Bible Baptist Church of Sodus sits on Ridge Road, one minute off Route 104 in Wayne County, New York. From the parking lot, the building has the look of a regional church that takes its calling seriously while leaving plenty of room for guests to feel at ease. Members travel from more than twenty towns to gather here each Sunday. The church describes itself with four words: Pursue, Connect, Serve, Advance. Those four words are less a slogan than the framework around which every ministry is built.
The church's stated mission is "More and Better Disciples by Pursuing God, Connecting with other believers, Serving others and Advancing God's kingdom." Each of the four words maps to a set of programs. Pursue covers worship and EQUIP classes. Connect covers community groups and Sunday morning fellowship. Serve covers the dozens of volunteer teams that keep the ministries running. Advance covers outreach, biblical counseling, and missionary support.
Sunday Mornings at 6181 Ridge Road
Two identical worship services are offered each Sunday, one at 9:00 am and the other at 10:30 am. Both services have the same music and the same message, so families can pick the time that works best for them. The 9 AM service is the one that is livestreamed, with the broadcast hosted on Vimeo and rerun on the church's podcast feeds on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio.
The music is blended. A worship team and band lead a mix of well-known hymns and current worship songs, chosen for spiritual depth rather than trend. Jay Riggleman, the lead pastor, or Nick Buthman, the associate pastor, brings the message. The sanctuary is equipped with a hearing assistance loop for those who need it.
Sunday school classes for adults and students run alongside the services. At 9:00 am, adults meet for a Bible Studies for Life class, and middle and high schoolers meet for their own Christian Education class. At 10:30 am, an adult EQUIP class meets. Nursery care is available at both services for infants through age three.
For children ages three through fifth grade, the children's programs (First Look and Kidz Zone) are offered at the 10:30 am service. Families who want their children in those programs should plan on attending the later service.
First-time guests are guided in by parking attendants who direct them to designated guest parking. A Welcome Team, identifiable by lanyards, meets people at the main south doors and can point them toward the sanctuary, the Welcome Table, child check-in, restrooms, or coffee. There is no dress code; some people wear traditional Sunday dress, others come in jeans or shorts. A Plan a Visit form lets newcomers let the staff know they are coming.
Children, Youth, and the Awana Club
Children are a high priority at Bible Baptist Church, and the programming reflects that. The nursery, for infants through age three, offers a clean and secure environment and runs during both Sunday services, as well as at many adult events. A child check-in system gives parents and guardians confidence that their children are safe in a kid-friendly setting.
First Look serves children ages three through kindergarten and runs all year at the 10:30 am service. It is built around helping young children discover that God made them for a specific purpose. Kidz Zone, for first through fifth graders, also runs all year at the 10:30 am service and uses games and activities to walk students through the celebrated stories of the Bible.
On Wednesday evenings during the school year, the church runs an Awana Club from 6:00 to 7:40 pm, September through May. Awana, which takes its name from the first letters of "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" in 2 Timothy 2:15, is an international, non-denominational children's ministry. Bible Baptist has hosted a local Awana chapter for more than twenty years and has served hundreds of children ages three to eighteen throughout Wayne County. The program is run by church volunteers and supported by Awana Ministries, one of the missionary organizations the church underwrites.
Youth 412 is the church's middle and high school youth group. It meets Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, September through June, and includes games, snacks, worship, a short lesson, and free time. Travis Dick, Jr., who joined the staff as youth director in 2026 and is a graduate of Word of Life Bible Institute, leads the program.
Adults: Community Groups and EQUIP Classes
For adults, the two main pathways for spiritual growth are Community Groups and EQUIP classes.
Community Groups are small groups of around twelve people that meet in homes and other locations on various days and evenings throughout the week. They run in three eight-week semesters during the school year, with a short break between each. Each group has three components: learning (connecting with truth), sharing (connecting with each other), and praying (connecting with God). Groups are open to newcomers, and the church keeps a sign-up form.
EQUIP classes are Sunday-morning courses designed to build devoted followers of Jesus who can face life's challenges with confidence and conviction. They meet at 9:00 am and 10:30 am on Sundays, between the two main worship services or alongside them, depending on the schedule. The church has also offered extended series such as "12 Proofs That Jesus Is God," a six-lesson discipleship class led by Pastor Nick Buthman and Pastor Jay Riggleman, with downloadable handouts for each session.
A Monday Night Prayer Group meets at 6:30 pm in the Koinania room of the north wing, with entry through the north doors. It is a small-group setting focused on praying for the country and its leaders, and open to other prayer concerns as well.
For moms of young children, Raising Tiny Disciples (RTD) meets twice a year in the fall and spring for Christ-centered book studies, and monthly over the summer at local parks so the kids can play while the mothers connect.
The church also runs Grief Share, a grief recovery support program, with online registration required. A periodic Men's Breakfast and a Family Fun Day round out the adult fellowship calendar.
Biblical Counseling Ministry
One of the more distinctive ministries at Bible Baptist Church is its Biblical Counseling Ministry, offered free to the community. The counseling team handles marriage, individual, and family issues including fear, conflict, marriage issues, anxiety, loss, parenting, addiction, loneliness, anger, and depression.
Counseling is provided by the pastors and by lay leaders who have been formally trained through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Most counselors on the team are either certified by that organization or in the process of certification. They are not licensed therapists, psychologists, or psychiatrists, and the ministry does not operate under a professional mental-health model; instead, it works from the conviction that God's Word is sufficient to address the problems of life.
Sessions typically last about an hour and run for ten to twelve weeks, though the length can be adjusted. Counseling is by appointment only, and there may be a waiting period if no counselor is immediately available. There is no fee; counselors volunteer their time and the church provides the space. Optional gratitude gifts may be made to the church's counseling ministry.
Confidentiality is taken seriously. Information shared in counseling stays confidential except in cases where a person expresses intent to harm themselves or others, where there is evidence or reasonable suspicion of abuse of a minor, elder, or dependent adult, or where a church member persistently refuses to renounce a particular sin and the church needs to assist in repentance and restoration.
Missionaries Near and Far
Bible Baptist Church supports a wide network of missionaries in four categories: local, foreign, Christian education, and justice ministries. Missionaries are invited to visit the church periodically to share updates, and many of them send regular newsletters that the church shares with the congregation.
Locally, the church supports Doug and Cindy Schoenheit (Awana Ministries), Don DiCrasto and Brian Wagner (Scarlet Thread Ministries), and Phil and Barb Klumpp, who serve in the Philippines. Brian Duclos of Good News Global is also supported.
Among foreign missionaries, Makarios International is supported as an organization, along with several family units in specific fields: Dan and Eirana Doyle in Ecuador; Pastor ViJay, Eunice, Timothy, and Eva in India through International Gospel Missions; Andrew and Anna Smith and Bill and Lori Smith, both serving in Papua New Guinea; Randy and Kari Teachout in South Africa; and Paul and Lucy S. and M and T in Southeast Asia.
In Christian education, the church supports East Palmyra Christian School. In justice ministries, it supports Care Net of Wayne County (a pregnancy resource center), Destiny Rescue, and Voice of the Martyrs. Members of the church contribute to these missionaries through prayer, financial support, and practical help, such as collecting medical supplies when specific needs arise.
The church also has a strong local outreach focus. Outreach takes three forms: simple acts of kindness in surrounding communities, periodic church-based outreach events, and personal evangelism training and encouragement for members to share Christ within their own spheres of influence.
What We Believe
The church summarizes its doctrinal commitments around Nine Core Theological Truths and a longer Core Creed with footnotes to ninety-two supporting Scripture references.
The Nine Core Truths begin with the Bible as the final, sufficient, authoritative, and infallible rule of faith and Christian obedience: "verbally inspired by God the Holy Spirit" and "the Word of God." The church affirms one living and true God, infinite, eternal, self-existent, immutable, and omnipresent, existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who share equally in every divine perfection while executing distinct offices.
The church teaches the objective reality of sin and Satan, and the doctrine that every person is a sinner by nature and by choice and therefore needs forgiveness. Salvation is by grace through faith and is a gift of God that cannot be earned. The church holds to the believer's perseverance: those truly born again are eternally secure, kept by the power of God.
Believers are called to "a long obedience in the same direction" as disciples, set apart through sanctification that is progressive but does not produce sinless perfection in this life. Heaven and hell are real, and every person will spend eternity in one or the other. The Great Commission to proclaim the Gospel is the church's sacred duty. And Jesus Christ will return personally, before the tribulation, to reign in a millennial kingdom, followed by the resurrection of the unrighteous and the judgment at the Great White Throne.
Among its distinctive beliefs, the church practices baptism by immersion as an outward sign of inward faith and observes the Lord's Table as a symbolic remembrance of Christ's death. The church holds a traditional view of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The church also takes a cessationist view of the supernatural gifts (speaking in tongues, miraculous healings, prophecy) in the present age, and for the sake of unity does not practice or teach those gifts within the congregation, while affirming that God remains capable of working through them.
Leadership and Organization
The church is led by Pastor Jay Riggleman, who has been lead pastor since 2005 and is a graduate of Baptist Bible College and Baptist Bible Seminary in Pennsylvania. His wife Pam Riggleman joined the staff in December 2023 as First Impressions Coordinator and also plays piano on the worship team. Pastor Nick Buthman has been associate pastor of discipleship, assimilation, and outreach since 2021; his ministry passions include preaching, teaching, biblical counseling, and evangelism. Travis Dick, Jr., joined in 2026 as Youth Director.
The church is organized with a board of deacons (currently Paul Dougherty, Harley Roberson, Adam Smith, and Matt Strauss) and a board of trustees (Mike Buckley, Mike Durham, Al Ferland, George Lewis, Mike McDonald, Aaron McKee, Vince Pilato, Chris Rivera, and Dave Rodriguez). Administrative Assistant Kris DiSanto, who has attended Bible Baptist since 2010 and was a family friend of the church during its earlier days on Mill Street, and Treasurer Rob Schutt complete the staff team.
Practical Details for Visitors
The church is located at 6181 Ridge Road, Sodus, NY 14551. From Marion it is about fifteen minutes; from Newark and Wolcott about twenty minutes; from Ontario about fifteen minutes; from Webster about twenty minutes; and from Williamson about eight minutes.
Office hours are Monday through Thursday, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm; the office is closed Fridays. The main phone number is 315-483-9886. Online giving is available, with the option to set up one-time or recurring gifts, or to use a bank's free online bill payer to give without fees.
Sermons are archived on the church's Vimeo channels (Sunday morning messages, special services, missionary updates, and seminars) and on its two Podbean podcasts (Sunday Sermons and Theology Matters). A livestream of the 9 AM service is available each Sunday.
For newcomers who want to learn more about the church, a Discover BBC class is offered several times a year. The class covers the church's mission, doctrinal beliefs, and ministries, and gives attendees the chance to interact with one of the pastors. A baptism registration form and a community group sign-up form are both available.