A Place to Belong in West Little Rock
Parkway Place Baptist Church sits at 300 Parkway Place Drive on the west side of Little Rock, Arkansas, and has carried the motto "A Place To Belong" across more than a century of ministry. The congregation today offers blended Sunday worship, a full children's ministry in its own building, student and adult discipleship groups, special needs support through Team VIP, and mission partnerships that stretch from a Little Rock college campus to Moldova and Japan. Visitors can walk in wearing jeans or a suit; the church's only request is that they relax.
A Congregation Tracing Back to 1903
The story begins in May 1903, when a small group began meeting in the Eighth Street home of Rev. and Mrs. Fleming under the sponsorship of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock. A sanctuary was finished, and the first service was held there on December 27, 1907. The church organized the following year with 18 charter members and took the name Cedar Street Baptist Church.
By 1919 the congregation had moved to Tenth and Pine Streets and renamed itself Baptist Tabernacle. Little Rock's growth was already shifting west by the 1950s, and in the 1960s construction of the Wilbur Mills freeway cut straight through Baptist Tabernacle's neighborhood. Houses were taken, the community was torn apart, and the church responded by relocating to the Parkway Place subdivision. The new building was dedicated December 23, 1979, and the name changed to Parkway Place Baptist Church.
A new Worship Center was built in 1987, and the most recent addition, the Children's Building, was completed in 2006 and now houses the children's ministry known as "The Park."
Sundays at Parkway Place
Sunday at Parkway Place follows a steady rhythm. At 9:15 AM, Connect Groups meet across the campus for every age, from nursery through senior adults, including dedicated classes for college students, young adults, twenty- and forty-somethings, men, women, and seniors. At 10:30 AM, the whole church gathers for the Worship Service in the Worship Center.
Worship at Parkway Place is blended. A Sunday morning might include a song that is two weeks old alongside a hymn that is two centuries old. The guiding rule is that the lyrics honor God and align with the truth of Scripture. Greeters meet visitors at the door and help families find their classrooms without embarrassment.
There is no dress code. People come in suits and people come in jeans.
The Park: Children's Ministry
The Children's Building has its own name, "The Park," and a mascot, PJ Diggity Dog ("Praising Jesus"), who appears throughout the space. Downstairs serves infants through Pre-K; upstairs serves kindergarten through fifth grade. Parents check children in at a downstairs desk, where matching parent and child name tags are issued as a security step. After the small-group hour, elementary children are escorted to the back of the sanctuary to rejoin their families for the rest of the service.
Sunday mornings run in two parts. At 9:15 AM, Bible Study is offered for every age, with infants through Pre-K downstairs and K through fifth upstairs. Around 10:15 AM, Worship Care looks after infants through Pre-K while elementary children start with their families in worship and then head back upstairs for their own Children's Worship during the sermon and offering.
Wednesday nights add a third gathering. From 6:00 to 7:15 PM, children rotate through teaching, games, and small-group time in three groups: Fireflies (PreK 3 to 5), Pathfinders (K to second grade), and Trailblazers (third to fifth grade). Ms. Stephanie and her team use "The Gospel Project," a three-year chronological walk through the Bible for elementary children, with at-home activities available through Ministry Grid.
Students in the Commons
Parkway Place Students exists to graduate students into a lifetime of following Jesus. The group meets in the Commons, just down the hall from the main office, on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:15 PM, and again on Sunday mornings from 9:15 to 10:15 AM for small groups. The team keeps a weekly update and an active Instagram and Facebook presence for students and parents.
Adult Small Groups, D-Groups, and Community
Sunday morning Connect Groups are organized loosely by age and stage of life. There is a college and young adult class for ages 18 to 24 in Room 119; classes for the twenties and thirties (marrieds and singles) in Rooms 120 and 113; classes for the forties and fifties in Rooms 114, 118, and 123; and a full slate of options for the sixties and beyond across the same set of halls. Visitors are welcome to sample several groups before choosing.
For those ready to go deeper, Parkway Place runs D-Groups: gender-specific, closed groups of three to six believers who meet weekly for accelerated spiritual transformation. Discipleship Leader Greg Kelley oversees this network. D-Groups flow out of Sunday morning classes; participants are invited in, sit around a table rather than a classroom, and aim for the heart more than the head.
Beyond the campus, Community Groups meet in homes across Little Rock and the surrounding area in three-month quarters through fall, winter, and spring, usually taking summers off. Interest Groups gather around shared concerns, including a singles group, a Moms of VIPs group, a monthly breakfast fellowship called GOBs, a Wednesday night Prayer Team, a senior adults group that enjoys luncheons and day trips, and seasonal sports teams for softball, basketball, and golf.
Worship and Music
The music ministry runs on three legs and is led by Joseph Mayo. The Choir is a place to serve and connect for anyone with a heart for worship. The Band and Praise Team leads music on Sunday mornings and at Youth Worship on Wednesday nights. The Media Team handles audio and other tech needs during services; Rick Harper leads that rotation. Together the three groups make the blended Sunday morning worship possible.
Women's and Men's Ministry
Parkway Place runs a Women's Ministry and a Men's Ministry alongside its Sunday groups. Adult classes are available on Sunday mornings for both, with dedicated rooms and teachers for women and a men's class taught by Jim Guidroz in Room 118.
Team VIP and Special Needs
Team VIP is the church's special needs ministry, "a place to belong if you or your child/student has a special need," staffed by trained volunteers who walk alongside individuals and families. Visitors who want to talk with a Team Leader before their first Sunday can email info@parkwayplace.church to be contacted.
Birthday Party Ministry
The Celebration Room and indoor Playscape in the Children's Building are open to anyone in the community to host a child's birthday party, free of charge. The Celebration Room seats 15 child guests plus the birthday child, with 14 adult chairs, a food and cake table, and a sink, and it connects directly to the upper level of the playscape. The playscape has tunnels and a curvy slide and works well for ages 3 to 10, though younger and older guests are not turned away. Donations are accepted to cover supplies.
Missions: Local, National, and Global
Parkway Place supports missionaries at home and abroad through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists' unified plan of giving. Locally, the church partners with Metro Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the UALR campus, led by Campus Minister Adam Venters. Metro BCM reaches students from unreached gospel areas, builds long-term relationships, and introduces them to the good news of Jesus before they take it back to their homelands.
The Thomas Family serves in Moldova through the International Mission Board and has been Parkway Place's partner since 2014. They previously served in Cambodia and ten years in China. In Moldova, Ryan preaches about once a month in Romanian.
Kika and Dr. Anungla are church planting missionaries in the Dallas/Fort Worth area among refugees from fifteen countries. Through their work, nine churches and thirty home fellowships have been established. Parkway Place has helped by sending blankets for the Christmas Nations Fellowship event.
The Studdard Family (Joel, Caroline, Sage, and Iris) left Parkway Place in June 2022 to begin their journey to Japan, where they are learning the language and working with a missionary team.
What Parkway Place Believes
Parkway Place holds to historic Baptist convictions. The church teaches that God exists eternally in three co-equal persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, co-equal with the Father, who lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin, rose bodily on the third day, ascended to heaven, and will return personally to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Holy Spirit is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus, indwells every believer from the moment of salvation, and gives spiritual gifts for service.
The Bible is God's Word, written by human authors under the Holy Spirit's guidance, true without mixture of error, and the final authority for faith and life. People are made in God's image, marred by sin, and unable to save themselves; salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, evidenced by a changed life. The true believer is eternally secure in that salvation. Heaven and hell are real, eternal places. Marriage, the church teaches, is the lifelong covenant union of one man and one woman, and children, from conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
Parkway Place also points to the Baptist Faith and Message as its confession of faith.
Becoming Part of the Parkway Family
Becoming part of the church typically begins with the "Discover Parkway Place" class, an informal gathering held roughly once a month. In it, newcomers hear the church's mission, purposes, beliefs, and what membership means. Membership can be by letter from another Baptist church, by statement of faith and believer's baptism by immersion, or by signing the Membership Covenant as part of the Discover class.
For those exploring faith from scratch, the church offers a clear path: hear the gospel, accept Jesus as Lord, tell a Christian friend, be baptized, join the church, pray and read Scripture daily, and connect with a small group.
Joining From Anywhere
Services are livestreamed every Sunday at 10:30 AM CST, with a YouTube channel that carries services and a Vimeo showcase with additional content. Giving is available online, in Sunday morning services, by mail to 300 Parkway Place Drive, or by drop-off at the church office or the mail slot outside the door. Prayer requests can be submitted at any time.