Lenexa Baptist Church sits right in the heart of Lenexa, just off 87th Street and Allman Road, on a campus that has grown from a borrowed elementary school cafeteria into a ministry hub for the entire Kansas City metro. The church began in 1988 as a mission church sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park, was constituted as Lenexa Baptist Church in 1990, and has since grown into a multi-campus body with additional locations in De Soto, Kansas; Paola, Kansas; and Raytown, Missouri. LBC aligns with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message and works closely with the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, which shapes its missions and disaster relief partnerships. Today the Lenexa campus hosts five weekly worship services, a packed children's wing, an active student ministry, and a large recovery and counseling program.
From a Cafeteria on McAuliffe to a Campus on 87th
The first Lenexa Baptist service was held in January 1988 at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School. The church was initially called Westside Baptist Church and was sponsored by Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park. Steve Dighton became the first Senior Pastor when the church was constituted as Lenexa Baptist Church in January 1990, and the body moved to its current location on 87th Street in March 2001. A Family Life Center and a larger Worship Center were added as the congregation grew, and LBC became a center for the revitalization of other churches on both sides of the state line.
Pastor Steve retired in 2015 after 25 years of ministry, leaving LBC debt free and well-positioned for future growth. He and his wife Mary continue to minister across the country and he serves the congregation as Pastor Emeritus. Later that year Chad McDonald became Senior Pastor. Under his leadership the church has continued to expand, launching the Reach campuses and putting international and local missions at the center of its strategy. The mission statement captures the present moment: Reach so that the lost are found; Teach so that the found are equipped; Unleash so that the equipped are engaged.
Five Services Every Week on the Lenexa Campus
Lenexa Baptist offers five weekend worship services, each with a different feel. The Saturday Night service at 5:00 pm features a contemporary band and vocal team, live preaching, and a casual atmosphere with plenty of seating. It is a good fit for people with a busy Sunday schedule or anyone visiting for the first time, and guests are welcome to come as they are.
Sunday mornings offer two distinct worship environments. The 8:00 am service in the Worship Center is the smallest of the three Sunday options, blending hymns with modern worship songs and a message from Pastor Chad. The 9:30 and 11:00 am services in the Worship Center offer a more traditional feel, combining contemporary music with hymns. At those same hours, the Venue service meets in Koinonia Hall (K-Hall) with a full praise team, modern worship music, coffee before and after the service, and a teaching time shown via video from the Worship Center. Most people in the Worship Center services dress business casual. In the Venue, dress runs from casual to business casual.
The 9:30 am Worship Center service is also interpreted in American Sign Language for the Deaf community, both onsite and through the livestream. Closed captioning is offered online. During all regular services, multi-language translation is available in Russian, Italian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. A weekly Spanish-language discipleship class is also offered on Wednesday evenings.
Parking, Shuttles, and a Blue Route
The Lenexa campus is large enough that getting from car to seat takes a little forethought. Reserved guest parking is located in the blue sections on the west side of the building, entered from Allman Road. Handicap parking sits in the orange zones on the north and south sides of the building. Because onsite spaces are limited, LBC also operates offsite parking with two color-coded shuttle routes.
The Blue Route runs across 87th Street in the UMB Bank parking lot from 7:30 am to 12:45 pm. The Gold Route serves the Sunflower Elementary School lots on Bourgade Avenue during the same hours, with the same hours and weekend service times. Both shuttles drop off at gym entrances: the Blue Route at the north gym entrance, the Gold Route at the west gym entrance. Walking lots are available at Capitol Federal and at the LBC Annex between the church and Walgreens; guests are encouraged to be a good neighbor and avoid marked areas of those lots. 87th Street is the main connector, and LBC is about a half mile off I-435 and about two miles east of I-35.
Kids and Students at LBC
The LBC Kids Ministry partners with parents to raise excited disciples. The Early Childhood wing serves children from six weeks old through Pre-K and meets at every regular worship service plus a Wednesday night AWANA club. The shared curriculum is built on three core truths: God made me, God loves me, and Jesus wants to be my friend forever. Parents check children in at a computer station in the lobby, and the nametag tells them which classroom to use. The Elementary Ministry serves K through 5th grade with small-group Life Groups at every Sunday service and AWANA on Wednesday nights, with a Bible story, discussion questions, and prayer sent home each week for parents to use together. A Special Needs ministry provides a Life Group class at 9:30 am for sixth grade through age 21, and at 11:00 am for Pre-K through 5th grade, plus adult buddies who can sit with a child during the regular worship service on request.
The Middle School Ministry (sixth through eighth grade) gathers in the Foundry on Sunday mornings for grade-and-gender-specific Life Groups and on Wednesday evenings for a worship night of music, games, and teaching. The High School Ministry (ninth through twelfth grade) meets Sundays at 9:30 am in the Gymnasium for Life Groups and Wednesdays at 6:30 pm in K-Hall for Refuel, a worship and discipleship night that has become a flagship student event. Both ministries run retreats, mission trips, and outreach events throughout the year. AWANA for children runs Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in a fall and spring semester.
The Senior Challenge program invites graduating high school seniors to spend part of their spring semester working through major life topics with Pastor Chad McDonald. Sessions run on Thursday mornings at 6:00 am and cover personal testimony, spiritual disciplines, biblical purity, the reliability of Scripture, and disciple-making. Students leave the program ready to defend their faith and transition out of high school with confidence.
The Block and the College-Age Crew
LBC's young adult ministry has two arms. The College-Age ministry (18 to 23) meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am in Room 250 for a Life Group and on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm for small discipleship groups. The Block ministry (22 and up) gathers every Thursday at 7:00 pm at the Lenexa campus for a message geared toward people in their twenties and thirties, with live music, reflection, and discussion. A social event often follows. The Block also publishes a podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts so young adults can keep up with past teaching.
Men, Women, and Senior Adults
The Men and Women's ministries exist to help church members get involved in missions and ministry. Each runs small-group discipleship (usually groups of eight or fewer, often meeting in homes), mid-week Bible studies, a Sunday morning Life Group, and seasonal events. The Senior Adult Ministry serves adults 55 and older with three Sunday Life Group hours (8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 am) and a fellowship of classes in the Worship Center's cafe and pastors reception room. The ministry emphasizes present influence and a lasting legacy, and it organizes outings such as the annual Branson trip. Several Sunday morning Life Groups are led by senior adults, including book-by-book Bible studies and lecture-based classes.
Recovery, Counseling, and the Cares Team
Pastoral care is a large part of LBC's identity. The Cares team ministers to members who are hospitalized, facing ongoing health issues, living in nursing or assisted living facilities, or grieving a loss, through visits, cards, emails, and phone calls. The Helping Hands Ministry handles practical needs around the house or yard. The Counseling Ministry, directed by Dr. Leif Leaf, meets the emotional and spiritual needs of men, women, adolescents, children, and families, with topics ranging from grief and self-esteem to parenting, marriage, abuse, and cognitive change. Lay counselors participate through the Paraclete Ministry.
Three ongoing support groups meet on campus. GriefShare runs Wednesdays in the fall for those who have lost a loved one. DivorceCare meets Mondays for those separated or divorced. Finding Hope is a support group for families affected by addiction, meeting the first and third Mondays at 7:00 pm. The Recovery Ministry also runs small Share the Hope groups at Homer's Coffee House in Overland Park on Saturdays (men) and Mondays (women), plus semester-based Step Study discipleship groups that combine daily Bible study, a weekly mentor meeting, and a weekly small group.
Reaching Out: Impact Events, Send Relief, and International Trips
LBC's local and domestic missions strategy centers on Impact Events: full-day outreach days hosted in partnership with other churches across the country. At each Impact, the team offers free services such as eye screenings and glasses, haircuts, food pantries, oil changes, clothing closets, blade sharpening, health and wellness checks, and backpack giveaways, with the explicit goal of opening Gospel conversations. Recent Impact Events have taken place in Raytown, Lithia Springs (Georgia), Kansas City, Nampa (Idaho), Paola, Sidney (Nebraska), Harrison (Arkansas), Cleveland (Mississippi), Eminence (Missouri), Sikeston, Clayton (Oklahoma), and Pittsboro (North Carolina). The church also partners with Send Relief through the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists and keeps a fully stocked disaster relief trailer ready for chainsaw, mudout, recovery, mass-feeding, chaplaincy, and communications callouts.
International mission trips are scheduled most years. Recent and upcoming trips include a baseball ministry trip to Nicaragua with Project Hope (sports clinics and Gospel sharing), a construction and evangelism trip also in Nicaragua (serving at Taellor's House for at-risk families), a Southeast Asia trip with Mountain Calling focused on pastoral training and relational evangelism in tourism areas, a medical and ministry trip to Pignon, Haiti with Project Hope, a pastor training trip to Ghana coordinated through the International Mission Board and Reaching and Teaching, and a summer medical mission trip to Eldoret, Kenya. Long-term missionaries are supported through the International Mission Board's GO program.
#liveoutward is a year-round congregational initiative that asks every believer to look for one opportunity each week to show the love of Jesus through a simple act of kindness. A monthly challenge is provided, with a printable calendar and screen reminders, and a Share Jesus training class is offered for those who want help starting spiritual conversations.
What LBC Believes
Lenexa Baptist agrees with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention. Eighteen articles of doctrine cover the Scriptures, God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), man, salvation (regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification), God's purpose of grace, the Church, baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Day, the Kingdom, last things, evangelism and missions, education, stewardship, cooperation, the Christian and the social order, peace and war, religious liberty, and the family. Two ordinances are observed: baptism by immersion of believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord's Supper as a memorial of Christ's death. Local church membership is reserved for those who have been born again and Scripturally baptized, and the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The stated mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations. Baptism is reserved for those who have made a personal profession of faith, and baptism by immersion is practiced as the biblical mode. The Lord's Supper is observed regularly and is open to members of the church. Membership is a three-step process: attend Discover LBC, share conversion and baptism testimony with a pastor, and come forward during a worship service to be introduced to the church family.
Worship, Media, and the Building
The Lenexa campus houses three primary worship environments. The Worship Center holds the Saturday Night service, the 8:00 am Sunday service, and the 9:30 and 11:00 am Worship Center services. The Venue service meets in K-Hall, the church's open and coffee-friendly space on the main floor near the center of the building. The Worship Choir and Orchestra lead weekly at the Worship Center services, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings and earlier in the evening respectively. The Venue team leads modern worship with vocalists and a band. A student worship track offers junior high and senior high singers and instrumentalists a chance to serve.
The Media and IT ministry supports the church's livestream and in-room experience. Volunteers serve as ProPresenter operators, camera operators, audio engineers, PTZ camera operators, technical directors, video directors, and service producers. Services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook Live, with ASL interpretation and closed captioning. A mobile app for iOS and Android, called Lenexa Baptist, connects members to the church directory, sermon archive, and event calendar.
The Pastoral Intern Program and the Next Generation
For seminary students pursuing ministry, LBC runs a one-year Pastoral Intern Program led by Discipleship Pastor Kent Hackathorn. Interns are paired with a pastoral mentor, take part in weekly training sessions on the spiritual and practical aspects of ministry, and are immersed in hands-on assignments such as hospital visits, home visits, evangelistic outreach, and the delivery of sermons. Each intern also plans and leads at least one larger project, from a community outreach initiative to an international mission trip. Interns must be Master's-level students at an approved conservative seminary and are expected to become members of Lenexa Baptist during their internship year. The program may be renewed for a second year at the church's discretion.
Upward Basketball and Other Outreach Programs
Each winter the Lenexa campus hosts Upward Basketball and Cheer for boys and girls in kindergarten through 6th grade. The program is designed to develop athletic skills while building character and confidence in a fun, encouraging environment. Practices run one night a week for nine weeks, with games on Fridays or Saturdays, all on the LBC campus. Cost is $125 and includes the uniform. Beyond Upward, the church runs AWANA for kids, AWANA-style Wednesday programming, a Women's Mentoring program called Apples of Gold, an annual fall Festival, and seasonal women's events.
Helping Hands, First Impressions, and the Business Directory
First Impressions volunteers serve as the first faces guests see when they arrive, from parking lot greeters to Welcome Center hosts. Helping Hands organizes volunteers for household projects and repairs for members in need. The Bless Every Home initiative is a prayer-walking strategy that sends members out to pray for neighbors around their homes and along their daily routes. The church also hosts a Business Directory built in partnership with Christians In Business, allowing members to list their businesses and find Christian-owned services.
Across the Kansas City Metro: The Reach Campuses
Lenexa Baptist's multi-campus strategy has produced three additional church plants, each carrying the Reach name. Reach Church De Soto in De Soto, Kansas, is pastored by Ryan McDaniel with Wesley Nix serving as Next Gen Pastor. Reach Church Paola in Paola, Kansas, is pastored by Darren Oglesbee. Reach Church Raytown in Raytown, Missouri, is pastored by Lewis Jones. Each Reach campus has its own worship leader and ministries tailored to its community, and missions to Kansas, Missouri, and beyond have moved to the forefront of the church's vision and strategy under Pastor Chad's leadership.
From a school cafeteria in 1988 to a network of four campuses today, Lenexa Baptist Church has built a ministry that takes the simple phrase Reach. Teach. Unleash. and tries to live it out across the Kansas City area and around the world. The next chapter of the story is still unfolding.