A Family of Families in Springfield
Brookline Baptist Church sits on South State Highway MM on the south side of Springfield, Missouri, in the Brookline neighborhood. A Southern Baptist congregation, the church describes its overarching aim as glorifying God by exalting its Savior, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the lost. Members speak of Brookline as a family of families, a community in which people are known and loved, gathering for the joyful pursuit of making much of Jesus. The church embraces the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention, and partners with the Missouri Baptist Convention for cooperative missions work across the state.
Sunday Mornings Around the Word
Sunday at Brookline is anchored in Bible teaching. At 9:00 a.m., Sunday School meets for every age, with classes for preschoolers, children, students, and adults. Greeters at any of the building's entrances can direct a first-time guest to a class of their choosing, and the rooms are organized so that every member of a household can study at the same time.
Children from birth through sixth grade and students in grades seven through twelve study The Gospel Project curriculum, a Christ-centered, chronological walk through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation designed to show how every story in the Bible points to the gospel. The same curriculum is used in the student ministry on Sunday mornings, so families with children of different ages are on the same page week by week.
At 10:15 a.m., the congregation moves into the sanctuary for morning worship. The order of service opens with a welcome and brief announcements, followed by reading Scripture together, praying together, giving together, and singing a few songs together. Music is a blend of older and modern hymns. After the music, Pastor Matt Cullum leads the congregation in worship through the preaching and teaching of God's Word, working verse by verse through books of the Bible rather than skipping between unrelated texts. The service runs about seventy-five minutes from start to finish.
Two layers of children's care run alongside the service. A nursery is staffed for infants through age three for the entire worship gathering, so parents of small children can stay in the service knowing their babies and toddlers are looked after. After the music portion of the service and just before the preaching, children in first grade and younger may be dismissed to children's church if their families so choose. Older children remain in the sanctuary to worship alongside the congregation.
The Lord's Supper is observed on a regular cadence during the Sunday morning service, with members gathering around the bread and cup to memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Wednesday Evenings
Wednesday nights are a centerpiece of life at Brookline, and the church structures the evening so that families with children of every age can be on site at the same time.
A family meal opens the evening at 5:45 p.m. in the building, with a suggested donation of two dollars per person. Sharing a meal before programming begins is a small but meaningful tradition that gives families time to catch up with friends and meet newcomers before the Bible studies and small groups start.
From 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., AWANA gathers children from preschool through sixth grade. AWANA is a curriculum designed to reach kids and their families with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to disciple them to walk with Christ for life. The midweek rhythm complements the Sunday morning Gospel Project lessons with age-appropriate Scripture memory, games, and small group time. Parents register their children online before the fall kick-off.
The student ministry meets at the same time for grades seven through twelve, offering a blend of fellowship and Bible study with the same goal that drives the rest of the church: seeing students committed to Christ and the local church. The ministry emphasizes being Word centered (so teaching is focused on Scripture rather than morality or entertainment), church focused (so students engage in the life of the broader congregation rather than being pulled out of it), and family oriented (so the program supports parents in their role as the primary disciple-makers of their teenagers rather than substituting for them).
At 7:00 p.m., adults gather for prayer and Bible study, a long-running midweek service that brings the congregation together for intercession and a shared look at Scripture.
GriefShare and Other Support Gatherings
Outside of Sunday and Wednesday, Brookline hosts a number of ongoing ministries designed for smaller, more personal connections.
The most prominent is GriefShare, a weekly support program for people grieving the loss of a loved one. GriefShare meets on Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to noon in a repeating cycle of thirteen sessions that walk participants through the journey of grief from a Christian perspective, combining a teaching video with small group conversation and personal reflection.
Men meet on Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. for Bible study. The men's ministry also hosts a monthly breakfast on the first Saturday of the month at 8:00 a.m., held in the Family Life Center, where fathers and sons eat together and look at Scripture. Women gather for a Thursday evening book club from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., reading through Christian classics and recently published titles together.
On the second Sunday of each month, members of the church take turns serving residents at the Republic Nursing Home in the afternoon, a ministry the church calls Republic Nursing Home Ministry. The visit usually involves singing, a brief devotional, and one-on-one conversation with residents.
A monthly Crafty Sisters group also meets on Saturday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for crafts and fellowship. The church periodically hosts conferences for men and for women and a fall luncheon for widows and single women.
What Brookline Baptist Believes
The church subscribes to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention. The full statement of eighteen articles is published on the What We Believe page, with each article accompanied by extensive Scripture references drawn from across the canon.
The opening article affirms that the Holy Bible, written by men divinely inspired, is God's revelation of Himself to man, totally true and trustworthy, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is the focus of divine revelation.
Article II confesses one and only one living and true God, an infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing personal Being who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without division of nature, essence, or being. God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of human history. God the Son, in His incarnation as Jesus Christ, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, perfectly revealed and did the will of God, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body, appeared to His disciples, ascended into heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the one Mediator, fully God, fully man. God the Holy Spirit inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, effects regeneration, baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ at the moment of regeneration, cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals believers unto the day of final redemption.
Article III teaches that man is the special creation of God, made in His own image, male and female. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice, sin entered the human race through the temptation of Satan, and his posterity inherits a nature and environment inclined toward sin. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and Christ died for man.
Article IV defines salvation as involving regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, with no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. Regeneration is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus, a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes and enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Glorification is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Article V holds that election is the gracious purpose of God, consistent with the free agency of man, comprehending all the means in connection with the end. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace but shall persevere to the end, kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Article VI describes a New Testament church as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes, with scriptural officers being pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
Article VII sets out the two ordinances. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's death to sin, burial of the old life, and resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. As a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Article VIII names the first day of the week as the Lord's Day, a Christian institution for regular observance that commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.
Article IX describes the Kingdom of God as including both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
Article X sets out last things: God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth, the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Article XI calls it the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. Missionary effort rests on a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life and is repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.
Article XII affirms that Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of the Christian heritage, and an adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people.
Article XIII teaches that God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual. Christians are under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions, recognizing all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause on earth.
Article XIV encourages cooperation on a voluntary basis between associations of churches for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations are voluntary and advisory, designed to elicit, combine, and direct the energies of believers in the most effective manner.
Article XV addresses the Christian and the social order. All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in their own lives and in human society. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. Christians should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick, and should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
Article XVI calls it the duty of Christians to seek peace with all men on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ, they should do all in their power to put an end to war.
Article XVII defends religious liberty, declaring that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Church and state should be separate. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind or to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.
Article XVIII on the family teaches that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord, and parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth.
Theological Training in the Local Church
Brookline Baptist hosts the Contextualized Leadership Development (CLD) program, a tuition-free initiative that brings formal theological education into the life of a local church. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College offer accredited undergraduate courses through the program, taught by qualified instructors at the church on an intensive weekend format with online work between sessions. The premise is that many people who would benefit from doctrinal training cannot easily relocate to a seminary campus because of time, money, or family logistics, and that delivering the same accredited courses in the local church overcomes those barriers.
Courses are fully accredited at the same level as those taught in the seminary classroom and can be audited by anyone who would like to participate without earning academic credit. Up to forty-nine percent of a certificate, diploma, or degree at Spurgeon College can be earned through CLD courses. Through MBTS's Advance Standing benefit, CLD courses can be counted toward one-third of a master's degree at MBTS. The courses are entirely tuition-free, and they are open to church members and non-members, to high school students, and to adults.
Past offerings through the program have included a course on Personal Evangelism and Discipleship, in which students learn basic methods of personal Bible study, discipleship, and evangelistic witness in multicultural settings, evaluating paradigms of spiritual discipline and evangelism in light of sound doctrine and the sufficiency of Scripture.
Pastor and Staff
Pastor Matt Cullum has served as pastor of Brookline Baptist Church since December 2019. Before coming to Brookline, he served as pastor and associate pastor at churches in Arkansas. He and his wife Lyndsay have been married since 2009 and have four children. He holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and enjoys St. Louis Cardinal baseball, camping, biking, and other outdoor activities with his family. He considers it a delight to serve in southwest Missouri and is eager to meet newcomers to the church and their families.
Denver Langford serves as the director of music and youth ministries. He is married to Emma, and they have one son, Simon, with another on the way. Denver graduated from Missouri State University with a bachelor's degree in music education, and in his free time he enjoys playing the cello, traveling to new places with his family, and exploring God's creation in nature.
Plan a Visit
Brookline Baptist Church meets at 2044 South State Highway MM in Springfield, Missouri. The phone number for the church is 417.864.8521. Visitors are welcome at any of the Sunday or Wednesday gatherings, at Friday GriefShare meetings, or at any of the weekday Bible studies. Online giving, sermon recordings, and regular updates are available through the church's Facebook page and YouTube channel.