A Church Rooted in Coulwood
Hillcrest Baptist Church sits at 8501 Bellhaven Boulevard on the west side of Charlotte, North Carolina, in the Coulwood and Mountain Island Lake community where Senior Pastor Steven Gompers grew up. Organized under its current name in 1958, the congregation gathers each week around a single stated purpose: to love people genuinely, teach Scripture faithfully, and disciple believers fully in obedience to Christ.
The family describes itself as a diverse body of men, women, and children from different backgrounds who share one common bond, namely that they are imperfect individuals gathered to worship a perfect Heavenly Father. Hillcrest is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Metrolina Baptist Association, and the church affirms the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as its doctrinal standard.
Sundays at Hillcrest: A Rhythm of Study and Worship
The weekly Sunday schedule is built around two anchors. Sunday School for students and adults begins at 9:00 AM, with men meeting in the Bradshaw Center and women gathering on the upper level of Building C. Both groups study from the same curriculum but work through their lessons separately, applying Scripture through the lenses of biblical manhood and biblical womanhood. Adult classes offer a coffee bar and light breakfast options.
Children's Sunday School runs at the same hour on the lower level of Building C. Babies and toddlers listen to quiet praise music while they play in bright classrooms, preschoolers memorize Scripture, hymns, and praise songs while studying the storyline of the Bible, and elementary students learn through games, stories, crafts, and multimedia. The children's curriculum is designed to systematically expose them to essential doctrines of the Christian faith while showing how the whole Bible points to one rescue story. Older students in seventh grade and above join the adult classes, a deliberate choice that places teenagers shoulder to shoulder with seasoned believers each week.
At 10:00 AM the congregation gathers in the sanctuary for the Sunday worship hour. The liturgy includes corporate prayer, congregational singing, and the preaching of the Word. Music draws on hymns both ancient and modern, psalms, and the reading of Scripture, with the goal of teaching theological truth and letting the voices of the people be the loudest instrument in the room. Senior Pastor Steven Gompers is known for teaching through books of the Bible verse by verse, a method the church believes helps believers gain a firm grasp of major gospel doctrines, the timeline of redemptive history, and entire books of Scripture. The Sunday service is also available through a live stream in the downstairs Family Room for parents with nursery-aged children who want to step out while still participating.
What to Wear and Where to Park
Visitors often ask what to wear, and Hillcrest answers plainly: come as you are. Because the community spans multiple generations, some attendees dress casually and others wear suits and ties. The pastoral team simply encourages people to dress comfortably.
Parking is available behind Building C, which houses the classrooms and offices, and to the right of Building B, the Bradshaw Center. Because space is limited, the church asks those who are able to leave the spots nearest the breezeway and classrooms open for senior adult attenders and visiting guests. Anyone needing elevator access is encouraged to park behind Building C, since the upper levels of both the sanctuary and classroom building are reachable by an open-air elevator. Members of the Guest Experience Team meet newcomers at the door and are happy to direct them to a classroom, to Hillcrest Kids, or to the sanctuary.
Wednesday Nights: A Family-Style Meal and Midweek Classes
The church's Wednesday rhythm begins at 5:30 PM with a family-style meal prepared by a team of volunteers. The menu is published in the weekly email newsletter, and diners are asked to register online in advance or sign up in person on Sundays. After dinner the Midweek Prayer gathering starts at 6:30 PM, lifting up needs inside and outside the church, ministry partners, world events, and leaders at the local, state, and national level.
At 7:00 PM the Midweek Bible Study and class hour begins. Each semester brings a fresh slate of approximately twelve-week classes, ranging from parenting and apologetics to book-of-the-Bible studies and other topical offerings. Classes explore ancient biblical texts and consider how their teaching shapes the daily life of a Christ follower. Hillcrest Kids programming runs at the same hour for nursery through preschool, reinforcing what the children learned the prior Sunday, and elementary students meet for a Bible class focused on making wise choices through the lives of people in Scripture.
Hillcrest Kids: Partnering with Parents
Hillcrest Kids welcomes children from birth through elementary and is designed to come alongside parents as the primary disciplers of their children. Programming is offered during both Sunday School and the worship service, so families can attend classes knowing their children are cared for in safe, age-appropriate environments.
On Sunday mornings during the worship hour, a nursery is offered for children through age three. Children ages four and up are encouraged to join their families in the sanctuary as a biblical model for intergenerational worship, and worship guides are provided to help them follow along. First-time visitors and families of children with special needs through the beginning of kindergarten are welcome to use the nursery for as long as they wish. A Family Room located below the sanctuary is available for parents who prefer to step out, with a television carrying the live stream of the service.
Safety is taken seriously. Every volunteer who works with children submits to a background check. The Hillcrest Kids check-in system issues each child a name tag with a security code and gives the matching parent a tag that must be presented for the child to be released. If the church needs to reach a parent during the service, the security code is flashed on the sanctuary monitor. Policies on food and allergies, diapering and bathrooms, wellness, strict volunteer-to-child ratios, and emergency procedures are all part of the standard operating practice.
An Intergenerational Approach to Students
Hillcrest's student ministry is intentionally structured differently from the typical youth program. Rather than separating teenagers into their own world, the church treats adolescence as a season in which young people are invited into full participation in the life of the body. Students from seventh grade through senior adulthood gather together weekly for prayer, fellowship, serving, and study, with the goal of building cross-generational relationships that benefit both the young and the seasoned.
On Wednesday evenings students join the family-style meal, participate in the church-wide prayer gathering, and then take part in either a through-the-Bible course or, occasionally, a student-specific course or introductory Discipleship Group experience. These smaller settings run for about twelve weeks and give students a taste of life-on-life discipleship, including book study, Scripture memorization, and mentoring by an adult leader. Students are also invited to serve in every layer of church life, from Hillcrest Kids and the kitchen to audio/visual production and the choir.
The conviction behind this structure is that youth ministry is the calling of the whole church, not just a few specialists. Hillcrest hopes to flip the common ratio in which a handful of students know only a handful of youth leaders, so that for every student, many adults are investing in their spiritual development. Families are encouraged to make attendance a priority because shared meals, pre-service fellowship, and serving together are where students naturally connect with peers as well as with adults.
Becoming a Member
Membership at Hillcrest is treated as a meaningful commitment rather than a formality. The church regularly offers a class called Membership Matters, where prospective members can learn about the Biblical precedent for church membership, the expectations of members, and the history and ministry of Hillcrest. Lunch is provided and the pastor is available to answer questions in person.
Those who wish to proceed fill out a membership application in which they tell the story of how they came to know Jesus as Savior. The deacons review and pray over each application, after which a meeting is scheduled with the pastor to address remaining questions. New members are then presented to the church so the body can celebrate, affirm, and officially welcome them into the family. There are three ways to join: by statement of faith for those who have confessed Christ and been baptized by immersion but are not currently members of another church, by transfer of membership from another Baptist church, or by baptism for those who desire to follow Christ and be baptized into the fellowship at Hillcrest.
Beliefs and the Statement of Faith
Hillcrest affirms the Holy Bible as the inspired Word of God and the basis for its beliefs and actions, and the church subscribes to the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000. Two ordinances are practiced: believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper.
The church's constitution also includes a Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality that reflects a conservative Baptist understanding of marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in a single exclusive union, and that identifies sexual immorality as sinful. The same statement affirms that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, and that every person is to be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. The constitution further expresses that Hillcrest is subject to the control of no other ecclesiastical body, while recognizing and sustaining the obligations of mutual counsel and cooperation that are common among Baptist churches, including practical cooperation with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist Convention.
The Church Covenant that members affirm calls the body to walk together in Christian love, to devote themselves to the life and mission of the church, to maintain family and personal devotions, to teach children the Word of God, to live wisely in the world, to be slow to take offense, and to watch over one another in brotherly love.
Discipleship Groups: A Year of Life-on-Life Investment
Discipleship Groups are the centerpiece of Hillcrest's growth strategy. A D Group is made up of three or four individuals who commit to meet together weekly for approximately one year, working through specific spiritual disciplines including Scripture memory, confession of sin, accountability, and the study of the Bible. The format is meant to capture the spirit of Jesus' extended personal investment in his own disciples.
The goal of each D Group is replication: after a year of being intentionally discipled, group members are expected to start a new group with new disciples, multiplying the process. The church partners with Replicate Ministries for its discipleship curriculum and invites anyone interested in joining a D Group to fill out an online form so a staff member can follow up.
A Resource Library and Helpful Links
Beyond the structured classes, Hillcrest maintains a resource library with an inventory of books, study materials, music, and videos that is continually expanding. A featured resource of the month is highlighted for the whole church body, with titles selected to encourage Christian thinking and a biblical worldview. The library is staffed by a volunteer team that helps guests locate materials on marriage, parenting, money management, current events, missionary biographies, and classic Christian authors. The church also curates helpful online links including Blue Letter Bible, Got Questions, Truth for Life, and shared Spotify and Amazon Music playlists.
How the Church Engages: Serve, Support, Share
Engagement at Hillcrest is built around three verbs. Members SERVE one another in times of need and through churchwide serving teams. They SUPPORT local mission partners who are doing hands-on ministry in the community. They SHARE the gospel with those around them.
Serving teams include Hillcrest Kids, the Guest Experience Team, the Hillcrest CARE Team, the Safety Team, the Worship Team, the Library Team, the Technology Team, and the Special Events Team. All volunteers who work with children or students must submit to a background check. The CARE Team works with the Deacon Board to organize meals and meet tangible needs for families welcoming a new child, recovering from surgery, or grieving a loss.
Hillcrest highlights one mission partner each month and supports them through prayer, volunteer hours, and item collections. Featured partners include JAARS, the Queen City Pregnancy Resource Center, King's Daughter's Ministry, the Mt. Holly Community Relief Organization, and New Life Church in Kyiv, Ukraine. Sharing the gospel is treated as the privilege and responsibility of every believer, and the church points members to resources such as Got Questions, The Gospel Coalition's essay on Biblical Evangelism, and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for practical guidance on sharing faith with friends, family, and neighbors.
Leadership
Hillcrest is governed by a body of elders and supported by deacons, with all major decisions made by the congregation in members' meetings. The eldership currently includes Steven Gompers as Senior Pastor, Don Smith as Associate Pastor, and lay elders Stan Foster, Doug McClure, and Jeff Voncannon. The active deacon team includes Jon Banta, Nowell Midthun, Greg Busby, Bob McRorie, Greg Dorsey, and Tom Penninger.
Steven Gompers returned to his native Coulwood and Mountain Island Lake home after attending Calvary Chapel Bible College in California. A graduate of West Mecklenburg High School, he is passionate about seeing the gospel transform his hometown through Hillcrest's presence there. Don Smith and his wife Jacque were part of the Hillcrest family for many decades, were married at the church, and returned to the congregation in 2016. Stan Foster and his wife Susan have family roots in the Coulwood community, Doug McClure and his wife Joy have lived in the Coulwood area for more than thirty years and previously served as deacons, and Jeff Voncannon, a retired member of the Charlotte Fire Department who joined the Hillcrest ministry in 2017, brings a passion for the choir and for small-group studies.
Giving to the church is handled online through Church Center, events are listed through the same platform, and sermons are posted on the church's sermons page.