Sundays on Catherine Street: Life Groups and Worship
First Baptist Church Terrell sits on the 400 block of North Catherine Street in Terrell, Texas, a Southern Baptist congregation whose weekly rhythm moves between two Sunday gatherings on its main campus and a six-day-a-week Bible study at a nearby truck stop. The church's vision is a three-line creed painted across its front page: Kingdom Minded, Gospel Centered, Disciple Making. Its mission is the same one Jesus gave his followers - Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit - and it is lived out in everything from Sunday worship to a long-running ministry to long-haul truckers at the TA Travel Center just off Interstate 20.
Sundays begin at 9:15 AM with Life Groups, the church's version of Sunday school. Classes are grouped by stage of life so newcomers can find a room full of peers. Preschoolers through Grade 5 sit in age-graded classrooms with screened, trained, caring adults, while adults gather in groups organized by life stage - young adults, couples, men, women, and senior adults. The hour is meant to be the front door of the church: a place to study the Bible together, be known by name, and pray for one another before the larger gathering begins.
At 10:30 AM the congregation moves into the worship service, which typically runs about ninety minutes. The music is a deliberate mix of contemporary worship songs and traditional hymns, led by the worship pastor with the Worship Collective, a team of singers, band, and orchestra. A recent Sunday folder included Crown Him With Many Crowns from the pew hymnal alongside modern songs like In Christ Alone, Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me, and Thank You Jesus For the Blood. Scripture reading, an offertory prayer, a pastoral message, and a closing hymn round out the service. A typical Sunday also features a Scripture reading from a Gospel text and a brief children's focus before the sermon.
Childcare and preschool care through age 4 are available throughout the 10:30 service so that parents can worship with their minds at ease. Every paid and volunteer worker in the preschool and children's ministry completes a Child Protection Training Course and a background check before serving. First-time guests are encouraged to fill out a connection card - available in the pews or online through the church's visit page - and visitors are invited to linger for fellowship after the benediction.
Midweek: A Whole-Family Discipleship Rhythm
Wednesday nights are the second pillar of the church's week. The rhythm opens at 5:00 PM with a shared dinner in the Dining Room of the Recreation Outreach Center, the church's secondary building at 100 West Brin Street. FBC Terrell offers free school pickup from some Terrell ISD campuses, so children and students can arrive ready to eat and learn. Lunch is also served earlier in the day: a noon Bible study and prayer time begins with food available from 11:30 AM.
From 5:00 to 7:00 PM, children in kindergarten through 6th grade gather for TeamKID: Good News, a discipleship program that walks through the four Gospels through interactive Bible stories, games, Scripture memory, and missions activities. Students in 7th through 12th grade have their own two-part program on the ROC's second floor. Middle School Worship runs from 4:30 to 5:30 PM, followed by dinner, and Middle and High School Worship meets from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Older students are also invited to join the adult Worship Choir, which rehearses at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary and helps lead Sunday worship as well as special services for Easter and Christmas.
Two weekly prayer groups meet on Wednesdays as well: a co-ed group in the prayer room at 10:30 AM, and a women's group in the parlor at 2:30 PM. On the first Wednesday of each month, ABLAZE gathers the church in the sanctuary from 12:00 to 1:00 PM to pray over the ministries of FBC Terrell. The Regenesis Prayer Service adds a third Tuesday each month at 6:00 PM in the sanctuary, drawing the whole congregation into an extended time of prayer.
The Travel Center Family Ministry at the TA
A second ministry point operates just off Interstate 20 at exit 503, where First Baptist Terrell shares the parking lot of the T/A Travel Center east of town. The Travel Center Family Ministry, or TCFM, has held a nightly Bible study at the truck stop since late 1997 under the leadership of Brother Ricky Null. A small church building at the west end of the TA facility hosts a Bible study every evening, Monday through Saturday, at 6:00 PM. Sundays feature a full morning worship service at 8:00 AM and an evening service at 6:00 PM.
The ministry is designed for truckers, travelers, and their families, and Brother Ricky and his leadership team keep in touch with drivers across the country by phone and email between services. A short welcome video from Brother Ricky introduces newcomers to the work. The Travel Center is located at 1700 Wilson Road in Terrell and can be reached at 972-563-0909. The TCFM is supported in part by the FBC Terrell family, with a giving link set aside specifically for the ministry.
Kids and Students
FBC Kids aims to help children from preschoolers to preteens know, love, and follow Christ. Sunday mornings begin with Sunday school at 9:15 AM for nursery through Grade 5, with separate preschool care for ages birth through 4. Two weekly programs extend the children's ministry beyond Sunday morning.
Worship Arts for Kids, or WAK, is a choir for kindergarten through 6th grade that meets Sundays from 4:00 to 4:45 PM in the choir room of the main building. Children learn the why and how of worship through hymns, modern worship songs, Scripture, and music games, and the WAK choir prepares music for Sunday services and special events like the church's Merry Christmas Terrell program and a spring concert. Mission Kitchen, a Sunday-evening cooking and service club from 5:00 to 6:30 PM, teaches children to use their skills to bless others through food and fellowship.
FBC Terrell Student Ministry is built around four words: know, follow, share, and love God, alongside love for others. Sunday mornings include Sunday school at 9:15 AM on the second floor of the ROC. Wednesdays bring the multi-track program described above, with worship, teaching, and dinner. The student ministry also has a long-running relationship with summer camps, including Glorieta, with registration paperwork and camp waivers coordinated through the church office.
Women, Men, and The Classics
Women's Ministry at FBC Terrell works to lead women to Christ, help them discover their gifts, and equip them to minister to other women. The monthly Book Club gathers on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM in the Main Campus Parlor. The annual Above the Waves Retreat takes women 20 and older to the coast for a weekend of fellowship, teaching, and rest. Other recurring rhythms include Common Grounds evenings with guest speakers, seasonal Bible studies such as The Way of Wisdom through Proverbs, and pool parties in warmer months.
Men's Ministry centers on two weekly Bible studies. Monday evenings begin with dinner at 6:30 PM, followed by a study at 7:00 PM in the ROC Dining Room. Friday mornings gather at 6:15 AM in the ROC Dining Room for a working-hour study. Both are open to men of all ages and stages.
The Classics is the church's senior adult ministry for those 55 and better. Each second Thursday of the month, the group meets at 11:15 AM in the ROC Dining Room for Fun, Food, and Fellowship - covered-dish lunches, games, and conversation. The Classics also take day trips around the region and an annual long trip to explore the country together.
Music and Worship
Worship at FBC Terrell is described as a whole-life response to the Triune God's sovereignty and faithfulness, and the Music and Worship Ministry aims to give every believer a place to serve. The Worship Collective, which includes the worship band, orchestra, and vocal team, rehearses Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM in the Worship Center and leads the 10:30 AM service as well as special services for Easter and Christmas. Vocal team members are also part of the Worship Choir, and the orchestra welcomes high schoolers through adults with three or more years of orchestra or concert band experience.
A Handbell Choir rehearses Sundays from 3:00 to 3:45 PM and adds a different instrumental voice to the church's worship life. A media team runs sound, slides, and video during services and special events, and WAK extends the music ministry to children in 1st through 6th grade.
What FBC Terrell Believes
FBC Terrell's doctrinal statement follows the Baptist Faith and Message as amended by the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention. The church teaches that the Holy Bible is the God-inspired, true, and trustworthy revelation of Himself, and the supreme standard for Christian faith and conduct. There is one true and living God, infinite in holiness and perfections, who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The church holds that human beings are created in God's image, that sin entered the human race through free choice, and that salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and is received by repentance and faith. The church teaches the eternal security of the believer: those whom God has accepted in Christ will never fall away from the state of grace.
A New Testament church is understood as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, observing two ordinances - baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. The offices of pastor, elder, and overseer are limited to men as qualified by Scripture, with both men and women gifted for general service. The church holds a complementarian view of marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman, a high view of life from conception to natural death, religious liberty, the separation of church and state, and the cooperative work of churches for the advance of the gospel. Christians are called to oppose racism, greed, selfishness, vice, and sexual immorality, and to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick.
Care, Prayer, and Support
The church's support ministries aim to make sure no one walks alone. Stephen Ministry trains lay caregivers to provide one-to-one, Christ-centered care to people in the congregation and community walking through difficult seasons. GriefShare, a friendly, caring 13-session program with leaders who have all lost a loved one, meets on Sundays during the fall in the ROC and welcomes newcomers at any point in the cycle.
Prayer is woven throughout the church's life. Prayer Partners share requests with one another through the church's Realm platform. Prayer Warriors commit to covering at least one open hour each week in the on-campus prayer room, and volunteers also pray during Sunday worship. A prayer request form is available online for those who would like the church to pray for them or share a praise report.
Getting Connected
First Baptist Church Terrell is located at 403 North Catherine Street in Terrell, Texas. The church office can be reached at 972-563-7561, and offerings can be given in person at drop boxes at any of the main entrances, mailed to the church address, or given online through the giving page. Recorded services and a welcome video are shared through the church's YouTube and Vimeo channels. The church maintains an active Facebook page (FBCTerrell) and Instagram feed (@fbcterrell) for ongoing updates, and a church calendar lists events for every age and stage of life. For deeper growth, the Rooted discipleship resource offers a framework for following Christ, and opportunities to serve are available in nearly every ministry, from the Worship Collective to the Mission Kitchen to the Travel Center Family Ministry at the TA.