Located at 945 South Holt Street in Montgomery, Alabama, Holt Street Church of Christ is known for its 1928 organization, its commitment to the church described in the New Testament, and its role in establishing sister congregations across central Alabama. Its motto captures that identity: Together, we have faith. Your faith is our strength. Join our family.
A Montgomery Congregation Since 1928
The congregation states that its aim is to be the church Jesus promised to build and later purchased with his own blood. Its only guide for doctrine and practice is the Word of God. The welcome it extends is warm and direct: an extended hand, a joyful spirit, and open doors and hearts. In its own description of church life, people worship, serve, laugh, cry, learn, and reach out to the world.
Organized in 1928, Holt Street helped establish a number of sister congregations throughout central Alabama. That history connects the Montgomery church to a wider network of congregations, while its stated identity remains rooted in the Bible. The family theme appears in the care for one another, the shared study of Scripture, and the desire to bring people to faith through preaching, teaching, and personal evangelism.
Sunday Class at 8:45, Worship at 10
A Sunday visit centers on two gatherings. The Sunday Morning Class begins at 8:45 a.m., and worship follows at 10:00 a.m. Both are held at 945 South Holt Street in Montgomery, and both are conducted in English. There is no evening service on Sundays, so the morning class and 10:00 worship service form the congregation's Sunday pattern.
The church's stated acts of worship are prayer, singing, Scripture reading, giving, and the Lord's Supper. These practices show a service built around hearing and obeying the Word. Giving is also available online through Tithe.ly, while the collection is one of the church's five named acts of worship.
The church's teaching on modest apparel applies to both men and women. It asks that clothing be modest and reminds worshipers that the way they dress affects others. The practical direction for a visitor is simple: choose attire that is modest and does not expose the body.
The congregation's phone is (334) 265-2253, its email is holtstreetcoc@gmail.com, and its contact information includes a message form for those preparing to worship with the church.
Wednesday Church and the Midweek Rhythm
Wednesday Church begins at 6:30 p.m. The congregation describes this gathering as a midweek Bible study class, making it the main weekly teaching time outside Sunday morning. The same commitment to study and practice carries into other regular gatherings, including separate men's and ladies' classes, a ladies' prayer night, and a youth and family devotion time.
The rhythm also includes practical service. Monthly outreach includes Meals on Wheels and visits to people who are sick or shut in. Servant Teams 1 and 2 alternate months with Teams 3 and 4, allowing the church to organize this care into a regular pattern rather than leaving it to occasional individual efforts.
For those unable to be present in the building, video sermons are available through the church's YouTube channel. The regular teaching emphasis therefore extends from the Sunday and Wednesday gatherings into recorded messages for later viewing.
A Church Read About in the New Testament
Scripture is the church's doctrinal authority, and its beliefs are summarized through the Bible's story of creation, fall, and redemption. God created humanity in His image and gave people the ability to choose. When people disobey God's law, they sin. God's love led to the gift of His Son, who died for the world. Christ's death, burial, and resurrection form the gospel, and people cannot repay God's gift; the response He seeks is gratitude expressed through obedience and service. The church emphasizes that service flows from appreciation rather than obligation.
The church's answer to what a person must do to be saved follows the pattern it sets out in the Bible:
- Hear the gospel of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
- Believe the gospel.
- Repent of sins.
- Confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
- Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
The same confidence in Scripture shapes its understanding of the church. The church teaches that Jesus established it at Pentecost, where those who heard and obeyed the gospel were added to the saved. Its teaching on oneness emphasizes one God, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, one body, and one hope. At the center is the insistence that people cannot claim the same promise while refusing what Jesus commanded.
The oneness theme is developed through Ephesians 4:4-6. The church asks whether people can call upon the same God, Savior, faith, Spirit, and hope while refusing baptism and unity in Christ's body. Its answer is no. The purpose of the teaching is unity: one faith, one baptism, one body, and one people.
The church presents faith as more than a social identity. It connects faith with hearing the message, repentance, confession, baptism, and fellowship in one body. Those themes recur throughout its teaching about grace, obedience, unity, peace, and the need to be prepared for the last day.
Jesus the Prophet, Priest, and King
One of the church's central teachings portrays Jesus in three offices. As prophet, he speaks God's words to people. As high priest, he speaks to God on behalf of people. As king, he governs the citizens of his kingdom. The church's point is that the one who saves people is all three, joining revelation, access to God, and rule in the person of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 1:1-3 supplies part of that teaching: God spoke to the fathers through the prophets but has now spoken through his Son, who was appointed heir of all things, made the worlds through the power of his word, purged sins, and sat at the right hand of God. This portrayal places the church's worship, teaching, and service in the hands of Christ. He is not only the Savior who died but the one who reveals God, intercedes, and rules.
Elders, Deacons, Preachers, and Members
The organization the church describes follows New Testament references. Elders, bishops, overseers, and pastors provide oversight; deacons serve; preachers and evangelists proclaim the gospel; and members are described as living stones within the body. The congregation's leadership includes:
- Willie Gould and Cliff Robinson, Jr., elders.
- Lamar Latimore, III, Dale Ruffin, and Fred Van Diver, deacons.
- Eric Thornton, pulpit minister.
- Tavares Mathews, youth minister.
Those roles line up with the church's teaching that oversight, service, and proclamation each have a place in the body. The leadership roster is therefore not separate from the congregation's life of worship and study; it is part of the ordered service the church seeks to embody.
Reaching the Lost in the Neighborhood and Beyond
Evangelism has a specific plan at Holt Street. The church identifies preaching from the pulpit every Sunday and Gospel meetings as ways to preach the gospel. It also places equal importance on teaching through Bible classes at church, held on Sunday and Wednesday among other opportunities, and through Bible studies in homes or other locations.
Door-to-door outreach reaches beyond the church building. The stated locations include the neighborhood around the building, neighborhoods throughout the city, and other cities, states, and countries. Personal evangelism adds one-to-one conversations with coworkers, classmates, neighbors, and any other individual who needs to hear the gospel.
That range of methods comes from the conviction that the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost, as Luke 19:10 states. The emphasis is both local and broad. Christians are encouraged to share the message in ordinary relationships and are also equipped for structured class teaching, home studies, neighborhood door-knocking, and public proclamation. The goal is not simply to announce the gospel, but to seek and save those who are lost.
Youth, Family, and Care for the Neighbor
Youth ministry is a named ministry with Tavares Mathews as Youth Minister, and youth and family devotion is part of the congregation's regular life. The emphasis on family also appears in the separate men's and ladies' classes, creating additional small-group settings alongside the larger congregation's Sunday worship and Wednesday study.
Service reaches beyond the church's own gatherings through Meals on Wheels and home visits for people who are sick or shut in. Alternating servant teams help carry that work month by month. The church's welcome describes this outward reach as part of the same family life that includes worship, service, shared learning, and the experiences of joy and difficulty that belong to fellowship together.
An Instant Church Directory application provides access to the church's member directory. It is a practical addition to the congregation's emphasis on knowing and caring for one another, while the church's invitation remains centered on joining its services and midweek Bible study.
Tools for Deeper Bible Study
The church points families and students toward several Bible study resources, each with a different strength. These recommendations range from Christian evidences and original-language study to translations, commentary, topical research, sermons, and devotional material.
- Apologetics Press supports study of Christian evidences, Scripture, creation, and biblical truth.
- Christian Courier focuses on religious doctrine, Christian evidences, and biblical ethics.
- Bible Study Tools offers more than 100 Bible translations and languages, topical reading, commentary, and ways to apply Scripture.
- StudyLight provides free Bible study tools for personal and group study.
- Blue Letter Bible combines Bible reading with commentary, Greek and Hebrew tools, and concordances.
- Bible Hub brings together topics, original-language study, concordances, commentaries, sermons, and devotionals.
- The Berean Digest covers Old Testament study, New Testament study, marriage and family, and youth study.
Together, these resources reflect the church's insistence that knowledge should lead to obedience. Its stated goal is not only to recognize what the Bible says but to study it, teach it, and live it.
The Right Foundation for Faith and Daily Life
The church's teaching on the right foundation compares the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7. The wise hear God's words and do them; the foolish hear them without acting. The difference is not the storms everyone faces, but the foundation on which a life is built. For Holt Street, that foundation is Jesus Christ and His Word.
A teaching on growing as a Christian develops the theme through 2 Peter 1. It describes a progression in faith:
- Faith, the foundation of belief based on the Word of God.
- Virtue, or moral excellence.
- Knowledge, the ability to discern truth from error through Scripture.
- Self-control, abstaining from what is harmful and practicing moderation in what is permissible.
- Steadfastness, patience and perseverance through trying circumstances.
- Godliness, piety and a Godward disposition.
- Brotherly affection, practical love that reflects care for others.
- Love, a sacrificial, selfless dedication to others.
The church's teaching on prayer warns against empty repetition. Jesus' model directs people to reverence God's name, seek God's will, receive daily provision, and forgive as they have been forgiven. The emphasis is on words that come from an earnest heart rather than on the number of words spoken.
Love is likewise described as a choice rather than merely a feeling. The church asks people to love their spouses even when treatment is difficult and to love enemies, bless those who curse them, do good to those who hate them, and pray for those who persecute them. This is presented as a deliberate expression of God's grace, not passive acceptance of mistreatment.
The pursuit of peace follows in the same practical spirit. The path of peace is described as beginning in the mind and appearing in speech and manner of life, with truth, honesty, justice, purity, love, patience, gentleness, faith, meekness, and holiness among the qualities that pave it. The goal is peace with God, with others, and with oneself, pursued by putting God's commandments first.
Another recurring theme is gratitude for grace. Christ's sacrifice is described not as something people can repay but as a free gift that brings spiritual wealth to those who were lost. The response is thanksgiving: gratitude that leads to singing, faithful service, and a life lived with thankfulness. This theme connects the emotional heart of the church's teaching with its acts of worship.
The church also uses the image of a race to teach endurance. In its teaching on sprinting versus running a marathon, the Christian life is a race run with self-control, focused not merely on speed but on finishing. Jesus is presented as the example who endured, and followers are encouraged to keep their eyes on Him and run with endurance. The image adds a note of persistence to the church's calls for faithfulness, peace, prayer, and obedience.
The teaching on time likewise asks whether faith has been crowded out by concerns of the present. Jesus' parable of the rich man warns against building a life around stored treasure and the assumption of many more years. The church's conclusion is direct: people can enjoy time while remembering eternity. That theme is why preparation for the last day and faithful use of time belong together in its teaching.
Suffering is treated with both realism and purpose. Pain may come from personal choices, the consequences of earlier generations, accidents, disasters, or trials that test character. Rather than minimizing sorrow, the teaching points to God's ability to make grace sufficient and to the possibility that suffering can lead to knowledge of God and deeper character. The same conviction warns that human choices carry weight and that ultimate fulfillment is not reduced to immediate happiness.
Neglect is treated as more than carelessness because duties to family, the flock, sound teaching, and faithful living will be accounted for. These themes return to the same practical question: Is a person hearing the Word and acting on it?
Serving Montgomery from South Holt Street
At 945 South Holt Street, Holt Street Church of Christ continues the work it named when it was organized in 1928. Its identity is specific: a Montgomery congregation rooted in the Word, gathered for Sunday worship and midweek Bible study, organized for oversight and service, active in evangelism, and committed to the oneness of the church described in Scripture. The family that greets visitors with an extended hand and a joyful spirit continues to worship, serve, learn, and reach out.