Rock Springs Baptist Church has anchored the small community of Greenbrier, Tennessee, since 1840, when a group of early Christians gathered to organize a congregation in the Rock Springs area. Now more than 180 years old and on its fifth full-time pastor, RSBC continues to point toward the same mission it adopted at the start: to live and share a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Christ.
A Church on Rock Springs Road Since 1840
The congregation organized in 1840 with W. D. Baldwin installed as its first pastor in 1841. In November 1851 the church adopted a written constitution, recording twenty-four male and twenty-four female members as its founding roll. Decades later, in 1915, Rock Springs was one of the sixteen congregations that came together to form the Robertson County Baptist Association, a regional fellowship that has remained part of the church's life ever since.
The first house of worship was a hewn-log building that sat across the road from where the church stands today. That building burned, and a second took its place before the present sanctuary was constructed, the third building in the church's first 150 years. Extensive remodelings in 1976 and 1996 reshaped the facilities, and on October 10, 2001, the congregation voted to build a brand-new sanctuary and classrooms. Construction began no later than July 2002, and on Sunday, July 6, 2003, the new building was dedicated to the Lord. Thirty-six pastors have now served Rock Springs, with Senior Pastor Randy Harmon, who arrived in October 2011, being the fifth full-time pastor in the church's history.
Sunday Mornings at RSBC
The Sunday schedule at Rock Springs is built around three blocks of time, all designed to encourage members and visitors to study the Bible in community and then gather for worship.
At 9:00 a.m. Connect Group Sunday School meets, with classes for every stage of life: nursery and toddlers, three-year-olds, four-year-olds and kindergarten, the Gospel Project for Kids in grades 1-6, the Gospel Project for Youth in grades 7-12, college and career young adults, two adult elective classes, parents of preschool, children and youth, the Memory Makers class, ladies, and senior adult men.
At 10:00 a.m. the congregation gathers for morning worship, offered both on campus and through a livestream.
At 11:15 a.m. an additional Adult Connect Group Sunday School meets for those who prefer to attend after the worship service.
Wednesday Life Groups at 6:15 p.m.
Midweek ministry at RSBC is called Life Groups, meeting Wednesday evenings at 6:15 p.m. with the motto "Growing in Discipleship." Age-specific groups meet at the same hour, including nursery for babies through thirty-five months, preschool for three-year-olds through kindergarten, Disciple Kids for grades 1-6, youth group for grades 7-12, and two young adult groups, Young Adults 1 for college and career singles, and Young Adults 2 for married adults with children. Pastor Harmon's own Life Group and Prayer Meeting meets at the same time, with a Zoom option available for those who cannot come to the building.
Music as a High Priority
Rock Springs treats music as central to its worship life. The Music Ministry offers chances for soloists, trios, quartets, ensembles, and both vocal and instrumental groups of every age to participate: Preschool Disciple Kids for ages 3-5, Disciple Kids in grades 1-6, the Youth Music Group for grades 7-12, the Joyful Praise Choir for adults eighteen and up, and the Praise and Worship Team. Annual choir retreats plus Christmas and Easter musicals bring the program together throughout the year.
Children, Youth, and Young Adults
The Preschool and Children's Ministry exists to help boys and girls and their families to know, worship, and follow God through Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Preschool and Children's Committee plans extra activities so young people can have fun, feel loved, and feel accepted. The Youth Ministry offers Connect Group Sunday School and worship, the Disciple Life Group and worship on Wednesday, youth music, fellowships and outings, retreats and conferences, and mission opportunities. The Young Adults ministry provides Connect Group Sunday School on Sundays, Disciple Life Groups on Wednesdays, fellowships, outings, mission groups, music groups, and a library of online Bible studies and devotions on topics such as "Counting the Cost," "Why Try?," "How Can I Talk Directly to God?," and "What Does It Mean to Be Holy?"
Adults of Every Age
The adult ministry welcomes every stage of life with small-group Bible study on Sunday, discipleship training through Masterworks and other small-group studies, the Joyful Praise Choir, Baptist Men, Women on Mission, fellowships, and retreats. Deacons are active across every area of ministry and serve as a frontline for pastoral and practical needs.
Missions and Evangelism
Rock Springs reaches outward through Women on Mission, Mission Kids, Mission Friends, the Front Porch Connection outreach, mission trips, seasons of prayer for missions, offerings for missions, and a range of mission projects. The stated goal is to learn about missions around the world and to reach out in the local neighborhood.
What Rock Springs Believes
Rock Springs affirms the Bible as the inspired Word of God and the basis of its beliefs. The congregation subscribes to the doctrinal statement of the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 and voluntarily bands itself together as a body of baptized believers personally committed to sharing the good news of salvation. The two ordinances observed are Believer's Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
The church teaches a traditional cluster of Baptist distinctives. Only the Bible is accepted as the final authority in all matters of faith and practice, and no "new" revelation is added to or taken away from Scripture. The congregation is made up of saved, baptized believers only, and rejects the baptism of infants. Baptists also affirm the priesthood of all believers, soul competency (each person's direct accountability before God), and the autonomy of the local church, free to set its own course under the headship of Jesus. The church supports a free church in a free state and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. RSBC affirms God's plan for marriage and sexual intimacy as one man and one woman for life, and teaches that the moment of conception brings a human being created in God's image deserving of protection.
Becoming a Christian
The church's teaching on becoming a Christian lays out a clear path: recognize that you are a sinner in need of a savior, repent and ask for forgiveness, and ask Jesus to come into your life and be your savior. The next steps are to rejoice and tell someone, pray about everything, read the Bible every day, find a Bible-believing and teaching church and get involved, and build Christian friendships for encouragement along the way.
Online Resources and Giving
Sermons and complete services are livestreamed and archived online, with audio-only podcasts also available. Pastor Harmon's Bible study series, including "Into the Psalms," "Fresh Encounter," "Seven Realities for Experiencing God," and "What's the Bible About," is published as video for home study. Online giving supports the ongoing ministries of Rock Springs.
From a log cabin in 1840 to a dedicated sanctuary in 2003 and a Sunday morning livestream today, Rock Springs Baptist Church carries its long history into a routine that still fits on a single Sunday: Connect Groups at 9:00 a.m., worship at 10:00 a.m., and another adult Sunday School hour at 11:15 a.m., all under the motto Living and Sharing Christ.