Gainsville Baptist Church stands at 270 Gainsville Church Road in Lincolnton, North Carolina, in the Gainsville community of Lincoln County. The congregation is known for verse-by-verse Bible teaching, for a discipleship program that begins with infants and runs through sixth grade and the teenage years, and for a Southern Baptist identity that traces back to a revival meeting held in the spring of 1922. Its motto, “Love GOD, Love Truth, Love All People,” states the aim plainly: to glorify God by making disciples who passionately love God, love truth, and love all people from all nations, beginning in Lincoln County.
A Church Born from a Revival in 1922
The story of Gainsville Baptist Church begins in the old Gainsville School house. In 1922 a Union Sunday School was organized there under the leadership of Rev. L.A. Bangle, and that Sunday School met regularly at first in the Love Memorial School house. In the spring of 1922 Rev. Bangle conducted a revival meeting, and out of that revival came the inspiration to organize a Baptist church.
On May 25 of that year an assembly was called together, made up of pastors and deacons. The committee decided that a Baptist church was greatly needed in the community, and a motion to organize one was brought forth and carried. The organizers were, in the church's own telling, a group of loyal and devoted Christians who traveled great distances on foot and others who came by horse and buggy. All were, the story goes, conscious that a church was about to be born and a work started.
The new congregation was brought under the watchcare of the South Fork Association in 1922 and was seated in 1923 as a member. Its property was purchased from the county, a former school ground sold at public auction. One of the church trustees, Mr. Jim Smith, bought the property on a bid of $519. The first year was a remarkable year of progress, and total membership at the end of that year was 83.
Since 1922 the church has seen many changes in leadership, in growth, and in its grounds and facilities. The membership has grown since that first year, but the vision of those faithful servants has not changed: “to go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
A Sunday That Moves From Study to Worship
A Sunday at Gainsville follows a steady rhythm. Sunday School runs from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. in the educational wing, with classes divided by grade and taught by teachers committed to growing children in Christ. Youth Sunday School for grades 7 through 12 meets in the same hour upstairs in the G.A.'s room. Morning worship begins at 11:00 a.m., Sunday choir practice is at 5:00 p.m., and evening worship is at 6:00 p.m. On Wednesdays the mid-week prayer service is held at 7:00 p.m.
Visitors are welcomed at each main entrance by a smiling face ready to greet them, guide them to a class, help them find a seat, and answer questions about the church. The guidance on clothing is direct: dress comfortably. Some people dress up, but most wear casual and comfortable clothes on Sunday mornings, and no one should let their dress become a barrier to attending.
Every aspect of the Sunday morning service is intended to make much of the risen Savior. The songs sung are aimed at Christ, and the Bible teaching is verse by verse. There is an invitation time in the morning service when people come forward to speak with one of the pastors.
For families with small children, a secure nursery for infants through five years old is provided during worship and Bible study times, staffed by trained adults who care for and love children. Nursery care is also available Sunday nights and on Wednesdays, and children ages two to five gather for their own church during the morning worship hour.
Discipling the Next Generation, Birth Through Sixth Grade
The children's ministry calls its work “discipling the next generation,” and its philosophy rests on 2 Timothy 3:14-15, where Paul instructs Timothy to continue in what he has learned “from childhood,” and on Psalm 145:4: “One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.”
Three responsibilities shape the program. Parents must train their children, modeling a God-centered, Scripture-oriented worldview at home, as Deuteronomy 6:4-7 instructs. The church partners with parents in educating children, serving as a complement and reinforcement to what families teach and model, according to Deuteronomy 31:10-13. And pastors and teachers help equip parents for the work of ministry, which includes the ministry of parenting, as Deuteronomy 4:9 and Ephesians 4:11-12 set out. The church holds that the next generation must learn from more than one person, that the truths of Scripture must be consistently lived out, and that the aim of imparting truth is worship.
The stated goal is to raise up children and young people utterly surrendered to Jesus and committed to the spread of the gospel among the nations, so committed to the cause of Christ that no price is too high to pay to follow Him. The church is quick to place the primary weight of that work on God and on God-honoring, God-exalting families, while believing God makes hearts for Christ from any situation.
Discipleship happens in several settings. Sunday School classes for birth through sixth grade use Regular Baptist Press curriculum. During the morning worship hour, a rotating team of teachers leads children ages two to five through The Praise Factory curriculum, designed to “manufacture active minds, noisy joy, and prayerful hearts” and to teach big truths about God in kid-sized portions.
Sunday Evening Classes and the 317 Kids Sports Camp
Sunday evening discipleship classes run from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the educational wing, divided into three groups. Children in grades three through eight work through “How to Study Your Bible - for Kids,” a course built on illustrations, games, puzzles, and activities that teaches basic Bible study skills through the six-week inductive detective training of the M and M Detective Agency, where Max, Molly, and Sam the Beagle guide the search for what God's Word says. Kindergarten through second grade explore “I Stand in Awe,” a study that introduces the characteristics of the Bible and its message of redemption with the goal of developing a deep affection for Scripture. Preschool children work through a catechism, a systematic summary of the Christian faith. In the same period, parents are offered classes on biblical parenting such as Shepherding a Child's Heart.
On Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., Royal Ambassadors for boys in grades kindergarten through six, Girls in Action for girls in the same grades, and Mission Friends gather in the educational wing. Their aim is to instill in children a passion for taking the gospel to the nations through missions education, prayer, and activities.
Vacation Bible School is an annual highlight of the church calendar, using a variety of means to reach children for Christ and make disciples. The 317 Kids Sports Camp is the church's outreach effort with children of Lincolnton and surrounding areas, seeking to reach them with the gospel through the avenue of sports. Instruction in basketball and soccer is offered, lunch is served, and admission is free, a design aimed at reaching unchurched children and their families for Christ.
Students in Grades 7 Through 12
The student ministry serves grades 7 through 12 and starts with a philosophy written for parents. The discipleship of students is primarily the responsibility of their parents. The church is there to equip parents and come alongside them. Student ministry is one way a church can minister to parents and teenagers, and it is not disconnected from, but an extension of, the overall ministry and goals of the local church. It should be gospel-centered and theologically challenging, setting high standards and expecting much from parents and students.
“We want to partner with parents as we minister to your teenagers,” the ministry says, and parents are viewed as a vital element and asset rather than an obstacle. The aim is to produce a generation of students who treasure Christ above all else.
Youth Sunday School meets from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. upstairs in the G.A.'s room, where students have worked through 1 Corinthians, studying how Paul addressed the many struggles of the church at Corinth and learning to apply the wisdom of God to the challenging situations of daily life. Sunday evening discipleship classes from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. divide students by grade. Grades nine through twelve are encouraged to join “Just Do Something,” a study of determining God's will that presses back against the idea that guidance comes only from writing in the sky, dreams, or random Bible verses, and calls believers to rely on God's revealed will in Scripture. Grades seven and eight join “How to Study Your Bible - for Kids,” the same inductive detective course younger children study.
Credo, the Wednesday night student study, meets from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Credo is Latin for “I believe.” The evening opens with a game and a time of musical worship, continues with a recitation of the Nicene Creed, a fourth century confession of faith shared universally by Christians, and concludes with teaching on a theme that rotates between explicitly theological subjects and more directly practical ones.
Several gatherings extend beyond the regular week. The Gathering is an annual Discipleship-Now weekend that brings together churches from the South Fork Association and Lincoln County. Its sessions have addressed themes such as “Don't Waste Your Life,” “What is Worship,” and “Love God; Love Others,” and it combines challenging Bible teaching with authentic worship and the opportunity to serve others in the community. Hosts open their homes for small group Bible studies and a night's rest, and students are drawn closer to one another and to the Lord. At Creed Summer Camp, students spend a week at a biblically faithful camp with an emphasis on the local church, where elders from each of the churches teach and preach.
The ministry also commits students to reading good books, including one Christian book each summer about God, theology, Christian biography, or Christian living. Mission projects take place on alternating years, a week of service that has included sports camps, backyard Bible clubs, and construction work in Greensboro, Red Springs, and Shelby. On other occasions students gather for sleepovers, game nights, midnight bowling, camp outs, and Wii tournaments, or head for milkshakes after evening worship. Pastor Michael White invites people who want to serve to meet with him about the student ministry.
A Deacon Assigned to Every Family
Gainsville Baptist Church strives to be a family in Christ in which each member experiences the care of Jesus Christ and the affection of the body. To make sure every member and family experiences that care, the pastors and deacons are committed to the Deacon Family Ministry Plan. Under the plan, each member or family has a deacon assigned to them. Deacons joyfully serve their family, pray for them, and seek to minister in any way possible.
Family contact is made through the church office or the church directory. The deacons themselves are described as men of integrity and wisdom who are fully committed to Christ and his church, and they meet the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 and follow the commission to serve the church described in Acts 6:1-7.
The Gospel at the Heart of the Church
The church's teaching begins with the gospel: “The most important truth in the universe is that God in Christ is reconciling the world to himself. God created all things for his glory, and God's desire is that you magnify Jesus Christ with your life.”
Its teaching on salvation follows that outline. God made people for his glory, and every human being should live for that glory, because the greatest display of God's glory comes from deep delight in all that he is. All people have failed to glorify God as they should, and all are subject to God's just condemnation, because the wages of sin is death. God sent his only son Jesus, who died for sinners and rose physically from the dead, validating the saving power of his death and opening the way to eternal life and joy. The benefits of that death belong to those who repent and trust him: salvation is by grace through faith, a free gift that cannot be earned or merited. Repentance means turning from the deceitful promises of sin, and faith means being satisfied with all that God promises to be for people in Jesus.
Membership begins by talking with one of the pastors, either privately or during the invitation time of the morning worship service. Members are accepted in three ways. Baptism is for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and desire to obey him by being scripturally baptized by immersion. Letter from another Baptist church is for those who are saved, have been baptized by immersion after salvation, and are members in good standing of another church. Statement of faith is for those who are saved and have been baptized by immersion after salvation but are not members of another Baptist church.
Gainsville Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist congregation, in agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message adopted by the 2000 Southern Baptist Convention. As a church it aims to be a loving community of faith committed to loving God, truth, and all people from all nations.
Partnership with Church Planters in Waterbury, Vermont
Mission support at Gainsville runs through the Cooperative Program and special offerings, with the stated desire that the nations would hear the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. The church supports international and North American church planting this way.
One long-running partnership is with church planters Brian and Alyson Conyers in Waterbury, Vermont. The church contributes financially to their work and takes part in the mission by sending regular mission teams. The mission's work can be followed at waterburymission.org.
That commitment reaches close to home as well. The 317 Kids Sports Camp uses sports and free admission to reach unchurched children and families around Lincolnton, and students join mission projects that have included backyard Bible clubs and sports camps in nearby towns. The vision that began in 1922, to make disciples of all nations, is still described as beginning in Lincoln County and extending to the ends of the earth.
Preaching, Lessons, and Bible Reading Plans
Gainsville Baptist Church keeps an extensive archive of sermon audio reaching back through years of preaching. The messages cover familiar ground in distinctive ways: repentance and what it actually looks like, why revival matters and how it happens, faith and works, the treasure of a heart aimed at God, hardship and steadfastness, and the nearness of Christ. Titles from the archive include “A Divine Appointment,” “Naaman's Leprosy Healed,” “What is Repentance?,” “Why Revival?,” “Recipe for Revival,” “Help Rebuild,” “His Glory Not Ours,” and “Stay Steadfast During Trials.” The full sermon archive is available to visitors.
Sunday School lessons are prepared for teachers as well. The lessons draw on the Bible Study for Life curriculum, including a series on the patriarchs that walks through Abram and Lot, Isaac and Rebecca, Joseph and Esau, and Haman, and another series that traces Christian purpose through titles such as “Purpose Questioned,” “Purpose Abandoned,” “Purpose Restored,” “Purpose Lived,” “Purpose Expressed,” and “Purpose Exemplified.” The lessons are written by Ben Perry, and some are shared as video.
For personal Bible reading, the church points families toward Bible Gateway, the Southern Baptist Convention, and a set of reading plans: materials from ESV.org and The Gospel Coalition, Robert Murray M'Cheyne's reading calendar, an ESV one-year reading plan, and a TGC two-year reading plan. Directions to the church are available for anyone heading to 270 Gainsville Church Road.
A Beacon in Lincoln County
More than a century after that May 1922 assembly, Gainsville Baptist Church still gathers for Sunday School, worship, prayer, and the training of children and students in the same community that first needed a Baptist church. Its membership has grown far beyond the 83 who joined in that first remarkable year, its grounds and facilities have changed many times over, and its leaders have carried the work through generations. The motto remains simple: “Love GOD, Love Truth, Love All People.” The church describes its own purpose in one line, and the line has not changed: to exist “to glorify God by making disciples who passionately love God, love truth, and love all people from all nations beginning in Lincoln County.”