First Baptist Church of Eunice sits on Park Avenue in the heart of Eunice, Louisiana, the small Cajun country city in Saint Landry Parish. The church has long been a steady presence here, identified simply by its initials, FBCE, and by the warm cadence of two Sunday services, a midweek Bible study schedule that runs nursery through senior adults, and a calendar of community events that spills out onto the streets of the neighborhood several times a year. The congregation holds to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and describes its mission in a single phrase taken from Colossians 1:28: Proclaim Jesus and present mature followers.
Two Sundays, One Wednesday, A Whole-Church Calendar
The weekly rhythm at FBCE is built around three gatherings. Sunday mornings begin at 8:30 AM with the first worship service, followed at 9:45 AM by Sunday Small Groups for every age, and then a second worship service at 11:00 AM. The 11:00 AM service is also broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube for those joining from home. Childcare is provided for all services and small groups.
On Wednesday evenings at 5:30 PM, the church runs an entire midweek program in parallel. Children meet for Kid Zone, students gather for worship, teaching, and games, men and women break into separate studies, and combined adult classes round out the night. Nursery care is available alongside the adult classes from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. The Wednesday prayer gathering for adults meets in the choir room, in the hallway behind the sanctuary stage.
Beyond the regular schedule, FBCE runs a recurring calendar of community-wide events. A monthly Senior Adult Luncheon takes place on the last Thursday of most months, offering a free meal, music, and fellowship for senior adults from the community. Each fall the church hosts Fall Fest, a free Saturday morning of inflatables, a petting zoo, face painting, food, and a pumpkin patch with more than 100 carving pumpkins to choose from. On the Thursday after the local Christmas parade, the church throws open its doors for Christmas on Park, an evening of hot cocoa, food, inflatables, and real snow brought in for the occasion. Easter Sunday brings the two regular Sunday worship times together with the resurrection story, and Christmas Eve is marked by an intimate carols, candlelight, and communion service.
The Building on Park Avenue
FBCE's campus is laid out as a small village of connected buildings, each with its own role. The sanctuary building anchors the front of the property and holds the main worship services as well as the adult choir room. Behind the sanctuary sits the middle building, a two-story structure that houses the children's ministry: the nursery is downstairs on the sanctuary side, while the children's department, with classrooms for grades 1 through 6, is upstairs across from the elevator. A fellowship hall and the Student Activities Center sit toward the back of the property, where the youth meet for Wednesday nights and where the older youth Sunday class gathers on Sundays.
The layout is deliberate enough that a first-time family can find their way with a little help. Nursery parents entering from the sanctuary side are told to take the first left and head downstairs. Kid Ministry parents are pointed upstairs in the same middle building, across from the elevator. Youth families are directed behind the Fellowship Hall to the Student Activities Center. Adult Sunday Small Groups are spread throughout the campus and the office helps guests find a class that fits.
Children From the Nursery Through Sixth Grade
Children are at the center of FBCE's weekly life. The nursery serves infants through age 5 and is open just before the first service until the end of services on Sunday mornings, then again from 5:30 to 7:00 PM on Wednesdays while adults are in prayer meeting and Bible study. On Sundays, the nursery is divided into three rooms, under 2 year olds, 2 to 3 year olds, and 4 to 5 year olds, each with its own teachers and Bible-based activities. During the worship services, 4 and 5 year olds stay with their families in the sanctuary while infants through 3 year olds are welcome in the nursery, where they play, hear music, and complete a small project tied to that day's Bible story.
Kid Ministry, for grades 1 through 6, splits into three Sunday classes at 9:45 AM: first and second grade, third and fourth grade, and fifth and sixth grade. The teaching covers the full sweep of the Bible, from Creation through the Resurrection. On Wednesday nights, Kid Zone gathers at 5:30 PM for games, songs, and a Bible lesson, with monthly themed nights such as Crazy Dress Up on the first Wednesday and Craft Night on the second.
Throughout the year, the children's department plans outings and events for families. Highlights include a summer trip to Centrikid camp, day trips to local attractions like the JumpZone and a safari park, and a Back to School bash at the church. Vacation Bible School is held every summer and draws children from across Eunice; recent themes have explored who Jesus really is through the metaphor of light. Other recurring family moments include Parent-Child Dedication Sundays, where parents publicly commit to raising their children in a Christ-centered home, and Graduate Recognition Sunday for high school graduates.
Nichole Berza oversees children's ministries and coordinates events for newborns through sixth grade.
Student Ministry and Centrikid Camp
FBCE's Student Ministry gathers seventh through twelfth graders on Wednesday nights at 5:30 PM for an evening that begins with food and games before moving into worship and Bible study. The group draws students from at least eight different schools, and the leaders describe it as a community that is actively growing. Keeton Blakeney serves as the Student Pastor.
Students also join the wider Sunday rhythms: a combined 7th-12th grade Sunday Small Group meets at 9:45 AM in the Student Activities Center, and students are part of the church body during the morning worship services. In the summer, the student ministry connects with Centrikid camp and other retreats, and students are encouraged to bring friends along. The Scripture verse associated with the Student Ministry, Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16), captures the ministry's outward focus.
Adults, Women, Men, and Senior Adults
Adult ministry at FBCE is built around the same Sunday and Wednesday pattern that anchors the rest of the church. On Sunday mornings at 9:45 AM, the church offers a wide variety of adult Sunday Small Groups: classes for men, classes for women, and mixed classes across a range of ages. Visitors are encouraged to try a few before settling in.
On Wednesday evenings, the adults have options that run in parallel. A prayer gathering meets in the choir room at 5:30 PM, lifting up the church, families, schools, jobs, health, and outreach. A Women's Bible Study meets the same hour. The church also hosts men's- and women's-specific events throughout the year, designed to deepen relationships and faith in a more focused setting.
Senior adults have a particular place in the life of FBCE. Tom McManus, an Eunice native who studied Religious Education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, serves as Associate Pastor for Senior Adults. He leads a weekly worship service every Thursday morning at Eunice Manor, accompanied by a steady stream of Senior Adult Luncheons on the church calendar. These luncheons, typically held on the last Thursday of the month, are free and open to senior adults from across the community, with a meal, music, and time for fellowship.
Music and the Worship Service
Music is woven through every FBCE gathering. Connie Beaugh serves as the Worship Coordinator, a role that places her at the center of planning the regular services and the church's special worship events. A lifelong musician, Connie graduated from Eunice High School and continued her studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She plays a central role in the Eunice Community Choir and Band and is widely known as a piano teacher and accompanist for weddings and funerals across the area.
Savanna Brown leads the church's praise team on Sunday mornings. Raised in nearby Basile, Savanna has been involved in leading corporate worship through music since she was eleven. She and her husband Matthew have been part of the FBCE family for a decade and now lead the team together. Together, Connie and Savanna shape the musical character of both the early and late Sunday services, supporting the kind of blended worship that pairs a full band with congregational singing.
What FBCE Believes
First Baptist Church of Eunice holds to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the confession of faith shared by churches of the Southern Baptist Convention. The statement opens with a high view of Scripture: the Bible is described as divinely inspired, without error in its original manuscripts, sufficient as the rule of faith and practice, and a testimony to Christ at every point.
The church confesses one true and living God, infinite in holiness and perfect in knowledge, who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons sharing one divine essence. Each person of the Trinity is described in detail in the statement. God the Father reigns in providential care over creation and is Father in truth to those who trust in Christ. God the Son is the eternal Son who took on human nature in the incarnation, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, rose again in a glorified body, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return in glory. God the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, convicts the world of sin, regenerates those who believe, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and empowers the church for worship, evangelism, and service.
The church affirms the historic Baptist understanding of humanity: men and women are made in the image of God, marred by sin through Adam's fall, and in need of the grace that comes only through Jesus Christ. Salvation is described as the work of God's grace through faith in Christ, encompassing regeneration, justification, sanctification, and final glorification. The church practices two ordinances: believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, observed as a memorial of Christ's death until His return.
Ecclesiology at FBCE reflects a Baptist conviction: each local congregation is autonomous, governed by Christ through democratic processes, and led by pastors and deacons. The church teaches that the office of pastor is reserved for men, while affirming that both men and women are gifted for service throughout the body. The statement also addresses Christian cooperation, religious liberty, the Christian's relationship to the state, marriage as the union of one man and one woman, the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, the responsibility of Christians to care for the needy, and the call of every believer to share the gospel.
Reaching Out: Eunice Manor, Christmas on Park, and the Community Beyond
FBCE sees itself as a church for Eunice as much as for its members. One of its longest-running outreaches is the Nursing Home Ministry at Eunice Manor, where Tom McManus leads a worship service every Thursday at 9:30 AM. The monthly Senior Adult Luncheons extend that ministry by drawing in older neighbors who might not otherwise have a regular meal with the church.
Twice a year, the church intentionally spills outside its walls. Fall Fest turns a Saturday morning into a free family festival for the whole community, complete with inflatables, a petting zoo, face painting, food, fall photo opportunities, and the much-loved pumpkin patch. Christmas on Park, held the evening of the local Christmas parade, brings hot cocoa, food, inflatables, and several truckloads of real snow to the front lawn. Both events are advertised as free to the community.
The church also keeps a steady rhythm of seasonal services and gatherings: an Easter Sunday celebration, a Christmas Eve service of carols, candlelight, and communion, a Women's Christmas conference called Prepare Him Room, and Promotion Sunday each August when students move up to their new grade-level classes.
Becoming a Member, Giving, and Staying Connected
Visitors interested in learning more about FBCE are invited to fill out a contact form or call the church office during weekday hours, Monday through Thursday from 8 AM to 5 PM. The office is staffed by Linda Ogea, who has served as the church's financial secretary since 2007. Those wanting to speak directly with a pastor or ministry leader can email the general office or reach the Student Pastor through his listed staff contact.
FBCE's mission statement, drawn from Colossians 1:28, sets the church's strategy in three moves: Connect with God, Connect with God's Community, Connect with God's Mission. The disciples the church aims to grow are described in four vivid phrases: lovers of Jesus, students of Scripture, givers of self, and cultivators of hope. These descriptors shape both the small-group culture and the way the congregation reaches into Eunice.
Giving at FBCE can be done in person during services or online through the church's giving platform. Text-to-give is also available by texting any dollar amount to 84321. The church frames giving as an act of gratitude, participation, and obedience: a way to express faith through finances.
An Open Pulpit and a Praying Community
Through the transition, the rhythm of the church has not stopped. Two Sunday services, Wednesday night groups for every age, monthly Senior Adult Luncheons, the Eunice Manor ministry, Vacation Bible School in the summer, Fall Fest in October, and Christmas on Park in December. The calendar keeps turning on Park Avenue. FBCE describes itself in a single sentence that captures both the gospel it proclaims and the community it forms: Proclaim Jesus and present mature followers.