On Hedeman Avenue in the small town of Wright City, Missouri, First Baptist Church fills nearly every day of the week with programming - Sunday services, midweek meals, a youth ministry, a recovery program, and a community food pantry. Affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Missouri Baptist Convention, and the Twin Rivers Baptist Association, the congregation describes its mission in three short phrases - Sharing Christ, Equipping Believers, and Changing Lives - and pours that mission into a packed weekly calendar built around fellowship and study.
Sunday Mornings on Hedeman Avenue
Sunday is the anchor of the week at FBC Wright City. The morning begins at 9:00 AM with small groups for all ages, gathering in classrooms and living-room-style settings throughout the building. At 10:15 AM the congregation comes together for the main worship service, which runs until about 11:30 AM. The service is livestreamed on YouTube each week through the church's channel, so members who are traveling, homebound, or simply unable to attend in person can join from wherever they are. Recordings of past messages are archived on the same channel.
The church sits at 104 Hedeman Avenue in Wright City, a short drive off the main highway that runs through town. Visitors arriving for the first time will find a Southern Baptist congregation that worships in a contemporary style with a strong emphasis on expository preaching and congregational singing.
CrossRoads Youth After the Service
Middle school and high school students have their own evening gathering on Sundays. CrossRoads Youth meets from 5:00 to 7:00 PM and follows a relaxed, relational format: dinner, teaching, worship, and fellowship. Students show up hungry, eat together, and then settle in for a lesson and time of worship. The same group also meets on Wednesday nights during Midweek, giving students two touchpoints a week.
Midweek Around the Wednesday Table
Wednesday is the busiest night at the church. A fellowship meal is served at 5:15 PM, and at 6:00 PM the building splits into age-appropriate programming that runs until 7:00 PM. Adults gather for small groups, children head to Kid Konnect for their own teaching and activities, and middle and high school students return to CrossRoads Youth. The shared meal at the start of the night is what makes the evening work for families: no one has to cook, and the conversation around the table often carries over into the small group that follows.
Tuesday Nights with Celebrate Recovery
On Tuesdays the church opens its doors to anyone in the wider community who is looking for healing "from any hurt, habit, or hang-up." Celebrate Recovery runs from 6:00 to 8:00 PM and follows a familiar structure: dinner from 6:00 to 6:30, a large-group time of worship and teaching from 6:30 to 7:30, open share groups from 7:30 to 8:00, and a Common Grounds Cafe gathering at 8:00 PM. The program is open to anyone, not just church members, and is one of the church's most visible outreach efforts in Warren County.
Serving the Wider Community
The Food Pantry Ministry operates out of the church building on Saturday mornings. From 9:00 to 10:30 AM, volunteers set up tables and distribute groceries to neighbors in need. The pantry sits alongside Celebrate Recovery as one of the church's two main bridges to the wider Wright City community, both of them run out of the same building at 104 Hedeman.
A Ladies Lunch on the First Friday
Women in the congregation meet on the first Friday of each month at 1:00 PM for a casual lunch. Locations are announced closer to each gathering, but the purpose stays the same: a midday break for connection. The Ladies Lunch is one of the church's lighter-touch ministries, built around conversation rather than a formal study.
What FBC Wright City Believes
The congregation subscribes to the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message and teaches a traditional evangelical understanding of the Christian faith. God is described as Creator and Ruler of the universe, eternally existing in three co-equal persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Human beings are made in God's image but separated from him by sin, and Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, bridged that separation through his death on the cross and resurrection on the third day. Salvation is a free gift received by faith, not earned by self-improvement or good works, and eternal life begins the moment a person trusts in Christ.
The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, giving power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. The Bible is taught as the inspired, error-free Word of God and the supreme source of truth for Christian belief and living. Two ordinances are observed: baptism by immersion as a public testimony of saving faith and a prerequisite for church membership, and the Lord's Supper as a regular memorial of Christ's death, observed by church members as they await his return.
Seven Core Values
Around those beliefs the church has organized seven core values that shape its ministry: a passion for God's Word, family, worship, giving, evangelism, service, and prayer. The vision statement puts the same idea in a single sentence: "Connecting People Every Day to the Real Jesus in a Real Way."
The Pastoral Team
Senior Pastor Jayson Hoagland leads the congregation. A native of Robinson, Illinois, Hoagland holds a Master of Divinity from the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and a Doctorate of Biblical Exposition from Andersonville Theological Seminary. He graduated from Missouri Baptist University in 1997 and spent several years on the road as a crusade manager with John Jacobs and The Power Team before entering pastoral ministry. He went on to serve churches in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and at Sinking Creek Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, before coming to FBC Wright City. He and his wife, Jennifer, have six children.
Caleb Little serves as Minister of Music. An O'Fallon, Missouri native and 2024 graduate of Missouri Baptist University with a BA in Christian Ministry and a minor in Worship Studies, Little previously served as a youth worship leader and family ministries intern at First Baptist Church Lake St. Louis. He participated in pep and symphonic bands and Chorale during his undergraduate studies, and his stated aim in the role is to see God be glorified and his church edified through gathered worship.
Three deacons round out the pastoral leadership: Ron Helvey, Richard Cornett (Deacon Emeritus), and Dan Stevens.
Getting Connected
First Baptist Church of Wright City stays in touch with members and visitors through an active online presence. The church's Facebook page, Instagram account (@fbcwc), and YouTube channel (@FBCWrightCityMO) carry announcements, sermon archives, and the weekly livestream. A full calendar of events can be subscribed to in Google Calendar or Outlook, or downloaded as an .ics file for any other calendar app. Visitors driving in for the first time can find the church at 104 Hedeman Avenue in Wright City; the office can be reached at (636) 745-2446.