A Church at the Heart of South Highlands
First Baptist Church Shreveport sits on a nine-acre, 300,000-square-foot campus at 543 Ockley Drive in the South Highlands neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana. From its front doors on Sunday mornings, the church has welcomed families into Bible study at 9:15 a.m. and into the Sanctuary for worship at 10:30 a.m. for more than 175 years. What began on Valentine's Day 1845 as a small gathering of nine members in borrowed quarters has grown into a regional ministry known for its music program, its church school, a Chinese ministry that meets on the same campus, and a long record of missions work that reaches from Shreveport to Ethiopia.
A Walk Through 180 Years of History
First Baptist Shreveport was established on February 15, 1845 by John Bryce, a Baptist minister and Collector of Customs from the Republic of Texas who also later served as Shreveport's mayor. The church purchased its first downtown lot at Travis and Market Streets in 1847, erected a building the next year, and joined four other congregations to form the Grand Cane Baptist Association in 1848.
In 1866, African-American members of First Baptist separated to form Antioch Baptist Church on April 23 of that year. The following year, the congregation joined with the Grand Cane Baptist Association to found Shreveport University, an effort ended by the yellow fever epidemic of 1873 and the financial panic of 1874. A second building, designed by Shreveport architect N.S. Allen, was constructed in 1880 at Texas and McNeill Streets using bricks from the failed university.
The turn of the century brought a third building on Travis and McNeill in 1908, dedicated in a sermon by Dr. George Truett of First Baptist Dallas on the text, "Sir, We Would See Jesus," a phrase later carved into the church's pulpit. In 1912 Dr. Monroe Elmond Dodd of Louisville began a pastorate that would last almost four decades. During Dr. Dodd's tenure the congregation helped launch the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1925, operated a ten-story bell tower that housed what is described as the first radio station owned by a church in the United States, and led all Southern Baptist churches in giving in 1922.
The years after World War II brought a vote to remain downtown, an expanding music program with graded choirs, and the establishment of a deaf ministry in 1956. By the early 1960s the church had outgrown its downtown site. In 1963 the congregation purchased the former Dodd College campus from Centenary College and moved to its present Ockley Drive location. First Baptist Church School opened on the new campus in 1970, an educational building campaign retired the property debt in 1977, and a youth building was added in 2009.
In 2003 Dr. Greg Hunt launched a contemporary service called "The Gathering," and in 2011 the church voted to combine its traditional and contemporary services into a single blended worship service. Dr. Jeff Raines, formerly associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Amarillo, became senior pastor in 2012. In 2015 the sanctuary was restored with a redesigned stage and choir loft that can accommodate the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. The Woods Memorial Garden columbarium, with 183 niches, was dedicated in 2017, and a new Middleton Hall opened in 2018 to house the upper grades of the church school. The church marked its 175th anniversary on February 15, 2020.
Sundays on the Ockley Drive Campus
Sunday is the rhythm of the week. Bible study begins at 9:15 a.m. for every age, with babies and preschoolers in Dodd Hall, first through fifth graders on the second floor of the KidZone, sixth through twelfth graders in the Youth Center, and adults meeting in classrooms throughout the campus. Worship in the Sanctuary follows at 10:30 a.m., a service that pulls together traditional hymns, congregational readings, choir anthems, and contemporary songs led by a worship band. Childcare is provided for babies through K4 in the preschool area, a cry room is located behind the Sanctuary, and Kids Worship Packets are available in the side halls for older children.
The adult Sunday Bible study program runs from young adults to senior adults and includes classes such as Adult 1 (college students, twenties and thirties), Adult 2 (thirties and forties), Adult 3 (forties and fifties), G.I.F.T. and Koinonia co-ed singles classes, Shalom and Empty Nest for the sixties and seventies, Yes, Lord for the seventies and up, the Joy and Elizabeth ladies classes, and the Empowered Believers class. Adult Bible studies are typically followed by fellowship and coffee in the church library.
Wednesday: The Gathering
Wednesday evenings belong to "The Gathering," the church's weekly family meal and fellowship that fills the Fellowship Hall from 5:00 p.m. onward. Plates are ordered in advance by Tuesday at noon and range from $7 to $8 per person with a family cap. The menu rotates each week: hamburgers, Chick-fil-A, BBQ, pizza, and a taco bar on the fifth Wednesday. The Fellowship Hall has plenty of room for friends and neighbors, and on many Wednesdays the wider South Highlands community joins the meal before heading into programs for the rest of the evening.
After dinner, the church splits by age. Babies through K4 gather for Wee Play, a learning-through-play program in the Preschool Hall, while kindergartners through fifth graders take part in "M&M - Music, Missions, and More," with kids' choir rehearsal followed by Mission Possible, a rotation that includes a Missions Minute, Bible drill, games, and activities. Sixth through twelfth graders gather in the Youth Center for MidWeek, described as "a night of worship, fellowship, fun, and a forum centered on the biblical narrative," with optional study hall that begins at 4:00 p.m. Adults meet in the Fellowship Hall at 5:50 p.m. for prayer and the Pastor's Bible Study, with seasonal small groups following at 6:00 p.m. The Sanctuary Choir rehearses at 6:30 p.m. in the Choir Room, and the Adult Handbell Choir rehearses earlier in the day at 12:30 p.m. in the Bell Room.
A Ministry for Children and Students
Children and students are woven into almost every corner of First Baptist Shreveport. Beyond Sunday Bible study and Wee Play, the children's ministry runs a kids' choir that sings in worship once a month and presents programs twice a year, a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group that meets at the church, and Kids Summer Camps that fill the summer months. Children's choir is back on Wednesday nights at 5:45 p.m. in the Children's Ministry Area for kindergartners through fifth graders.
The student ministry is just as active. Middle school and high school students travel together each spring break on a service-oriented mission trip to a city such as Houston, New Orleans, or Memphis, serving homeless neighbors, children living in poverty, and senior adults. Each summer, Encounter Week takes the youth group to Riverbend Retreat Center in Glen Rose, Texas for a week of Bible study, worship, and recreation. Youth choir and a Youth and Young Adult Ensemble offer additional musical training and performance opportunities. A separate Portland mission trip is offered for older students, and the ministry operates through dedicated Facebook groups that keep parents and students in touch during the week.
Music that Fills the Sanctuary
Music is one of the signature expressions of the church. The Sanctuary Choir, open without audition, rehearses on Wednesday nights and leads worship each Sunday, performing with full orchestra on special occasions. The Adult Handbell Choir rings several times a year and rehearses Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. in the Bell Room. Singing Seniors, a choir open to anyone 50 and older, rehearses Thursdays at 9:45 a.m. in Hunter Hall 115 and performs in services and in retirement homes, also attending the MayHim Senior Adult Choir Festival at Camp Bethany. Children's choirs include Junior Choir for K-1st graders and the main Kids' Choir for 2nd-5th graders, both of which sing in worship monthly and present programs twice a year. A Youth and Young Adult Ensemble rounds out the program, performing in services several times a year.
The music ministry also operates the Academy for the Arts, which teaches music, dance, theater, and the visual arts to students of all ages, offering lessons in vocal and instrumental music and providing regular performance opportunities. Anchoring all of this is the church's annual worship playlist, a curated set of 24 to 40 songs explored over a sermon series, with devotionals sent by email and songs available through Spotify and Apple Music.
First Baptist Church School
Sharing the Ockley Drive campus, First Baptist Church School has been part of the church's ministry since 1970. The school educates children from age three through eighth grade in a setting rooted in Christian teaching, with an emphasis on intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth. FBCS is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Louisiana Department of Education and serves over 450 students and their families. A new Middleton Hall was completed in 2018 to house the upper grades.
The Shreveport Chinese Church
First Baptist Shreveport is also home to the Shreveport Chinese Baptist Mission, which meets in the church's Activity Center under the leadership of Pastor Andy Liu and his wife Lucy, who came to the United States from Wuhan, China. The mission holds a Sunday worship service in Chinese at 10:00 a.m. in the Activity Center Fitness Room, followed by Chinese and English Sunday Schools at 11:20 a.m. and a Sunday Love Feast at 12:10 p.m. The mission also runs a Chinese Language School, English language classes, a prayer meeting, a parents' gathering, and a family night on the third Friday of each month, plus a Bible study on the first and fourth Fridays at Pastor Liu's home and a monthly prayer meeting on the second Saturday at a member's home. The congregation has its own Facebook page for ongoing connection.
Local and Global Missions
First Baptist Shreveport has a long history of partnership beyond its walls. Locally, the church supports the Highland Center, Common Ground Community, WMU, the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission, Providence House, The Hub, the Food Bank of NWLA, the Fuller Center for Housing of NWLA, Samaritans Counseling Center, and the Volunteers of America of North LA through financial gifts, volunteers, and other assistance.
At the state level, the church supports Together for Hope in Lake Providence, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship initiative working with the twenty poorest counties in the United States to break cycles of poverty. Across the nation, the church plants with Garden Church in Portland, Oregon, where Jason Spurlin serves as pastor of college and partner development, reaching students at Portland State University.
Internationally, mission teams travel each October to Ethiopia with The Ethiopia Aid Mission to host Global Leadership Summits, with additional construction trips each spring. A separate team travels each year to the Gandhi School in Pecs, Hungary, to teach English and sports classes, host teacher appreciation events, and lead a craft afternoon, sharing the love of Christ with the Romani community served by the school.
Community Block Parties
The church turns its campus into a gathering place for the entire South Highlands neighborhood several times a year. Ice Up South Highlands, held each January, features a giant ice slide on the Ockley Drive campus along with food trucks, face-painting, and music. Scramble Up South Highlands fills the campus with more than 10,000 eggs each Easter. Soak Up South Highlands brings water slides, inflatables, and food trucks for the Fourth of July. Holiday in South Highlands in November welcomes local and missional businesses for a makers fair with food trucks, games, and live music. All of the events are free and open to the community.
A Welcoming Place for Visitors
First Baptist Shreveport has built its visitor experience around the phrase, "It doesn't matter what you look like, where you're from, or how old you are. You're invited to follow Christ along with us." Visitor parking is available along College Avenue near the church offices and Sanctuary. Greeters wearing blue name tags stand at every entrance to direct first-time guests to Bible study classrooms and the Sanctuary. Ample handicapped parking is available close to every entrance, most buildings have wheelchair accessible ramps, and Hunter Hall is equipped with two elevators. Worship childcare is offered for babies through K4, a cry room is available behind the Sanctuary, and most people attend in khakis, dresses, skirts, or jeans. Services are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube each Sunday morning.
What the Church Believes
First Baptist Shreveport holds to a brief statement of faith that centers on the historic Baptist convictions: God as creator; Jesus Christ as resurrected Lord and the source of salvation by grace through faith; the work of the Holy Spirit in believers; the Bible as God's Word and the authority for faith and life; the autonomy of each local church under Christ as its head; the priesthood of every believer alongside the call to community; baptism by immersion for believers; the call to Jesus' mission in the world; and the separation of church and state alongside religious liberty for all. The church teaches that every believer has something to give and that everyone should serve.
The Hunter Hall Project
Looking to its next chapter, the church is undertaking a remodel and revitalization of Hunter Hall, the building at the back of the campus that houses the children's area and most adult Sunday school classrooms. Estimated at around $6 million and designed with Newman Marchive Inc., the project will update and secure the children's area, create a central welcoming space for campus visitors, renovate adult Bible study classrooms, add a covered drop-off near the Sanctuary, and improve handicap accessibility. A letter from Senior Pastor Dr. Jeff Raines frames the project in the same language as the church's 1963 move from downtown to Ockley Drive, describing it as the next bold step of faith for a generation that has inherited a beautiful campus from those who gave before them.
Giving and Getting Involved
Financial giving is welcomed online through Shelby Giving, where members and friends can give once or set up recurring gifts, and pledges are made each year to support the operating budget and special projects. The church discourages online giving that leads to personal indebtedness and encourages gifts through e-check, debit card, or a credit card that is paid monthly. Volunteer opportunities include the Outreach Team for Sunday mornings, Kids and Student Ministry helpers, Bereavement Volunteers who assist with funerals and memorial services, Office Support Volunteers, and Homebound Helpers who visit members who can no longer attend in person.