces of Christians, and be a bond and renewal of their communion with Him and of their church fellowship.
The church teaches a confessional view of gender, marriage, and family: humans are uniquely created male and female, communicating God's image in harmonious interpersonal relationships; marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant commitment; children from the moment of conception are a blessing and heritage from the Lord; and parents are to lead their children toward faith in Christ through consistent example and biblical discipline. On Last Things, Baxter affirms that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory, the dead will be raised, Christ will judge all in righteousness, the unrighteous will be consigned to Hell as the place of everlasting punishment, and the righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
The Baxter Covenant
Membership at Baxter is based upon a confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and the testimony of believer's baptism. Members also commit to live a holy life, actively participate in ministry, give faithfully, and live an evangelistic lifestyle. The church covenant calls members to protect the unity of the congregation by acting in Christian love toward other members, refusing to gossip, and following the pastoral leadership within scriptural limits. Members are to exercise loving watchfulness over one another, gently correct one another as needed, and quickly work to mend any strained or broken relationships within the church. They are to pray for the church family and be willing to rejoice with those who rejoice and bear each other's burdens and sorrows. Members share the responsibility of the church by developing relationships with unbelievers, being hospitable, praying for its growth, inviting the unchurched to attend, and extending warmth to those who visit. They participate in ministry by discovering and using their gifts with a servant's heart, seek by God's grace to live carefully in the world, let their baptism remind them of their union with Christ's death and resurrection, faithfully attend services, and contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
A Sunday Morning at Baxter
Sunday at Baxter begins at 9:30 a.m. with a time of prayer and Bible teaching. The congregation gathers to read and study God's Word together and to pray for international missions, local outreach, and the worship service that follows.
At 10:30 a.m., the corporate worship service begins. The elements of the service include congregational singing, Scripture reading, prayer, the preaching of God's Word, giving, and the Lord's Supper, which is observed every Sunday. An example of the order of service is available for those who want a closer look.
Congregational singing is a central act of worship. Members sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19), supported by acoustic and folk-like instrumentation. Baxter teaches that the voices of the congregation are the most important instruments in the room. During the service, a church member reads a passage of Scripture that lines up with the sermon text for the day. Prayer is woven through the gathering, grounded in passages like the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15) and Jesus' promise that God hears prayers offered in faith (1 John 5:14-15).
Pastor George preaches through the Bible in an expository style, working through passages carefully and applying them to the life of the church and to individual believers. Baxter holds that the preaching and hearing of God's Word is central to the corporate worship of God's people, quoting 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
After the sermon, there is a time of response: singing, prayer, reflection in silence, and preparation of heart to partake together in the Lord's Supper. The offering time follows, a moment to reflect on God's Word and commit to giving lives in obedience in the week ahead. Visitors will find a variety of outfits on Sunday mornings, with most people dressing from casual to business casual.
The Lord's Supper Every Week
Baxter observes the Lord's Supper every Sunday, calling it a joyful celebration for Christians in remembering what Jesus has done in the gospel and proclaiming His death and resurrection until He comes again. The Supper is for those who have given their lives to God in faith and repentance of sins, have been baptized, and are in good standing with their local church. As the church teaches, the bread and the cup are in no sense a sacrifice but a commemoration of Christ's death, a confirmation of the faith and graces of Christians, and a bond and renewal of their communion with Him and of their church fellowship.
Music and Congregational Singing
The music ministry at Baxter aims to worship God with excellence and to serve the church family with songs that will help them love God more throughout their lives. Baxter holds that music and singing are essential to the Christian life: God Himself sings over His people with joy (Zephaniah 3:17), and Jesus' words dwell richly when believers teach and encourage one another by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in their hearts (Colossians 3:16). Recordings of songs the congregation sings together are available for listening.
Wednesday Night Bible Study and Prayer
On Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., Baxter gathers again to sing, hear God's Word taught, and pray for various needs in the church, in the community, and around the world.
Teaching and Discipleship
Following the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11, who "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily," members are encouraged to read through the Bible at least once a year. Resources are provided to assist in this reading. In regular Sunday and Wednesday gatherings, the people of Baxter come together to study the Bible, recognizing that the Word of God directs the way they relate to God, to one another, and to the world in which they live.
The Dare to Care Food Pantry
On the last Tuesday of every month from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., the church opens its Dare to Care Food Pantry to neighbors in the area. The pantry is one expression of Baxter's desire to be a visible presence for Christ in the neighborhood, to recognize legitimate needs, and to meet as many of them as possible while sharing the good news of the Gospel.
Missions and Evangelism
Baxter seeks to love its neighborhood with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in concrete ways: by being a visible presence for Christ, building relationships with as many neighbors as possible, becoming conscientious of legitimate needs and meeting them, providing a worship service that accommodates the culture of the neighborhood, living out the message of the cross in daily life, and being prepared to share the Gospel at all times. As a member of the Louisville Regional Baptist Association, the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention, Baxter also seeks to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations. A portion of the church's giving supports Southern Baptist missionaries around the world.
The People Who Lead Baxter
Dr. George Martin has served as Pastor of Baxter Avenue Baptist Church since October 2018. He and his wife, Donna, came to Louisville after years of service with the International Mission Board in Southeast Asia, full-time pastoral ministry, several interim pastorates, and twenty-five years as Professor of Christian Missions and World Religions at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he continues to teach.
Josh Pittman arrived at Baxter in the spring of 2019 with his wife, Andy, and was ordained as a pastor in August 2023. Originally from Southern California, he received his M.Div. in 2022 and is a Ph.D. student in Old Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Westte Williams, his wife Windy, and their children Zaiah, Saeyen, and Abishai came to Baxter in 2019 from Cedar Creek Baptist Church, a sister church in Louisville known for sending people out to the nations. Cedar Creek partnered with Baxter by providing support, resources, and people. Westte was ordained and called as pastor in August 2023.
Ethan Bauer and his wife Hannah have been members of Baxter since 2012. Ethan serves as a Deacon and is on the Building and Facilities team. Chris Herron, a member since 2006, serves as a Deacon and the church treasurer.
The Daily Word and Sermons
Pastor George writes the "Daily Word," a regular devotional reflection that walks through Scripture passage by passage, often accompanied by a classic hymn. Recent series have moved through the Gospels and the books of 1 Kings, with reflections on the faithfulness of God, the love of Jesus, the meaning of Easter, and the Great Commission. Daniel Kingsley also contributes articles to the Daily Word. Sermons are made available through the Baxter Church podcast on Spotify.
Giving to Baxter
Baxter teaches that giving is an act of worship. Members give cheerfully and regularly to support the ministries of the church, building maintenance, and Southern Baptist missionaries around the world. Online giving is available through Tithe.ly using a credit or debit card or an e-check, with the option to cover processing fees so the church receives the full amount. Cash and checks may also be given during the Sunday morning worship service, with checks made out to "Baxter Avenue Baptist Church."
Visiting Baxter
Baxter Avenue Baptist Church is located at 522 Baxter Avenue in Louisville, in the Phoenix Hill and Irish Hill neighborhoods within easy reach of the Highlands, NuLu, and downtown. The church can be reached by email at baxteravepastors@gmail.com or by phone at (502) 583-4123.