On Hawkinsville Road in Macon, Central Fellowship Baptist Church serves the Macon and Warner Robins communities as a Reformed Baptist congregation known for biblical preaching, worship, discipleship, and shared pastoral leadership. The church's mission is to glorify God by making disciples through the faithful ministry of His Word, strengthening people for lives of obedient faith and service. Its gatherings include Sunday school at 9:30 AM, worship at 10:30 AM and 6:00 PM, and Wednesday Bible study at 6:00 PM.
A Reformed Baptist Identity Rooted in the 1689 Confession
Central Fellowship describes itself as a Reformed Baptist church. Its use of “Reformed” is specific: Calvinistic in its understanding of salvation, covenantal in how it understands God's dealings with His people, and confessional in gladly standing with the forefathers of the faith by affirming the historic 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith.
That confession provides the congregation with a shared foundation for its convictions about Scripture, salvation, the church, and the Christian life. The elders say this common confession guides both their leadership and the life of the church together. Their broader goal is a church marked by biblical truth, genuine fellowship, and generational faithfulness.
The congregation is united in Christ and committed to worshiping God, loving one another, and proclaiming the gospel in the community and among the nations. Its prayer is that Christ would be honored, His Word would remain central in everything the church does, and His people would be strengthened to live faithfully for His glory. This conviction places the ministry of Scripture at the heart of the church's identity rather than treating the congregation's programs and traditions as ends in themselves.
One Great Commission, Faithful to the Word
The church believes that God has ordained the local church as the primary means by which His people are gathered, nurtured, equipped, and sent into the world. Its mission draws on the command in Deuteronomy 6 to teach God's Word diligently to children and pass faith from one generation to the next. It also draws on 2 Corinthians 5, where believers are described as ambassadors for Christ entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.
Central Fellowship seeks to carry out both responsibilities: discipling those within the church and proclaiming Christ to those outside it. The church names the preaching of Scripture, prayer, fellowship, the ordinances, discipleship, and evangelism as central practices through which this mission is pursued. Future generations are to be taught to know, love, and serve the Lord as the church is strengthened for faithful witness.
The church also gives particular attention to the formation of community. Its understanding is that the gospel ultimately restores humanity to God's community, and that people grow in grace and knowledge through practicing community together. It envisions a culture of confession, transformation, friendship, forgiveness, justice, power, and love developing in the lives of ordinary people. The desired result is that those who do not know Christ will be compelled to ask, “What is happening?”
Sunday School, Two Worship Times, and Midweek Bible Study
- Sunday school: 9:30 AM
- Morning worship: 10:30 AM
- Evening worship: 6:00 PM
- Wednesday Bible study: 6:00 PM
All of these gatherings take place at Central Fellowship Baptist Church, 8460 Hawkinsville Rd. in Macon. The church presents learning and the freedom to ask questions about faith as essential parts of spiritual growth. Families are encouraged to grow together in faith, relationship, and community, with the teaching of Scripture extending through Sunday school, midweek Bible study, youth teaching, and Christian education.
Worship is integral to the church's mission to glorify God, and its teaching emphasis is joined to the life of the congregation through preaching, prayer, fellowship, and discipleship. For those unable to attend in person, worship is available through the church's Live Stream. The congregation also maintains an archive of past sermons for continued study of Scripture.
A Plurality of Elders Shares the Shepherding Work
Central Fellowship is led by a plurality of elders who share responsibility for shepherding, teaching, and overseeing the church. The model is not centered on one leader. Instead, qualified men labor together, each sharing the same office and responsibility while bringing particular gifts into the work. The elders see this shared pattern in the leadership model given in Scripture and emphasize unity, accountability, and humility.
Their responsibilities include caring for the congregation's spiritual health, guarding sound doctrine, providing pastoral oversight, and equipping people for faithful living and service. Describing themselves as under-shepherds accountable to Christ, the elders seek to lead with wisdom and teachability. This shared oversight supports the church's promise to remain biblical in doctrine and intentional about the formation of people for faithful lives.
Wesley: Preaching and a Culture of Discipleship
Wesley serves as an elder and lead pastor with a passion for preaching God's Word. His focus is the health of the church through faithfulness to Scripture and the creation of a culture of discipleship. He wants those placed under the elders' care to find the joy of beholding God and to grow in their understanding of Him.
Wesley is a graduate of Spurgeon College and Union Theological College in Belfast, where he studied Christian Ministry and Theology. He has pastored in Georgia for 13 years and previously taught and served as a Director of Spiritual Formation in a Christian school. That experience gives him a particular concern for the spiritual and academic influence Christian education can have on students and communities.
Rodney: Decades of Pastoral Service
Rodney serves as an elder and has pastored at Central Fellowship since 1991. He is known for a deep love for Christ, a commitment to the authority of Scripture, and a shepherd's heart for God's people. Through the ministry of the Word, his aim has been to care for the flock entrusted to him with humility, conviction, and grace.
Rodney is a graduate of Tennessee Temple University and Guinnett-Hall Bible College and has spent decades preaching, teaching, and shepherding God's people. Across seasons of growth, challenge, and change, he has sought to serve with wisdom, faithfulness, and a teachable spirit. His consistent goal is for Christ to be exalted, God's Word to be faithfully proclaimed, and God's people to grow in maturity and godliness.
Josh: Investing in the Next Generation
Josh serves as an elder with a love for teaching God's Word and a particular burden for the next generation. He has been part of the eldership since the church adopted its plurality-of-elders model and has spent many years teaching and discipling youth. His work seeks to ground young people in the truth of Scripture and encourage them to live faithfully for Christ.
Josh is a Liberty University graduate with double majors in Youth Ministries and Business. In addition to his work as an elder, he is Head of School and Administrator of Central Fellowship Christian Academy, where he seeks the spiritual and academic development of students. He connects the classroom with Sunday school, Wednesday evening Bible study, youth ministry, and the wider life of the church. His goal is for God's people to grow in wisdom, conviction, and faithfulness.
Joshua: Applying Scripture at Home and in the Church
Joshua serves as an elder devoted to helping people understand Scripture and apply it in everyday life, both at home and in the church. He is an electrical engineer at Robins Air Force Base and has a particular love for Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament. He teaches Greek so that others can appreciate the richness and precision of God's Word more fully.
His aim is simple: to serve Christ's church faithfully and point others to the sufficiency and beauty of Scripture. That combination of careful teaching, practical application, and love of the original text reflects the church's wider commitment to teach the Word faithfully across generations.
Raising the Next Generation Through Youth and Christian Education
Christian education is woven through Central Fellowship's life rather than treated as a separate activity. Josh's youth ministry, Sunday school teaching, Wednesday Bible study, and work at Central Fellowship Christian Academy all serve the same goal of grounding people in Scripture and encouraging faithful living. The church's affirmation that learning and asking questions about faith produce growth applies from childhood through adult discipleship.
Wesley's background in spiritual formation and Christian education adds another connection between the congregation's teaching and its mission. The emphasis is not simply on the transfer of information but on people learning to know and love the Lord, understand the authority of His Word, and apply it in the classroom, the home, the church, and daily life.
Supporting Missionaries Among the Nations
Central Fellowship desires to participate faithfully in Christ's Great Commission by supporting missionaries sent out to proclaim the gospel and make disciples among the nations. Jesus's command to preach the gospel to all creation, along with the biblical emphasis on both sending and supporting those who labor in gospel work, shapes this commitment.
Through prayer, encouragement, and financial support, the church seeks to partner with missionaries as they proclaim Christ, establish and strengthen churches, and advance the gospel throughout the world. Its missionary emphasis connects the local work of discipleship in Macon and Warner Robins with a wider concern for the church and the cause of Christ in other places.
Deacons and Support Staff Carry the Practical Work
Deacons serve as the other biblical office specified in the New Testament. Their ministry focuses on caring for practical needs and supporting the overall well-being of the congregation. Central Fellowship follows the pattern in Acts 6, where qualified men were appointed to attend to practical needs so that prayer and the ministry of the Word could remain central.
Support staff also contribute to the church's daily life behind the scenes. Their work keeps the practical operations of the congregation moving forward and supports the ministries that allow the church to gather, teach, worship, and serve. Together, the elders, deacons, and support staff reflect the church's belief that shared responsibility serves the health of the body and the glory of Christ.
Giving as an Act of Worship
Central Fellowship views giving as an act of worship in response to God's grace and provision. It teaches that everything belongs to God and seeks to use what people give for the good of His church and the advance of the gospel. Online giving is available for those who want to participate in that ministry.
A Church Built Around the Word, Community, and Service
Central Fellowship Baptist Church brings together a precise Reformed identity, a plural leadership structure, and a concern for people across generations. Its life is organized around the faithful ministry of the Word, the worship of Christ, love for one another, practical care for the congregation, support for missionaries, and the formation of disciples who will live and serve faithfully. The Macon church's shared life is grounded in Scripture and directed toward the glory of God.