Two Ways to Worship on Sunday Morning
First Baptist Church sits on the corner of NE 2nd Street in Wagoner, Oklahoma, a block or two from the places where the rest of the town's life happens. The church has made one simple decision that shapes the way Sunday feels for everyone who walks in: there are two worship services, not one. Classic Worship begins at 9:30 am and centers on traditional hymns and older worship songs. Modern Worship begins at 10:45 am and is built around contemporary music. The same teaching is presented in both services, so families and friends who prefer different musical styles do not have to miss the same sermon twice.
Both services last about an hour. Between and after them, the Commons is set up for coffee, conversation, and the kind of unhurried visiting that often happens after church in smaller towns. A Connect Desk sits in the Commons where newcomers can ask questions and find out what comes next.
Small Groups for all ages run at 9:30 am and 10:45 am, giving adults, students, and children the same two-hour rhythm to plug into. That double hour is the backbone of the church's week, and everything else - KidOne on Sunday mornings, Konnect 4 Kids on Wednesday evenings, the student ministry, the senior ministry, recovery groups - is built around it.
What to Expect on Your First Sunday
First Baptist keeps its welcome simple. People dress casually, in whatever they would wear to a family dinner, and the church does not signal any dress code beyond that. Visitors enter through the main south entrance, where greeters are waiting. From there, a guest can grab coffee in the Commons, stop by the Connect Desk for information, and find the Worship Center without a maze of hallways.
Children who are babies through fifth grade are welcome in KidOne during both Sunday services. Students in sixth through twelfth grade meet for their own small groups at 9:30 am and are encouraged to attend the 10:45 am worship service together afterward. The church invites guests to fill out a quick Plan A Visit form so someone on the team can be ready to say hello and answer questions.
Worship services are also available through a livestream for those who cannot attend in person, and the church keeps an archive of past sermons from recent series such as The Hidden Kingdom and A Midnight Miracle.
KidOne: Children's Ministry from Birth Through Fifth Grade
KidOne is the children's ministry at First Baptist Wagoner, and it serves kids from birth through fifth grade every Sunday morning at both services and again on Wednesday nights. The program is built around four commitments shared by its volunteer leaders. They help kids learn from God's Word. They plan with every child in mind. They build an experience kids will want to come back to. And they connect with families beyond a single Sunday.
On Sunday mornings, age-specific lessons, activities, and small groups give children a chance to engage with the Bible at their own level. KidOne registration is available online so first-time families can save time at check-in.
On Wednesday evenings, Konnect 4 Kids runs from 5:30 to 7:30 pm for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Dinner is provided, and the rest of the night is filled with games, songs, and teaching designed to help kids grow in their understanding of God's love. Registration for the Wednesday program is also online. Michelle Suarez oversees KidOne and serves as the main contact for families. A monthly parent resource page walks through what kids are learning, with memory verses and discussion questions for each week.
401 Students: Middle School and High School
The student ministry is called 401 Students, named for the church's address on NE 2nd Street. The program exists for three reasons the students themselves can name: to love God with heart, soul, and strength; to walk in community as followers of Jesus; and to live on mission, sharing the good news of what God has done. Students meet in age and gender specific small groups on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, then join the rest of the church for the 10:45 am Modern Worship service.
Wednesday nights bring MDWK at 6:30 pm, with dinner provided. The Middle, a program aimed at middle schoolers, meets at 6:15 pm on the same evening. Twice a month on Sunday evenings, students gather for Home Groups, which meet in houses around town and give teenagers a smaller setting to study the Bible and pray together. Brendan Miller leads the student ministry and can be reached for more information. The student ministry maintains its own Instagram at @401students_ and Facebook page.
Small Groups and Wednesday Nights
Small Groups are the connective tissue at First Baptist Wagoner. They meet at 9:30 am and 10:45 am on Sundays, and the church offers guides each week so that groups across the city are working through the same passage and the same questions at the same time. Recent guides have walked groups through passages such as John 1:35-51, Luke 6:27-36, Luke 14:15-24, Psalm 51, and John 4.
On Wednesday evenings, adults gather at 6:00 pm for a prayer meeting, while children and students fill the building with their own programming. The result is a church where Wednesday night is as much a part of the rhythm as Sunday morning.
Groups are also open to new members, and a Groups page on the church's site lets visitors sign up. The groups the church describes range from traditional Bible studies to ones organized around life stage, neighborhood, or shared interest.
2nd Half Ministry: Adults 55 and Beyond
One of the distinctive ministries at First Baptist Wagoner is called the 2nd Half Ministry, a name that captures a simple idea: adults in their mid-forties and beyond are entering a new stage of life that previous generations rarely lived to see, and the church wants to walk through that stage intentionally with them.
2nd Half serves adults 55 and older with regular gatherings, Bible studies, hymn sings, prayer meetings, and social events. On Sunday mornings, 2nd Half adults worship at 9:30 am in the Classic service and join Small Groups at 10:45 am. On Wednesday nights, a hymn sing begins at 6:00 pm and a prayer gathering follows at 6:30 pm. The ministry's stated goal is to develop activities, outreach, and discipleship opportunities for unchurched people while also nurturing and encouraging believers who want to keep growing spiritually, mentally, socially, and physically in their later decades.
2nd Half draws on Philippians 3:13-14 - forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead - and on the third stanza of Steve Green's Find Us Faithful: "Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful." The point is not just activities for seniors but a generation of older believers still investing in the people behind them.
Celebrate Recovery on Thursday Nights
Celebrate Recovery at First Baptist Wagoner is a Christ-centered, 12-step recovery program for anyone struggling with hurt, hang-ups, and habits of any kind. It meets on Thursday evenings and is open to people dealing with everything from people-pleasing and anger to addiction and broken relationships.
The night begins at 6:00 pm with dinner, where a $4 donation is appreciated. Large group worship and teaching starts at 7:00 pm, followed by gender-specific small groups at 8:00 pm that work through the eight Christ-centered principles rooted in the Beatitudes. The evening wraps up at 9:00 pm in the Cross Talk Cafe, where attendees can continue the conversation over coffee.
Tom and Leslie Roberts lead the ministry and invite anyone considering a visit to come four weeks in a row to experience the kind of healing the program is built around. Celebrate Recovery describes itself as a safe place to find community and freedom from the issues that control life, working through the same eight recovery principles that Christians and non-Christians alike have used for decades.
Embrace Grace for Single and Pregnant Women
Embrace Grace is a support ministry for single women facing an unexpected pregnancy. It meets on Monday evenings at 6:30 pm and offers community, encouragement, and practical help during a season of life that can feel lonely and frightening. The ministry's message to the women it serves is straightforward: you can have your baby and your dreams too, and you do not have to do this alone.
Renee Petty coordinates Embrace Grace at First Baptist Wagoner and can be reached for more information about joining a group or supporting the ministry.
What the Church Believes
First Baptist Wagoner teaches a set of beliefs.
The church believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, co-equal with the Father. He lived a sinless life, died on a cross as the sacrifice for sin, rose again after three days, ascended to heaven, and will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He makes people aware of their need for Jesus, lives in every Christian from salvation, gives power for living the Christian life, helps believers understand spiritual truth, and gives each believer a spiritual gift. Christians are called to live under His control day by day.
The Bible is God's Word, written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian belief and life and is without error.
Human beings were created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him. Every person has potential for good but is also marred by sin, an attitude of disobedience that separates people from God and causes problems in life.
Salvation is God's free gift, received by trusting in Jesus Christ. It cannot be earned by self-improvement or good works. When a person turns from a self-ruled life and turns to Jesus in faith, eternal life begins.
Because God gives eternal life through Jesus Christ, the true believer is secure in that salvation forever. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God.
People were created to exist forever. The choice is to exist eternally separated from God in Hell, or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.
The church's stated vision is to build a genuine biblical community of truth, relevance, acceptance, and simplicity where people can spiritually flourish.
Baptism
First Baptist Wagoner treats baptism as a public declaration of faith and an outward expression of an inward change. Baptism is for anyone who has made a personal decision to trust Jesus as Lord and Savior, whether the decision is recent or years old. The act symbolizes identifying with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection and stepping into new life with Him, following His command in Matthew 28:19.
Anyone interested in being baptized can fill out a sign-up form on the church's site. A pastor then follows up to walk through the next steps.
Bible Reading Plans and RightNow Media
The church's Bible Reading Plan page points readers toward several seven-day devotionals and small group guides. Recent plans include Come and See (on John 1:35-51), A Different Way to Live (on following Jesus in a contentious world, from Luke 6), Something NEW Starts Here (on Luke 14 and the open invitation of grace), True Repentance (on Psalm 51), and Your Story Matters (on John 4 and Psalm 139). Each devotional follows the same structure: a passage to read, a reflection question, a concrete next step, and a short prayer.
The church also offers RightNow Media to its members at no cost. Often described as a kind of Netflix for Bible studies, RightNow Media gives families access to thousands of video resources for adults, students, and children.
Serving and Giving
The Serve page invites members and regular attenders to sign up for opportunities in children's ministry, student ministry, the host team, or leading a small group. Two sign-up forms on the page make it easy to volunteer.
Giving is available in four ways. Online giving runs through the church's Realm platform at a Give Now page. In-person gifts can be placed in the black boxes located in the Worship Center. Checks can be mailed to the church's address. And text giving is available by texting "givefbcwagoner" to 73256. The church's philosophy of giving rests on 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: each person should give as they have decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.
A Team Approach to Pastoring
First Baptist Wagoner is led by a team rather than a single visible senior pastor. Two pastors, Mark and Seth, are listed as the main contacts for new attendees and for those wanting to learn more about the church. Michelle Suarez oversees KidOne, the children's ministry, and Brendan Miller leads 401 Students. Tom and Leslie Roberts lead Celebrate Recovery, and Renee Petty coordinates Embrace Grace. The church also maintains a prayer request form on its Prayer page for anyone who wants the congregation to pray for them.
The church's address is 401 NE 2nd St, Wagoner, OK 74467, and the phone number for the church office is (918) 485-2428. The office email is info@fbcwagoner.com. A map and directions are available on the New Here? page of the church's website.
One Church, Two Services, Many Doors
What holds First Baptist Wagoner together is not a particular style of music, a single personality at the pulpit, or a single program. It is the conviction that everyone who walks through the south entrance on a Sunday morning should be able to find a place - in the Classic service, in the Modern service, in a small group, in KidOne, in 401 Students, in 2nd Half, in Celebrate Recovery, or in Embrace Grace. The church's own welcome carries the same theme. Wagoner First is a place where everyone is welcome. People who visit are invited to come as they are, find the rhythm that fits, and bring their questions, doubts, hopes, and gifts with them.