Love. Connect. Serve. on Carroll Creek Road
Boone Trail Baptist Church stands along Carroll Creek Road in Gray, just northeast of Johnson City, Tennessee. For more than fifty years this Southern Baptist congregation has gathered here under a single mission: Love. Connect. Serve. The phrase anchors the masthead, repeats in the statement of faith, and shapes every program from the nursery to the deacon's quarterly meeting. On a Sunday morning the parking lot fills before 9:30, volunteers staff a welcome desk in the foyer, and generations of believers move into Sunday School classes ahead of the 10:45 corporate worship hour.
The church sits in happy cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention and is associated locally with the Holston Baptist Association. Its doctrinal standard is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and its constitution and bylaws, together with its membership covenant, are public documents posted for prospective members to read.
What They Believe
The church identifies itself as a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ: an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, and governed by his Word. The two scriptural offices recognized by Boone Trail are pastor and deacon. Governance is described as pastor-led, congregation-affirmed, and deacon-served. The pastor serves as under shepherd of the local body; the members vote on theology, the operating budget, and the formation of committees; and deacons serve under the direction of the pastors and the congregation.
Love is treated as the foundation, since the community is formed by God's love for us: love the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind; love neighbor as self; love one another as Christ has loved us. Connect describes the bond believers share in Christ through grace alone, by faith alone, the union that joins them together to obey him on the Lord's Day and through the week. Send carries the bond outward as members use their gifts as the hands and feet of Jesus to neighbors and to the nations.
The Great Commandment, the Great Commission, and the upper-room love command together describe the congregation's purpose. The community's stated battle-cry is to love, connect, and serve daily in their walk with Christ.
Sundays on Carroll Creek Road
Sunday School Groups meet at 9:30 each Sunday morning, gathering across generations for one hour of teaching that prepares hearts for the worship hour that follows. These classes are deliberately not age-graded fellowships; the goal is shared Christian instruction across the body. At 10:45 the congregation moves into corporate worship, structured around scripture reading, prayer, theologically rich songs, and the proclamation of God's Word.
Second Sundays are set aside as Family Sundays, observed together with the Lord's Supper. Children in the body participate in Kids' Worship at the 10:45 hour, taught from LifeWay's Bible Studies for Life curriculum. Every volunteer who works with children is Ministry Safe verified. Parents who want more information can reach out to the church office directly.
The offering plate passes during the worship service, and collection boxes stand by the sanctuary entrance for those who prefer to give on the way in or out. Visitors find a mix of generations in the pews, an unhurried welcome from greeters, and a worship hour that moves between prayer, scripture, and preaching. Dress runs the full range from casual to business casual, and newcomers are asked no questions about how they are dressed.
Wednesday Nights Around the Word
Wednesday evenings at 6:30 are a second weekly hub at Boone Trail. Children in Pre-K through sixth grade pour into the AWANA program, where they memorize Scripture, learn Christian doctrine, and play games together. The AWANA season runs mid-August through May and closes with a spring Grand Prix in the gym and an awards night. At the same hour, middle school and high school students gather for a Wednesday night study, working through Galatians and Ephesians. Adults meet around prayer and the study of Acts, with a separate verse-by-verse approach in their Bible study hour.
The Wednesday hour is described as a long Baptist tradition worth preserving. The church quotes Charles Spurgeon on the priority of the prayer meeting, and the prayer ministry on Wednesday nights is treated as essential, not optional. Members who cannot make a particular week are encouraged to reach out to a deacon with prayer needs in advance, and the regulars form the backbone of the meeting.
Cross-Generational Discipleship
The discipleship pathway at Boone Trail moves through three settings: Learn the Faith on Sunday mornings, Live the Faith in Sunday evening groups, and Lead Others in the Faith throughout the week.
- Sunday School Groups meet from 9:30 to 10:30 each Sunday, focused on instruction and doctrine to inform the 10:45 worship service.
- Home Groups meet on the first and third Sundays of each month in homes around the community, sharing a meal, discussing the most recent sermons, and carrying one another's burdens in prayer.
- Discipleship Groups are age-specific small groups built around high accountability and sequential Bible study, the close-knit context for focused sanctification.
Quarterly men's and women's fellowships round out the calendar and connect brothers and sisters across age and stage. Four Home Groups currently meet across the community: the Carden and Burke group in Johnson City, the Massengill and Hartley group in Gray and Sulphur Springs, the Roberts and Maupin group in north Johnson City, and the Rogers and Phillips group, also in north Johnson City. Members interested in starting a new group are encouraged to reach out to the church office.
Singing the Bible
The music ministry is built on the conviction that believers worship God when they sing the Bible. Worship leaders draw from the Baptist Hymnal (1991), Hymns of Grace, and modern writers including Keith and Kristyn Getty, Matt Papa, and Bob Kauflin. The result is a blended service that includes psalms straight from the Old Testament alongside contemporary settings of the same truths. The psalmody sung at Boone Trail often follows a year-long plan that walks through the Psalter in order.
Song lists are posted in advance so members can prepare their hearts throughout the week. Visitors are warned that some songs will be comfortable and familiar and others surprisingly uncomfortable and foreign, and that this mix is intentional: the Gospel is magnified, the leaders write, when God's people are bound together in Christ alone. Musicians, singers, and audio/visual volunteers who want to serve in the music ministry can connect with the church through the office.
Children, Students, and the Gym
The Children's Ministry begins with the prayer that each child grow in the knowledge of God's will, in wisdom, and in spiritual understanding. Sunday mornings ground children in the Bible Studies for Life curriculum, while Wednesday nights carry them through AWANA from Pre-K through sixth grade. Two summer camps, CentriKid and FUGE, take the ministry offsite for week-long Bible-study experiences at Gardner-Webb University and other campuses.
The annual AWANA Grand Prix in early spring turns the gym into a pinewood-derby style track, with finished cars weighed, balanced, and raced on a chosen evening. The Fall Festival and Trunk or Treat fills the parking lot with candy and themed trunks each October, with booths set up inside the gym in case of rain. A Christmas Reserved for Christ, an indoor nativity presentation with dramatic retelling, closes the year with a worship service.
Upward Basketball and Cheer runs each winter in the church gym, with evaluations in late summer and games running from mid-September through mid-November. Open to boys and girls in K5 through sixth grade, the league has become a doorway for many neighborhood families into the life of the church. Coaches, referees, scorekeepers, and concession volunteers are drawn from the wider congregation, and Brad Van Huss coordinates the league from the gym.
Boone Trail Students gathers seventh through twelfth graders from schools across the Tri-Cities area. Students divide into middle school and high school groups on Sunday mornings and combine for Wednesday evenings. A student lunch fundraiser supports their ministry, and seasonal outreach events stretch the work beyond the building, including the annual ETSU Tailgate Party that takes the gospel to a campus stadium each fall, and trips such as the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum that bring the students together for shared study and fellowship.
Women, Men, and Family Rhythms
Women's ministry centers on connection, study, and fellowship. A monthly Women's Ministry Brunch, an annual Women's Retreat at The Camp at Buffalo Mountain, and several Paint and Praise Parties fill the calendar, with cards made for ministry partners and gift bags assembled for new moms around tables in The Shed, the church fellowship space. At retreats and brunches alike, women study books together that focus on friendship and spiritual encouragement within the body of Christ.
Men's Discipleship Ministry gathers men around Bible study and accountability under a dedicated deacon. Family-focused rhythms include quarterly churchwide fellowship meals, a Thanksgiving potluck paired with the Lord's Supper, a spring Family Easter Celebration with cookout and egg hunt, and a Homecoming weekend each September that marks more than fifty years of ministry with a potluck, a concert, and a guest sermon from one of the church's former pastors.
Neighbors Near and Far
Beyond its own walls, Boone Trail serves a network of local and global ministry partners. The church supports the Johnson City Baptist Center through the Holston Baptist Association, which provides Bible studies for area families alongside relief for physical needs. Agape Women's Services, a nonprofit pregnancy resource center and licensed medical clinic in Johnson City, receives ongoing support through diaper-bag drives, wish-list donations, and direct giving; members donate filled diaper bags as women choose life, and ongoing diaper and wipe supplies are gathered in bins around the church building. Good Samaritan Ministries, another Johnson City faith-based nonprofit, is supported through the church's online giving portal.
Globally, Boone Trail cooperates with the Southern Baptist Convention through the International Mission Board, supporting missionaries and church-planting work. A two-part Evangelism Conference with training followed by an evangelistic outreach to East Tennessee State University illustrates the church's blend of evangelism training and hands-on witness. Compassionate Hope Foundation, where Daniel and Jenny Phillips serve in Southeast Asia with a focus on victims of trafficking and religious persecution, is another supported family; the Phillips live in northeast Tennessee with their seven children and serve as Home Sponsorship Directors for Homes of Hope across the region.
Pastors, Deacons, and Members
The pastoral staff is led by Zach Smith as Lead Pastor and Jeff Alford as Associate Pastor. A deacon body of fourteen men oversees serving areas across the church: Cody Carden for Student and Collegiate Ministries, Darryl Hardin for Student Ministry, Ronald Massengill for Hospitality and Ushers, Sam Plücker for Men's Discipleship, Chris Hartley for Audio/Visual, Alan Phillips for Children's Ministry, Nathan Flores for Building and Grounds, Rick Maupin for Missions, Jeff Rogers for Local Ministries and Outreach, Brad Van Huss for Upward Basketball and Cheer, plus Marshall Roberts, Kelly Shultz, and Dee Bacon who serve across the rotation. The deacons meet at the request of the pastors and congregation.
Membership at Boone Trail is covenant membership, a deliberate process for believers who want a deeper relationship with the body. Prospective members work through the constitution and bylaws and the membership covenant, agree with the doctrinal standards of the church, and commit to the church's mission. Members share responsibility for the unity, ministry, and mission of the congregation; the church in turn commits to shepherd them, hold them accountable, and equip them for service.
Worship services are livestreamed on Facebook each Sunday at 10:45, and recordings are posted on Facebook and YouTube for those who want to watch later or revisit a sermon. Giving is available online through a secure Realm portal and by plate or collection boxes during the worship hour. The annual East TN Disaster Relief Training, hosted by Boone Trail on behalf of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, prepares volunteers for Baptist Disaster Relief projects around the region, fitting for a congregation that frames its calling as loving, connecting, and serving across the community and to the ends of the earth.