On East Brainerd Road in Chattanooga, a brick church campus has gathered a congregation under the name Concord Baptist Church for nearly two centuries. The story begins in 1848, when the church was established in the aftermath of the Brainerd Mission to the Cherokee Indians, and continues today with a Sunday morning worship service that has become a steady rhythm for families across the East Brainerd community. The church describes itself as a "family of redeemed sinners seeking to display the glory of God among our neighbors and the nations by being a gospel-shaped, gospel-sharing people," and that phrase, painted on the wall behind the pulpit and printed in the bulletin, sets the tone for everything that happens inside.
Concord is a Baptist church, and it is clearly at home in the broader Southern Baptist world: its pastors have trained at Carson-Newman, Beeson Divinity School, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and its mission budget supports the International Mission Board (IMB), the North American Mission Board (NAMB), and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board alongside Concord-sponsored works. Members learn to call their congregation "the family of redeemed sinners," a phrase that doubles as the social media handle and as a working description of the way the church understands itself.
Sunday Morning on the Campus
A first-time visitor stepping onto the campus at 7025 East Brainerd Road will find a multi-building layout that includes a Worship Center, an Education Building, a Children's Building, Concord Hall, a Lower Hall, and a Gym. The morning begins at 9:15 AM with Sunday School for every age. Children gather in classrooms like C-104 for infants and C-201 for fifth graders in the Children's Building; middle and high schoolers split into boys' and girls' groups in the Education Building; adults choose from more than a dozen classes organized by stage of life, including a women's Bible class in Concord Hall C, a men's Bible class in Adult Room 202, a college and career class in Adult Room 205, a young adults (twenties) class in Lower Hall B, an adult thirties class in Lower Hall C, a forties and fifties class in Concord Hall A and B, a Journey class for those fifty and older in Lower Hall A, and a Gardner class for those seventy and older in Adult Room 203.
The single worship service begins at 10:30 AM in the Worship Center and runs through the late morning. Concord values what it calls gospel-centered, expositional preaching, meaning that sermons normally walk verse by verse through a passage of Scripture and then apply it in light of Jesus. Pastor David King preaches most weeks, and other pastors and lay preachers occasionally rotate through. Recent series on the sermon archive include long walks through Genesis (Down Is the Way Up), the book of Hebrews (Hold Fast), and the Gospel of Mark (Confounded), evidence of a pulpit that prefers to linger in a single text rather than hop between topics.
Worship is shaped by the gospel. The music blends older hymns and newer songs, chosen for theological depth and singability, and the order of service is built to remind, rehearse, and repeat the good news. Visitors do not need to dress any particular way; jeans and suits sit side by side in the pews. For families with very young children, the church provides Children's Church during the service for kids under five, while children above that age sit with their families as part of Concord's multigenerational worship culture. Active listening worksheets are available at the entrance closest to the Children's wing. For anyone who needs a quieter space, the service is broadcast on the TVs in the Family Room.
Wednesday Nights Around the Word
Wednesday evenings at 6:15 PM are structured around three tracks running at the same time. Adults gather for Bible study, youth meet for their own programming, and children move into their Wednesday evening activities with a nursery provided for the youngest. During the summer, the children's track adds music to complement the teaching, when the Wellspring and Kingdom Kids Choirs lead worship on Sundays several times across the season. Parents and leaders for the upcoming year also gather on a Saturday morning each August for Next Generation Teacher Training, a required time that includes child safety training, classroom management, and a shared vision for the year ahead.
Discipleship Beyond Sunday School
Sunday School is Concord's front door for weekly community, but Discipleship Groups are the church's primary strategy for long-term spiritual formation. Discipleship Groups are mostly same-gender groups of four to eight people that meet every other week for about an hour and a half during two semester-long stretches, August through November and February through May. Men's groups and women's groups meet on alternating weeks so that childcare can be shared. Each semester follows a pastor-approved resource, and groups give their time to discussing the Triune God and his Word, praying and caring for each other, and applying truth to daily life. Members new to a group register each summer so that placements can be made thoughtfully.
Children's Ministry as Family Equipping
Concord's Next Generation ministry for children is built around the conviction that the church exists to partner with parents, not to replace them. The church calls itself a "family-equipping" congregation and aims to do two things: offer age-specific ministry that lays a foundation for mature Christian living, and resource parents to disciple their children at home. Nursery, Children's Sunday School, and Wednesday evening activities form the regular weekly rhythm, and during the summer Vacation Bible School takes over the campus for a four-day adventure open to K-5 from the community, with nursery, Pre-K, and volunteer slots reserved for Concord members. Recent VBS expeditions have been themed around Jonah (Seaquest) and Proverbs (a Mount Kilimanjaro expedition).
Throughout the year, children also learn the church's catechism, called the Kingdom Catechism, by singing songs and memorizing answers. Q1 in the catechism is "What is your joy in life and in death?" with the answer, "That I am not my own but belong to a great King." The catechism walks through questions about God the King, creation, and the image of God, anchoring the children's ministry in the same gospel-shaped teaching heard from the pulpit.
Youth Ministry in the Heart of the Week
The youth ministry at Concord follows the same family-equipping philosophy, partnering with parents to disciple students in grades 6 through 12. Pastor Kevin Cooley oversees the ministry and has developed a comprehensive child protection policy that includes training, classroom guidelines, and background checks for all volunteers. Every youth event is designed around at least one of four objectives: creating environments where students and leaders know each other well, presenting the gospel clearly, teaching a biblical worldview, and developing student leaders who can serve the next generation.
On Wednesday nights, students gather at the church for youth group, and on Sunday mornings they meet in Education Building rooms for Sunday School divided by gender and grade. The youth calendar is heavy with camps and retreats. Middle Schoolers head to Fort Bluff in Dayton, Tennessee, for a summer camp, and High Schoolers travel to Boyce College and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, for a D3 Camp focused on gospel community. The year is punctuated by social outings like a bowling party at Spare Time, a grill-out at Harrison Bay State Park, a family night at the Chattanooga Lookouts stadium, and the annual Christmas party with its white elephant tradition.
Missions: Chattanooga, the Nation, and Tokyo
Concord takes seriously the idea that the gospel is for neighbors and nations alike. The church collects an annual World Mission Offering that supports IMB, NAMB, Tennessee Baptist mission work, local efforts, and Concord-sponsored endeavors, and it sends short-term mission teams into the field. Concord partners with missionaries like Molly Cullen (Peele), who serves in Rhode Island and returns to Chattanooga each year to update the church on what God is doing through her work.
The largest mission initiative of the season is the Rainer family's call to Tokyo. David Rainer, Concord's Pastor for Discipleship, served as a missionary in Japan early in his ministry and, in his own telling, remained Japan-haunted for fourteen years before the #PrayForTokyo campaign reawakened the call in early 2025. Concord, in partnership with Reaching & Teaching, is now sending David and Mindy Rainer and their four children to plant Hikari International Baptist Church in Tokyo. The name "Hikari," meaning light in Japanese, is drawn from Revelation 21:23-24, where the glory of God gives the new Jerusalem light and the nations walk by its light. Concord holds a monthly Tokyo Prayer Meeting in Concord Hall, praying for the Rainer family, the peoples of Tokyo, and for God to establish a new church in one of the least-reached cities on earth.
ESL: The Largest in Hamilton County
One of the most visible ways Concord serves its neighbors is through its English as a Second Language program. Each Wednesday morning during the school year, from 9:30 to 11:45 AM, the campus fills with students from across the world who come to learn English. The program follows the Hamilton County school calendar and is, by Concord's count, the largest ESL ministry in Hamilton County. Classes are free; students who are able are asked to purchase a book set, and childcare is offered during class sessions. A citizenship class is also available for those preparing for naturalization. Outreach materials are published in Spanish, welcoming immigrants and internationals in their own language. The program is led by Pastor David Rainer as overseeing pastor, with Candice Underwood serving as program director and Beverly Johnson coordinating hospitality. Volunteers from the church and the broader community teach, assist, prepare refreshments, mentor, and care for the nursery during class hours.
LIFT: A Mother's Day Out for the Community
LIFT is Concord's Mother's Day Out program for children from six months to five years old. The program runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM and serves both church and community children. Tuition is set at $230 per month for two days a week, $170 for one day, with discounts for additional children and for Concord members. Registration includes a one-time $50 fee plus a $60 supply fee each semester. LIFT is directed by Jan Durham, who can be reached at (423) 645-1559 or lift@concord-baptist.org.
What Concord Believes
The Core Identity page at Concord spells out the beliefs that members affirm. The church confesses that the Bible is the inspired, trustworthy Word of God, the supreme standard by which all else is judged. There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Human beings are made in God's image but have rebelled and stand under condemnation, restored only by God's grace. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone: the Father sent the Son, the Son lived, died, rose, and ascended, and the Spirit gives regeneration and faith. The church is a local congregation of baptized believers governed by Christ's Word, observing baptism and the Lord's Supper, and exercising discipline, with two offices of pastors (also called elders or overseers) and deacons; the office of pastor is reserved for qualified men. Concord also affirms a Christian social order that opposes racism and sexual immorality, supports marriage as the covenant union of one man and one woman for life, provides for the orphan and widow, speaks for the unborn, and contends for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. Members sign a covenant that promises regular gathering, joyful obedience, earnest love for one another, continual prayer, cheerful giving, and constant missional engagement.
The Pulpit and the Building
Concord has three pastors on staff and a team of lay pastors who help carry the ministry. Senior Pastor David King has served the congregation since 2001 and was honored in 2026 for twenty-five years of pastoral ministry at Concord. He and his wife Natalie have three children, Casey, Ethan, and Amelia. Pastor David Rainer has served at Concord since August 2017 and now oversees discipleship and the ESL program; he and his wife Mindy have four children. Pastor Kevin Cooley has served as Pastor for Youth and Families since December 2019 and oversees children's ministry, youth ministry, and parent-child dedication. The lay pastors include Will Hutchinson, Will Dragoo, David Conner, Bryan Dykes, and Jeremy Cain, and guest preachers such as Bryant Owens occasionally preach on Sundays.
The church offices are open Monday through Thursday from 9 AM to 4 PM, and the staff can be reached at (423) 892-9313 or admin@concord-baptist.org. Giving is handled through Church Center, and sermons are posted as audio downloads on the sermons archive and on the Concord Podcast on Spotify, with selected messages also appearing on YouTube and Vimeo. The Concord Podcast on Spotify features interviews with mission partners and teaching on subjects like spiritual warfare and cross-cultural ministry.
Across the long arc of the church's history, the through-line has been the same: ordinary people learning together to read the Bible well, to love their neighbors well, and to send the gospel out. Concord members who want to take the next step attend Discover Concord, a one-afternoon seminar held several times a year that introduces the church's beliefs, structure, and ministries, with light refreshments and childcare available on request. It is the church's front porch, the way in for those considering membership, and a quiet summary of what Concord is: a long-rooted family of redeemed sinners on East Brainerd Road that wants to keep doing what it has been doing for nearly two centuries.