Goshen Free Will Baptist Church has stood at 1300 West Catawba Avenue in Mt. Holly, North Carolina, since 1973, when its members moved from their longtime home on School Street in neighboring Belmont. Founded in 1931, the church has now served Gaston County for more than ninety years, holding to the same goal that animated its very first gathering: fulfilling the Great Commission.
From a Living Room to Catawba Avenue
The first worship service at Goshen took place in a member's home in 1931. As the fellowship grew, the congregation moved into a building on School Street in Belmont, where it remained for roughly thirty-six years. By the early 1970s the church had outgrown that space, and in 1973 a new facility was constructed on Catawba Avenue in Mt. Holly, about a mile from the original location. The church continues to meet in that same building today.
Through every chapter of its history, Goshen has anchored itself in the same conviction. The congregation believes the Word of God carries the power to change lives, and that conviction has carried the church through decades of change in Gaston County and the wider world around it.
The Weekly Rhythm: Sundays and Wednesdays
Goshen keeps a steady weekly schedule. Sunday School begins at 10:00 AM with classes for every age. The Sunday morning worship hour follows at 11:00 AM and features uplifting music along with preaching. A second service takes place at 6:00 PM on Sunday evenings, structured to encourage the spiritual growth of everyday Christians.
Wednesday nights bring a 7:00 PM service aimed at people who need a midweek breath. The hour includes an in-depth Bible study and special prayer time with the pastor, a teen Bible study that addresses the issues young people face today, and the Patch the Pirate Club for children in fifth grade and under, where kids learn about Jesus through lessons and Bible memorization.
What Visitors Can Expect
Sunday School at 10:00 AM offers age-appropriate classes for children, youth, and adults, with material designed to enrich the soul through learning more about the Bible. Each class provides spiritual encouragement and Christian fellowship.
The 11:00 AM worship hour begins with music before the sermon. A clean and safe nursery is available, along with Children's Church during the morning service so that families with young children can worship with confidence. The Wednesday night gathering is described as more laid-back than the Sunday services, with a Bible-study feel rather than a formal program. Whatever the day, the church aims to make space for guests of all ages and backgrounds to worship and serve together.
Merry Hearts and Patch the Pirate
Merry Hearts Ministry is Goshen's senior adult fellowship. The group meets the second Tuesday of every month for Bible study, food, and fun, drawing on the verse from Psalm 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Beyond the monthly gatherings, Merry Hearts takes several trips each year to the mountains, the beach, and other destinations, giving the church's older members regular opportunities for fellowship and travel.
For the youngest members, Patch the Pirate Club meets on Wednesday evenings. Children in fifth grade and under learn about Jesus through lessons and Bible memorization in a setting designed just for them. Teens gather separately for their own Bible study, working through topics that affect them in this day and time.
Ten Values That Shape Everything
Goshen has distilled its convictions into ten values that guide its programming and outreach:
- Worship - everyone worships something; the church chooses God.
- Prayer - the church prays as if everything depends on it, because it does.
- Kids - children matter to God and to the church.
- Missions - the church will go anywhere to reach anyone because life is better with Jesus.
- Community - the church does life together because no one is meant to do it alone.
- Growth - spiritual growth is not optional, and God's Word is required reading.
- Service - God gifts ordinary people for extraordinary things.
- Generosity - the church gives more than expected because God gave more than was deserved.
- Excellence - the church refuses to settle for less than its best.
- Fun - church is a blast, and the church celebrates together.
These values flow from a vision statement that frames the whole congregation: a Christ-centered church that welcomes neighbors in, builds each other up through God's word, and uses its resources for the good of the community.
Free Will Baptist Heritage
Goshen is part of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, a fellowship of evangelical churches that traces its beginnings to 1727. The denomination includes roughly 2,500 congregations across forty states, representing close to 300,000 members. Free Will Baptists share the historic Christian faith, practice baptism by immersion, and teach that God desires salvation for all and has given every person the freedom to accept or reject Christ.
Member churches are self-governing, own their own property, and call their own pastors, while choosing to cooperate on shared enterprises including missions, education, and publishing. The denomination supports missionaries in twenty international fields as well as in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, and maintains an executive office in Antioch, Tennessee.
A Body, Not a Building
Eric Capaci, whose words open the church's welcome, captures a theme that runs through everything Goshen does: "It is important to spend time each day in God's presence with Scripture, worship, prayer, journaling, and other helpful habits to cultivate our personal relationship with God." The church sees itself not as a building or a business but as a body made up of many different but equally important parts.
Goshen describes its congregation as a multi-generational family of different ages and backgrounds, committed to helping Gaston County become a better place through Christ and His love shown through them. Following Jesus, the church teaches, is not a one-time event but a lifetime commitment, and Goshen is ready to walk that road with anyone who walks through its doors.