Two Campuses, One Church in the Mid-Cities
First Baptist Church of Hurst, known around the Mid-Cities as First Hurst, anchors its life in the simple mission statement: guiding all generations to know and follow Christ. Today the church meets as one congregation on two campuses, with four weekly worship gatherings including one in Spanish, and a full range of ministries that span every stage of life.
The Norwood Campus sits on about ten acres in central Hurst, near Highway 183, and serves as the home of the church's central administration. From this site, Lead Pastors Todd Campbell, Mark Garner, and Jason Meyer coordinate ministries that reach across both locations, alongside Pastor Emeritus Dr. Jeff Burnett. The Trails Campus, opened in 2013 in the River Trails community just south of Hurst, began meeting at River Trails Elementary School before moving into its own facility in 2019. The Trails building covers about 23,500 square feet and includes a gymnasium, classroom space for all ages, a youth building, indoor and outdoor play areas, and church offices. Sterling Shanks serves as campus minister for adult discipleship there.
Sunday Mornings at Norwood and the Trails
Sunday is the heartbeat of the week. On the Norwood Campus, Bible Study Groups gather at 8:20 a.m. for mature adults, then at 9:30 a.m. for kids (preschool and elementary), students in grades seven through twelve, and adults of all ages, with a third hour at 11:00 a.m. for kids and adults. Worship services follow at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
At the Trails Campus, Bible Study Groups meet at 9:00 a.m. for all ages, with worship at 10:15 a.m.
The atmosphere is intentionally casual. Jeans, shorts, dresses, and casual business attire are all common, and First Hurst is open about the fact that the church is not about what anyone wears.
The Heart of Worship
First Hurst describes its weekly gathering as a casual but engaging experience, anchored by practical preaching, warm relationships, and great music. Intimate, participatory worship as the church gathers is a high priority. Through a blended variety of musical styles, each service lifts up the name of Jesus, and many in the congregation take part as members of the worship team or support teams.
Several recurring elements shape the service. The focal point is the preaching of God's Word, usually delivered by one of the lead pastors, though other ministers occasionally preach. A committed time of prayer is led by a minister or church member, and the service includes a moment of giving as an act of trust. Baptisms are often celebrated as part of the services, and communion is typically observed on the first Sunday of the month as a tender time of remembrance.
The Worship Choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the Norwood choir room and sings in both Sunday services, with warm-ups at 9:15 a.m. for the early service and 10:45 a.m. for the late service. Michael Dean serves as choir director and worship leader at Norwood, Tim Cummins serves as worship leader at Norwood, and Jason Lovell serves as worship leader at the Trails Campus. Services are livestreamed on Facebook for the Norwood Campus at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and for the Trails Campus at 10:15 a.m.
Beliefs and Values
First Hurst holds to historic, evangelical Christian convictions. There is one God, eternally existent and triune in nature, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God, fully God and fully man, whose death, burial, and resurrection provide redemption for all who place faith in Him. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, seals believers at conversion, gifts and empowers them for ministry, and illumines Scripture. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God.
Salvation is a free gift received by faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism by immersion is an act of obedience that follows salvation, symbolizing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and publicly identifying the believer with the church. The church itself is described as the bride of Christ, made up of baptized believers, gathered to build one another up and scattered to make disciples of all nations.
Three core values shape daily life together: gospel conversations, biblical community, and generational faith. Gospel conversations apply a gospel-driven lens to life and ministry, share the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed, and meet needs locally and globally. Biblical community is marked by authentic, accountable relationships and regular gathering for worship, study, and prayer. Generational faith values every generation, journeys with individuals and families through every stage of life, and partners with parents to pass on faith from one generation to another.
Kids, Birth Through Sixth Grade
Kids Discipleship partners with families to live out Deuteronomy 6:7, teaching children to love the Lord and His commands. The ministry gathers children from birth through sixth grade into age-appropriate environments where they hear the gospel through curriculum, groups, events, and milestones.
At the Norwood Campus, kids meet at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Sundays and at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights during the fall and spring. At the Trails Campus, kids meet at 9:00 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. on Sundays for birth through kindergarten and at 9:00 a.m. for first through sixth grade, with the DIG Midweek program during the fall and spring at 6:00 p.m.
Check-in begins ten minutes before each service or program. First-time guests fill out a registration card and receive a numbered security sticker for their child along with a matching tag required to pick them up later. Volunteers are carefully screened and trained, and strict teacher-to-child ratios are maintained. Parents are asked to label all belongings and prepare bottles in advance, since volunteers do not spoon-feed infants.
Sprouts Preschool, a weekday ministry of First Hurst, partners with families to serve young children during the week.
Students, Seventh Through Twelfth Grade
Student Discipleship exists to help this generation know and follow Christ. Three convictions drive the ministry: students are valuable and have purpose because God made them; God desires lifelong followers; and God can equip students to change the world.
Students meet on Sunday mornings, with junior high and high school gathering at 9:30 a.m. in The Center at Norwood and at 9:00 a.m. in the Student Building at the Trails Campus. Wednesday nights offer a time to spiritually recharge, with Norwood students meeting from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. and Trails students from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Activities range from late-night shaving cream fights and roofing homes for families in need to teaching about Jesus in other countries. Thomas Black and Kennedy Bleicher lead Student Discipleship at Norwood, while Brad Richardson directs Student Discipleship at the Trails Campus.
Adults Growing Together
Adult Discipleship covers everyone from young adults just out of college to those in their golden years. Bible Study Groups are the backbone, ongoing medium-sized gatherings built around biblical community. Sub Groups flow out of Bible Study Groups and meet during the week for connection, accountability, and application of God's Word, generally along same-gender lines.
The Women's Ministry seeks to encourage and inspire the women of First Hurst through year-round opportunities for community and growth. The Men's Ministry gathers men around weekly Bible studies, men's events, and fellowship opportunities.
Embrace Grace is a twelve-week program that provides emotional, practical, and spiritual support for single, young women facing an unexpected pregnancy. The group partners with the national Embrace Grace ministry and works to make the church a safe, welcoming place in the moment of greatest need. Stephanie leads the local group, and inquiries can be sent to the church office.
Recreation at the Trails
The Recreation Ministry believes strong connections are built through fun, movement, and friendly competition. Family Open Gym meets every Monday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Trails Campus, where families with preschool and elementary-aged children rotate through games and activities together. Pickleball Night happens every Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Trails Campus, open to men and women ages sixteen and up.
Each year in the fall and spring, two men's softball teams from First Hurst compete in the City of Hurst church men's softball league. Sterling Shanks oversees softball interest.
First Hurst Espanol
First Hurst Espanol is the Spanish-language ministry of First Hurst, opened in September 2022 to offer the full life of the church to the Hispanic community. The ministry gathers at The Center on the Norwood Campus, with Bible study and outreach at 9:30 a.m., a prayer service, and the Celebracion de Adoracion, a worship service in Spanish, at 11:00 a.m. Chuy Segura, Minister of First Hurst Espanol and Missions at Norwood, leads the ministry.
Missions Near and Far
First Hurst seeks to be part of what God is doing around the world, working in partnership with other ministries, missionaries, and organizations to make disciples. Locally, the church supports Tarrant County Food Distribution at Vivagene Copeland Park and partners with 6Stones on projects such as Operation Back to School, giving backpacks and supplies to HEB students in need, and Night of Hope, a Christmas outreach to families in the HEB school district. Cornerstone Assistance Network receives benevolence referrals from First Hurst. Additional ministry partners include Beautiful Feet, International Students, Northeast Emergency Distribution (NEED), Mid-Cities Crisis Pregnancy, and Union Gospel Mission.
Nationally, First Hurst partners with LaTrinidad Iglesia and Colegio Libertad in Mexico for Vacation Bible School, student Disciple Now weekends, and training. The church also works with Texas on Mission for disaster relief and with Champions for Life (Bill Glass Ministries) for prison ministry.
Around the world, First Hurst has partnerships in Santiago, Chile, through prayer walking and special events; Chennai, India, through prayer walks, conferences, and home visits; Loma Linda, El Salvador, working with Synergy and Iglesia Red Peniel and Colegia Doug Cassidy; Sinntal, Germany, for a baseball and cheer camp; and South East Asia, partnering with a lead missionary and other ministries. Kimberly Wirt, Minister of International Missions, helps lead these efforts.
From a Log Cabin to the Mid-Cities
The roots of First Baptist Church of Hurst go back more than 140 years. Before 1884, nine people organized what would later become First Baptist Hurst near the community of Bransford, a few miles northwest of Bedford, and the congregation was originally called Pleasant Run Baptist Church. They met in an old log cabin.
In 1884 the congregation united with other small community churches and built a church in Bedford. Twenty years later, Tom Hurst and Elbert Souder acquired land on present-day Highway 10 in Hurst, and in 1908 the Bedford church moved to that property. Members dismantled their building plank by plank and rebuilt it on the new site, keeping the move's cost to about one hundred dollars, and the original pulpit served the church until 1953.
In 1936 the church relocated again to make way for the construction of Highway 183, settling at what is now Highway 10 and Holder Drive for the next fifty-three years. In April 1983 church leaders took the bold step of establishing a second location in the northern section of Hurst, an early example of one church in two locations. That small congregation worshipped in the cafeteria at Bedford Junior High School until August 1985, when a new worship center was dedicated near the intersection of Norwood Drive and Harwood Road. In July 1989 First Baptist sold its Highway 10 property and consolidated its staff and programs at the northern location.
In September 2013 the church launched its second campus in the River Trails community, meeting first at River Trails Elementary School before moving into the current Trails facility in 2019. Today First Hurst continues to guide all generations to know and follow Christ across both campuses, and through First Hurst Espanol, in two languages.
Heritage Foundation and Generosity
The Hurst Heritage Foundation was created in 2001 to support ministries associated with First Baptist Hurst. The Foundation supplements the financial needs of ministry projects and provides grants to qualified nonprofit, mission-minded initiatives serving the cause of Christ, awarding more than 375 grants totaling more than $437,185 over its history. Grant applications are accepted twice a year, and the Foundation can fund up to 50 percent of a project's total cost.
Giving is described as a tangible way to show that God is first in life. Members can give online, through the SecureGive app, by placing a gift in an offering box on Sundays, by mail to the church's P.O. Box, or by dropping a donation at either campus office. The church also accepts stock donations, IRA qualified charitable distributions, and legacy estate gifts. A message library of sermons and an audio podcast are available online for ongoing study.