Lake Ridge Baptist Church sits at the corner of Clipper Drive and Mariner Lane in Woodbridge, Virginia, in the heart of Prince William County. The surrounding neighborhood shapes the church's identity: Thousand Oaks Townhomes are across the way, Rockledge Elementary School sits on the next block, and the River Ridge and Westminster at Lake Ridge senior communities are nearby. The members include young families, working adults, and retirees who all live within a few minutes' drive.
“A Community of Faith, A Lighthouse for Christ” is the church's motto, drawn from Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Three pillars hold up the ministry. Welcoming In is being a living community of faith known for devotion to God, to one another, and to neighbors. Building Up is helping every member grow continuously in Christ. Reaching Out is every disciple being compelled by love for Christ to share the good news indiscriminately.
Sundays at LRBC
Sunday mornings run on a three-hour rhythm. Worship & Celebration begins at 8:30 AM, in person only, with Nursery Care for infants and toddlers and Hope Harbor Children's Church for children ages 3 through 6th grade. The 9:45 AM hour shifts to Bible Study & Fellowship for All Ages, again with Nursery Care so parents can sit in adult classes while their children are taught separately. Worship & Celebration returns at 11:10 AM, both in person and online. The 11:10 service is livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, with the same Nursery Care and Hope Harbor Children's Church available on site.
For those whose first language is Spanish, every announcement and the entire sermon are interpreted live into Spanish from 10:30 to 11:45 AM. A separate Spanish Bible study and fellowship hour for adults meets at 9:00 AM on Sundays in the same building. Visitors are welcome to bring children of any age and to wear whatever they find comfortable; what newcomers will encounter is multi-generational and family-friendly.
Saturday Evenings, Plus a Bible Study at IKEA
Saturdays at 5:00 PM the church gathers for Dinner Church, a meal and worship gathering that has become a steady weekend offering. Saturday mornings at 9:45 AM bring an unusual Bible study: Study the Bible With Vito meets in the IKEA restaurant in Woodbridge. Hosted by Vito Gallegos, the group rotates through Old Testament and New Testament books and walks participants through using the Blue Letter Bible app for personal study. Bring a Bible; breakfast is on your own. No fee, no registration required.
Wednesday Nights, September Through May
From September through May, the church turns Wednesday nights into a complete family evening. The Cooking Team fires up the kitchen at 5:15 PM for a family-style dinner; the cost is $5 a person or $20 a family. Sign-up is required by the Monday before, and the kitchen serves dozens each week.
At 6:00 PM the building splits into age-appropriate ministries. AWANA runs 6:00 to 7:15 PM for children in kindergarten through 6th grade, following the national program's three-part rhythm of game time, handbook time with assigned memory verses, and large-group Bible teaching. Kids earn badges along the way. The annual cost is $35 per child to cover books.
REFUGE Youth Group, for students in 7th through 12th grade, meets at the same time. The acronym stands for the community the staff wants students to find. Programming centers on engaging with Christ, getting excited as a disciple, and expressing Christ to friends. No pre-registration is required.
Adults have their own hour from 6:00 to 7:15 PM in That You May Believe, a co-ed study walking through the Gospel of John and the Johannine letters. Childcare is available by pre-registration. Anyone who cannot attend Wednesday nights can join the same study the following Sunday at 9:45 AM in Room 9. On alternating Wednesday mornings (also September through May), The Melody of Grace, a women's Bible study built around Whitney Capps' teaching on the saving, sanctifying, and sustaining grace of God, runs 9:30 to 11:30 AM in the building.
Children, VBS, and Students
Hope Harbor Children's Church serves children ages 3 through 6th grade during both Sunday morning worship services. Vacation Bible School fills a week each summer with themed games, teaching, and music. Nikki Daniel coordinates weekly children's programming, recruits and guides volunteers, and directs VBS and AWANA Games. AWANA itself runs through the school year; REFUGE is the primary discipleship time for 7th-12th graders during the school year. The student ministry's vision is to prepare young people for a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ and to demonstrate faith by loving God and others. Family Life & Care Pastor Dan Rodriguez is the contact for AWANA and REFUGE.
Moms and Women's Ministry
The MOMCo (formerly MOPS/MOMSNext) is a community for mothers with children from birth through age 18. The group gathers on the third Thursday of the month (September through May) for a large-group meet-up at the church with fellowship, food, a craft project or outreach activity, and a parent-enrichment speaker or video. First Thursdays (October through May) are small-group evenings held at the church or in a leader's home, using MomCo International's curriculum. Monthly play dates, moms' nights out (movie nights, bowling, game nights), and community-service projects (Operation Christmas Child, Boxes of Basics, Foster the Family, local family shelters) fill out the year. Childcare for the on-site meetings is offered through a parallel program called KidsCo.
Senior Saints
Senior Saints is the ministry for retired adults, and the monthly luncheons are open to anyone in the community regardless of church membership. The fellowship hall fills at noon on the second Tuesday of each month from September through June for a meal, followed by a guest speaker or activity. The group also takes an annual dinner-theater outing each November. Neil Newcomb, who has served on staff since 1999, oversees Senior Adult Ministry along with his preaching and administrative duties.
Tae Kwon Do and Tai Chi: Two Free Outreach Programs
Two martial arts programs operate out of the church facilities and are free to attend, fitting the Lighthouse vision of reaching into the wider community. Master Marcos Bocanegra and his wife Natascha lead Chung Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The children's class (ages 8 to 15) runs from 6:00 to 7:05 PM; the adult class (ages 16 and up) runs from 6:55 to 8:00 PM. The church covers instruction; students pay only a $25 handbook fee (one-time, per family), a $40 annual USCDKA membership, a $25 testing fee for belt promotions, and around $17 for a uniform. Uniforms are not required for the first few sessions.
On Friday mornings from 10:00 to 10:30 AM, Pastor Dan teaches Yang-style Tai Chi (the Cheng Man-ch'ing form). The program is designed for health, balance, and flexibility, and explicitly avoids references to Eastern mysticism or symbolism. Comfortable clothing and athletic shoes with a large heel are recommended. No pre-registration required; participants enter at the main entrance where the circle drive meets the building.
MDO Preschool
MDO Preschool is a Christian-based ministry of the church for children ages 2½ through 5. Classes meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, September through May, following the Prince William County school calendar. Each class typically has 10 children; the youngest rooms have two staff members and older rooms have a teacher and a teacher assistant. The school year includes a pumpkin patch field trip, an art show and book fair, a family night, and a Christmas pageant, plus visiting guests such as a petting zoo and the fire department. Ana Rodriguez directs the program. Information packets and registration are arranged by calling (703) 494-0373 or emailing MDO@LakeRidgeBaptist.com.
Biblical Counseling, GriefShare, and Cancer Care
Pastoral counseling is a major outreach. Dorothy Hammon, who also serves as Financial Administrator, leads the LRBC Biblical Counseling and Care ministry. Counseling is offered for individuals and families, premarital and marriage preparation, grief and crisis, addictions (drugs, alcohol, gambling, cutting, pornography), depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and affairs (sexual and emotional), as well as same-sex attractions. The team's premise is that Scripture is sufficient for life and godliness, and the counseling itself is treated as in-depth discipleship.
GriefShare is a 13-week, Christ-centered support group for those grieving the loss of a loved one. The current group meets Sundays from 2:30 to 4:00 PM at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. The participant workbook is $10, and registration is required.
Living Hope Cancer Care & Support is the church's ministry for those facing cancer, whether their own diagnosis or a family member's. Volunteers offer prayer, encouragement through cards and messages, rides to treatments and appointments, practical scheduling and follow-up support, and the simple ministry of sitting with someone. Colleen Carberry, a hospice nurse with more than 25 years of bedside experience, leads related Compassionate Care workshops on basic hospice care and how to walk alongside those who are seriously ill.
Perspectives and the Annual Missions Dinner
Missions is central to the church's identity, and reaching out is one of the three pillars. The annual Dumplings & Discipleship Missions Dinner celebrates the year's accomplishments, hears first-hand testimonies from short-term teams that have served in Indonesia, Chicago, Pakistan, and Ecuador, and looks ahead to upcoming projects supported by the church. A Taste of Perspectives, a free Saturday seminar, previews the 15-week Perspectives course on God's unchanging global purposes that begins in January 2027 at the church and is open to anyone in the area. The church supports full-time missionaries and partners with a number of mission organizations and churches.
What LRBC Believes
Lake Ridge Baptist holds to historic Baptist beliefs. The statement of faith affirms that the Holy Bible is the divinely inspired, inerrant record of God's revelation of Himself; that there is one true God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for sinners, rose again, ascended to the right hand of God, and will return personally to judge the world; that the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, illuminates truth, convicts of sin, regenerates believers, and seals them unto final redemption; that man was created in God's image but fell into sin, and salvation comes only by grace through faith in Christ; that a New Testament church is a local body of baptized believers, autonomous under the lordship of Jesus Christ, with pastors and deacons as its scriptural officers; that the two ordinances are believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper; and that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman, the foundational institution of human society.
Pastors and Ministry Leaders
Brian Burdett serves as lead pastor. A former software engineer, he holds a Master of Divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and was ordained in 2015. He writes for Bethel Lighthouse and preaches most Sundays.
Neil Newcomb is the associate pastor. He joined the staff in September 1999 after six years as a missionary with International Baptist Church of Stuttgart, Germany, and holds a Master's from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dan Rodriguez serves as family life and care pastor. He has been a bi-vocational pastor since 1995 and brings degrees and certifications in biblical counseling. He oversees the children's ministry, marriage and family ministries, the martial arts programs, and serves as the lead contact for AWANA, REFUGE, and the Spanish-language ministries.
Stephen Carter-Hicks, the worship and music pastor, grew up singing in the LRBC choir and has returned after a long career in music. George Wilson serves as associate worship pastor, having retired from a 34-year federal law-enforcement career and led worship music for more than 30 years.
Dorothy Hammon leads the Biblical Counseling ministry in addition to her financial-administrator role. Nikki Daniel coordinates children's ministry. Ana Rodriguez directs MDO Preschool. The remainder of the office and administrative team handles communications, accounting, registrations, and AWANA logistics behind the scenes.
Visiting LRBC
From Tuesday Tae Kwon Do to Thursday MOMCo to Sunday morning worship, the building at 12450 Clipper Drive is open most days of the week. Newcomers are welcome at any service or program. To explore getting involved, sign up for Discover LRBC!, a casual lunch with the pastors that meets every other month on the third Sunday at 12:45 PM in Room 6. How Do I Grow Deeper?, a four-session course on spiritual growth led by Pastor Brian, meets periodically on Monday evenings. Online giving is available for those who wish to support the church's ministries. Anyone with questions is invited to call (703) 494-8413 or email LRBC@LakeRidgeBaptist.com.