Loving God, Loving Others, Serving the World
Located on Old Trolley Road in Summerville, South Carolina, Fellowship of Oakbrook has spent more than thirty years quietly building the kind of community it names in its three core values: loving God, loving others, and serving the world. The church's week is organized around those three values in practical ways.
Fellowship Oakbrook - often shortened to FOO among its people - was founded on the desire for God's people to experience biblical community and fellowship. Today it welcomes anyone seeking to know more about the good news of Jesus Christ, regardless of background or story. The building stands in the heart of Summerville, and the people who gather there describe themselves as Southern Baptist by conviction, anchoring their teaching in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.
Sunday mornings are the heartbeat of the week. Wednesdays and Thursdays add a second rhythm - a mid-week round of prayer, study, and shared meals that runs right through the school year. From there the church's ministry extends through kids, students, young adults, adults, missions work, and a far-reaching volunteer program built around eleven teams.
A Sunday Built Around Prayer, Bible Study, and Worship
A typical Sunday at Fellowship Oakbrook starts earlier than the worship service itself. At 8:30 AM the Prayer Room opens, and anyone who wants to begin Sunday with a focused half-hour of prayer is welcome. The room is a quiet, welcoming space for personal reflection, intercession for specific church members, and praying through requests submitted during the week - either through an online form or written on prayer note cards tucked into the back of the sanctuary seats. There is no script and no pressure to pray aloud; silent and vocal prayer are equally welcome. The room closes at 9:00 AM as the rest of the morning gets underway.
At 9:15 AM the Bible Fellowship Groups begin meeting. Small, multi-generational groups scattered across the campus open their doors for an hour of studying Scripture together, organized by life stage - children, students, young adults, and adults each have a community that fits. The groups are open to anyone, whether someone has been attending for decades or walked through the door for the first time. Visitors are pointed to a group at the welcome area just inside the entrance, and the church is intentional about helping newcomers find a place that fits. The conversation is relaxed, questions are welcomed, and the focus is on examining God's Word together rather than performing.
The main worship service begins at 10:30 AM and runs about sixty minutes. Each gathering includes music-led worship and Scripture-based teaching, with kids and students dismissed partway through the service to their age-appropriate programs. No dress code applies - guests range from casual to more formal - and there is no expectation to perform, give, or sign up for anything. Bibles are available at the door for anyone who wants one. After the service, a welcome team stays around to answer questions, show visitors around, and introduce them to a few friendly faces. In short, the church says, you are welcome to come just as you are.
Wednesday Nights and a Thursday for Women
The mid-week ministry is one of the most distinctive rhythms of Fellowship Oakbrook. Three Wednesday gatherings run in sequence, and a fourth on Thursday evening brings women together.
At 6:00 PM on Wednesdays, Mid-Week Prayer meets alongside the start of Mid-Week Students, the church's 6th through 12th grade ministry, which runs from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Each student gathering includes a shared meal - the church feeds students every week, with many coming straight from school or after-school activities - followed by musical worship and an engaging Bible study designed for the questions teenagers actually carry. The Wednesday meal is a tangible way the wider congregation supports the student ministry: members can sign up through Meal Train to cook or contribute toward dinner.
At 6:30 PM the Mid-Week Bible Study for adults begins and runs for one hour. Each week centers on a different topic, woven together with prayer and warm fellowship. No preparation or prior experience is required, and the church is explicit that anyone can drop in any Wednesday with just a Bible, an open mind, and a willing heart.
On Thursday evenings at 6:00 PM, Mid-Week Women gathers for women's Bible study. The current study works through "Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer" by Priscilla Shirer - a book-length call to arms for women who want to fight for their families, their futures, and their faith through the power of prayer. The Thursday gathering is also a place for women to go deeper into Scripture, prayer, and authentic community.
Teaching That Lasts Beyond Sunday
Sunday teaching at Fellowship Oakbrook is deeply anchored in Scripture and aimed at linking God's truth with the realities of daily life. The same teaching extends into the rest of the week through the church's podcast, Sunday Morning Messages.
Each weekly message is published after the Sunday service on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Episodes run about forty minutes - long enough to dig into a passage, short enough to fit a commute. For people who would rather watch, full services and stand-alone messages are available on the church's YouTube channel. The Church Center app for iOS and Android ties everything together in one place: messages, sermon notes, giving, group sign-ups, the church directory, prayer requests, and announcements. A browser version of the platform is also available for anyone who would rather not download a new app.
Fellowship Kids: Birth Through Fifth Grade
For the youngest members of the church family, Fellowship Kids runs every Sunday morning at both 9:15 and 10:30 AM. The program serves children from birth through fifth grade.
The check-in process is straightforward and built around child safety. Parents visit the Kids Ministry check-in station, where they print a name tag for their child and receive a matching claim tag for themselves. The name tag includes any allergy information so volunteers can care for each child properly. At the end of the morning, parents return to the classroom, present the claim tag, and sign out at the check-in station. Every volunteer who serves in Fellowship Kids has been background-checked and trained, with child safety as the first priority each week. A mother's lounge is available in the kids ministry hallway for any parent who would prefer a quieter space.
The mission behind the program is partnership. The church holds that parents are the primary disciplers of their children, and the role of Fellowship Kids is to come alongside families with Gospel-centered teaching, equipping and supporting them as they raise the next generation in the faith.
Fellowship Students: 6th Through 12th Grade
For teenagers, Fellowship Students offers two weekly touchpoints. On Sunday mornings, students gather for Bible study from 9:15 to 10:15 AM in the Activities Building, then join the wider congregation for the 10:30 AM worship service - a rhythm designed to help students feel both rooted in their own community and part of the larger church body across generations.
Wednesday nights, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, are the heartbeat of the student ministry. Each week includes a shared meal, musical worship, and a Bible study designed to engage honestly with the questions teenagers carry. Students do not need to sign up; they can simply show up. The Wednesday meal is supported through the wider congregation, with sign-ups available through Meal Train.
Shawn Lindsey serves as the church's Students Pastor and leads the ministry with a passion for seeing teenagers encounter the living God and walk faithfully with Christ through every season of life.
Missions in Summerville and Around the World
The missions ministry at Fellowship Oakbrook flows from the conviction that all Christians are called to "go therefore and make disciples." Three ongoing programs put that conviction into practice in tangible ways.
The Blessing Box is a community-accessible stock of groceries open to anyone in the area who is in need. Stocked by the generosity of the congregation, the box is available around the clock - no registration, no questions asked. Drop-off donations of non-perishable items are always welcome at the church, and every item goes directly to a family in the surrounding area.
Backpack Buddies partners with Summerville and Reeves Elementary Schools to ensure children with food insecurity have something to eat over the weekend. Donated items are packed discreetly and sent home with students in need. Drop-off donations are accepted at the church.
Operation Christmas Child, run through Samaritan's Purse, packs shoebox gifts for children around the world. The congregation collects items for the shoeboxes throughout the year, with a goal of blessing hundreds of children annually. The list of items currently being collected is updated regularly through the missions ministry.
The missions ministry also extends internationally through prayer and financial support of missionaries and partner organizations around the world. The heartbeat, in the church's words, is to be compassionate to those who mourn, generous to those in need, and open to those who are seeking to know more about Jesus.
What the Fellowship Believes
Fellowship of Oakbrook identifies as a Southern Baptist church and affirms the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 as its statement of faith.
The church teaches that the Old and New Testaments are the perfect and inspired Word of God, complete as a revelation of His will for salvation, and the supreme and final authority in matters of faith, life, and understanding. The church confesses one God eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each fully God, sharing the same nature but having distinctive attributes.
Salvation, in the church's teaching, comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual. Believers' baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper are the two ordinances of the local church, and the fellowship holds believer's baptism by immersion as a public confession of faith.
The fellowship holds that each local church is self-governing and free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority, and that every person is directly responsible to God in matters of faith and life. The full statement of faith covers marriage, sexuality, religious liberty, Christian conduct, last things, and the doctrines above.
Eleven Teams to Serve On
For people who want to get involved beyond Sunday mornings, the Serve ministry organizes volunteer life around eleven active teams: Adult Discipleship, Buildings and Grounds, Children's Ministry, Communications, Fellowship, Mission, Prayer, Safety, Student Discipleship, Welcome and Greeting, and the Worship Team.
Each team carries its own rhythm and commitment. The Prayer Team gathers every Sunday at 8:30 AM for the prayer room. The Welcome and Greeting Team is often the first face a visitor sees at the door. The Mission Team partners with the church's Blessing Box, Backpack Buddies, and Operation Christmas Child efforts. The Buildings and Grounds Team keeps the campus in shape. The Communications Team develops the church's website, newsletter, and slide design. The Children's Ministry Team teaches the youngest members of the church. The Worship Team leads music and supports the technical side of services. Auditions may be required for vocalists and instrumentalists on the worship team; no prior experience is needed for most other teams.
Members of the church can also sign up through Meal Train to prepare and deliver meals during times of illness, hospitalization, or bereavement as part of the church's pastoral care work.
Anyone with a ministry idea that does not fit one of the existing teams is invited to share it with the church's leadership by emailing info@fellowship.org.
A Church Centered on Prayer
Prayer saturates everything Fellowship Oakbrook does. The Sunday morning Prayer Room is one expression of it. The Mid-Week Prayer at 6:00 PM on Wednesdays is another. The Prayer Team, made up of anyone willing to intercede, gathers weekly to pray through submitted requests by name. Pastoral care, missions work, and the student ministry all rest on the conviction that prayer is not a last resort but a first response.
Anyone can submit a prayer request online at any time. Requests can be marked anonymous if desired, and the team receives and prays over every submission with care.
The church is plain about why prayer comes first: a church that prays together stays together, and nothing in the community is beyond the reach of God's grace when His people pray.
Connect with the Fellowship
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM and can be reached at (843) 871-8600 or info@fellowship.org.
Visitors looking for a place to start on a Sunday morning can plan a first visit through the church's website, where directions, schedule, and answers to common questions are laid out. Anyone who prefers to gather from home can join Sunday services via livestream on YouTube and listen back to messages through the church's podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. Giving is available online as well, with options for one-time gifts and recurring tithes.