Fork Baptist Church stands at 3140 US Highway 64 East in Mocksville, North Carolina. Its mission is specific: the congregation is united in studying the Bible for the benefit of daily lives and sharing Christ-like love with others. That purpose shapes a church life built around worship, teaching, prayer, family ministry, missions, music, and service to others.
Sunday at 8:45 AM and 10:00 AM
A first Sunday follows a clear weekly rhythm. Sunday School begins at 8:45 AM, followed by the 10:00 AM worship service. At the same hour, children from four years old through fifth grade have their own Children's Worship gathering. Later in the day, students and families have two separate 5:30 PM options: youth ministry for students and AWANAS for preschool through fifth grade.
- 8:45 AM: Sunday School for the whole family.
- 10:00 AM: Worship at Fork Baptist Church and online through Facebook and YouTube.
- 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM: Children's Worship for children four years old through fifth grade.
- 5:30 PM: Student ministry.
- 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM: AWANAS for preschool through fifth grade.
Nursery care is available for children newborn through three years old during Sunday School, worship, and the Wednesday and Sunday evening gatherings. During Sunday School, nursery children receive a lesson suited to their age level. This gives parents a choice between joining the main gathering or helping their child participate in age-specific teaching.
The 10:00 AM worship service is also shared online, so people can watch the worship stream. An online sermon archive includes entries dating to January 2023. Wednesday's Bible study and prayer time with the pastor is also available online or through Facebook Live.
Children Growing Through Each Stage
Fork describes children as a gift from the Lord and a reward from him, quoting Psalm 127:3. The church's children's ministry is divided into four recurring formats, each designed around a particular age group: nursery, Children's Worship, AWANAS, and the Wednesday missions groups. The shared emphasis is biblical teaching, but the activities and format change as children grow.
Nursery for Newborns Through Three
The nursery serves children from birth through three years old. It is offered during the morning worship gathering, Sunday School, and the Wednesday and Sunday evening gatherings. Nursery care is also an active part of Sunday School rather than simply a place to wait, because those children receive an age-appropriate lesson. The ministry makes room for some of the church's youngest members while their parents attend the surrounding gatherings.
Children's Worship at 10:00 AM
Children's Worship runs from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM during the normal worship hour. It is intended for children from four years old through fifth grade. Rather than asking younger children to follow the full service, Fork gives them a biblical lesson designed to be interesting and applicable to their age. The gathering gives children an active place in the church's worship rhythm while keeping instruction suited to their stage of development.
AWANAS on Sunday Evenings
AWANAS is described as a very active part of Fork's ministry for preschool through fifth grade. It meets every Sunday from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, the same hour as the student gathering. Dinner is served before the children take part in activities and fellowship. The stated aim is to plant the Word of God in their hearts through a combination of a shared meal, fun, fellowship, and teaching. The evening setting also allows children's ministry and family ministry to happen together without requiring students and younger children to participate in the same program.
Mission Friends and Children in Action
Two missions-oriented groups meet on Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. Mission Friends serves preschoolers from birth through kindergarten with creative activities and mission stories intended to establish awareness of missions and ways to participate. Children in Action serves preschool through fifth grade with an emphasis on missions discipleship. Those students learn about missions, pray for missions, and connect their learning with work and giving. The groups make missions part of children's everyday formation rather than treating it only as an occasional activity.
Youth Meeting Sunday and Wednesday
Fork's student ministry meets at 5:30 PM on Sundays and 6:30 PM on Wednesdays. Sunday youth gather alongside AWANAS, giving students their own ministry during the same evening that younger children are eating dinner and participating in AWANAS. Wednesday's gathering is for students in grades six through twelve and meets in the Loft. The student ministry also has an Instagram presence at @forkyouth. Chris Whitaker serves as Minister of Students and leads this work alongside the church's pastoral team.
Wednesday Evenings at Fork
Wednesday has three consecutive activities. Choir practice begins at 6:00 PM, followed by youth ministry for grades six through twelve at 6:30 PM. At 7:00 PM, the pastor leads Bible Study and Prayer Time, available online or through Facebook Live. The children's Mission Friends and Children in Action groups also meet at 7:00 PM. Music, students, missions, Bible study, and prayer therefore form the regular midweek rhythm of the church.
- 6:00 PM: Choir practice.
- 6:30 PM: Youth for grades six through twelve in the Loft.
- 7:00 PM: Bible Study and Prayer Time with the pastor, plus Mission Friends and Children in Action.
The midweek emphasis is not limited to one age or activity. Music students gather first, older students meet next, and the final hour combines prayer and Bible study for the congregation with missions discipleship for children.
Baptism and the Church's Mission
For people who have never been baptized, Fork asks, 'Never Been Baptized?' The church pairs that question with Acts 2:41, which describes those who accepted the message being baptized and added to the number of believers. Its teaching defines Christian baptism as the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is presented as an act of obedience that symbolizes faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the death of an old life to sin, and resurrection into new life in Christ. Fork regards it as a church ordinance and a prerequisite for church membership and participation in the Lord's Supper.
What Fork Baptist Church Believes
Fork's beliefs are expressed in a detailed Baptist statement organized around Scripture, God, humanity, salvation, the church, and Christian life. The following themes reflect the church's stated teachings in its own terms.
Scripture and God
The Bible is held to be divinely inspired and fully trustworthy, with God as its author, salvation as its end, and truth in its matter. It is described as a perfect treasure of divine instruction and as the standard by which conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be judged. Christ stands at the center of that revelation.
God is affirmed as one living and true God who is Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler. God is eternal and triune, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without division of nature, essence, or being. Jesus Christ is affirmed as fully God and fully man, born of the virgin Mary, free from sin, and marked by obedience to God. His substitutionary death on the cross provides for redemption, his resurrection confirms that redemption, and his ascension places him at God's right hand as the mediator who will return in glory. The Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, illuminates truth, convicts concerning sin, brings about regeneration, cultivates Christian character, bestows spiritual gifts, and empowers the church for worship, evangelism, and service.
Human Dignity and Salvation
People are described as the special creation of God, made in his image as male and female. The church holds that every person of every race possesses full dignity and deserves respect and Christian love. Human freedom is part of the original creation, while the statement also acknowledges that human beings brought sin into the world and that moral transformation requires God's grace.
Salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Fork describes regeneration, or the new birth, as God's gracious work through the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin, bringing a person to repentance and faith. Repentance is a turning from sin toward God, while faith is acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment to him as Lord and Savior. Justification is God's full acquittal of sinners who repent and believe, bringing the believer into peace and favor. Sanctification begins with regeneration and continues through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, while glorification is the final state of the redeemed.
The Church, Baptism and the Lord's Supper
A New Testament church is understood as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. Each congregation operates under the lordship of Christ through democratic processes, with pastors and deacons identified as its scriptural officers. The statement affirms that both men and women are gifted for service while limiting the office of pastor to men as Scripture qualifies them. The church is also described as the body of Christ, made up of all the redeemed from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
The two ordinances of Christ are baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism by immersion represents the believer's death, burial, and resurrection with Christ and serves as a testimony to faith in the final resurrection. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience in which church members participate in bread and the fruit of the vine, remembering the death of the Redeemer and looking ahead to his second coming. The first day of the week is held to be the Lord's Day, a Christian institution for worship and spiritual devotion in both public and private life.
Mission, Education and Stewardship
Evangelism and missions are described as the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church. The stated goal is to make disciples of all nations, using verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle and other methods that harmonize with the gospel. The belief statement ties missions to the new birth of love for others and emphasizes that every child of God should seek to win the lost to Christ.
Christian education is also part of the church's Christian heritage, with sound learning and an adequate system of Christian education considered necessary to a spiritual program for God's people. Stewardship follows from the confession that God is the source of all blessings. Christians are encouraged to serve with their time, talents, and material possessions and to contribute cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally to the advancement of Christ's cause. Cooperation among churches is voluntary and advisory, with the stated aim of advancing mission, education, and benevolence without compromising loyalty to Christ or his Word.
Family, Social Order, Peace and Liberty
Fork's social teaching calls Christians to seek the will of Christ in both personal lives and society. It directs believers to oppose racism, greed, selfishness, vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. It also calls the church to work for the orphaned, needy, abused, aged, helpless, and sick, to speak on behalf of the unborn, and to uphold the sanctity of human life from conception through natural death.
Marriage is described as the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong covenant. Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church, lead and protect their families, and provide for them. Wives are called to submit graciously and serve as helpers in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. Children are described as a blessing and heritage from the Lord, with parents responsible for teaching spiritual and moral values and demonstrating them through consistent example and loving discipline.
The church also affirms the duty to seek peace and work to end war. Religious liberty is grounded in the freedom of conscience: God alone is Lord of the conscience, church and state should remain separate, and civil government should not impose penalties for religious opinion or tax religious organizations. Fork presents a free church in a free state as the Christian ideal, including freedom of access to God and the right to hold and communicate religious opinions without interference from civil government.
Pastoral and Ministry Leadership
Pastor Mike Stamper leads Fork Baptist Church. Chris Whitaker serves as Minister of Students, caring for the youth ministry that meets on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons and evenings. Doug Sarver serves as the church's pianist, contributing to the music ministry that gathers for Wednesday choir practice. Suzie Sidden coordinates children's ministry and also assists with the church's administrative work. Together, their roles cover pastoral leadership, student ministry, worship music, and the care and coordination of children's programs.
Giving with Purpose
Fork grounds giving in the simple statement, 'We give because He gave.' Its teaching connects generosity with passages from 1 Timothy 6:17-18, Matthew 6:21, and Proverbs 3:9-10, emphasizing trust in God, the connection between treasure and the heart, and the use of wealth for good works.
There are several ways to give. Online gifts include a one-time donation option and the ability to create an account or log in to an existing one. People can also give during Sunday School or worship; those giving cash are asked to use a giving envelope with their full name and address. Checks may be mailed to Fork Baptist Church, 3140 US Highway 64 East, Mocksville, NC 27028. A text-giving option is available by texting 'give' to 336-438-2898 and following the instructions that are returned. These options are available through the church's online giving options.
Contact and Prayer
Fork Baptist Church is located at 3140 US Highway 64 East in Mocksville, North Carolina 27028. The main church phone number is 336-998-8306, and church office hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Prayer is woven into the church's life through the Wednesday Bible Study and Prayer Time led by the pastor. The congregation's continuing emphasis remains the same one named in its mission: studying the Bible for the benefit of daily lives and sharing Christ-like love with others.