Rockport Baptist Church gathers at 2322 Tenbrook Road in Arnold, Missouri, as a family of believers rescued by God's grace and seeking to live God-glorifying lives by faith in Christ. It is known for biblical, expositional preaching, God-centered worship, home-based discipleship, and a conviction that the local church should teach the Word, share life across generations, and carry the Gospel personally into the world.
From Miller Road Mission to Tenbrook Road
Rockport's story begins on October 6, 1965, when the congregation at Second Baptist Church in Festus voted to establish a mission in northern Jefferson County. The new work, called Miller Road Baptist Mission, held its first service on November 14 and soon saw its first profession of faith and baptism. Gene Casey served as mission pastor, and Lee Brown became the first official pastor on February 15, 1966. That July, 35 members began worshiping at 3761 Telegraph Road in an old farmhouse that stood on the property.
The little congregation soon needed a permanent home. Ground was broken for a new building on October 22, 1967, when the mission had grown to 120 members. The first service in the new building took place on June 20, 1968, with 230 members. Work began on a basement nursery and Sunday School classrooms. Pastor Brown also developed an active weekday visitation ministry. He would cook breakfast for a group of women who then visited other women in their homes, taking the Gospel into the growing residential area.
Internal struggles over doctrine, leadership, and the charismatic movement brought division and decline in the late 1970s. Lee Brown resigned in July 1981, and the church closed its doors for several weeks. The remaining members sought help from the Jefferson Baptist Association. Jim Enoch, the association's director of missions, encouraged the congregation and helped them call Jack Gray as interim pastor. Don Spalding followed as pastor and led organizational changes, including remodeling the sanctuary, adding offices and a classroom, extending the platform, and installing new carpet and pew padding. On October 30, 1983, a Homecoming and note-burning service marked the time when the building and property were finally paid off.
Tommy Chapman served as pastor from 1985 to 1990. During those years, Rockport held tent revivals and other outreach efforts, added a fellowship hall, extended the parking lot, removed the old farmhouse, and launched the Together We Build effort for future classroom space. Rockport Baptist Preschool began around 1990 and continued for a little over ten years. After Chapman left, John Hessel served as interim pastor, and attendance settled into the mid-60s and low 70s. A committed core continued praying for the next chapter.
Scott Lee became Rockport's fourth full-time pastor on June 1, 1991, after graduating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. During the middle and late 1990s, he and the congregation developed a more explicitly biblical and Reformed understanding of the Gospel, church, and mission. The church committed itself to verse-by-verse exposition, the sovereignty of God, salvation by grace through faith, meaningful membership, and a body of elders. A difficult conflict in 1999 and 2000 led about one-third of the members to leave. The congregation nevertheless reorganized around its biblical convictions. Rockport's reformation began in earnest in 2001, and its constitution and statement of faith were revised by 2003.
The years that followed brought growth, families formed around the church, children and young people coming to faith, and members entering ministry. Rockport helped plant Heritage of Grace in Columbia, Illinois, sent members into pastoral and missionary service, developed prison ministry, and gave Aaron Sutton and Psalm 67 Missions Network a place in its missions life. Sustained growth eventually made the Telegraph Road building too small for the congregation's preferred pattern of one Sunday assembly.
A facility study in 2023 considered expansion, a new sanctuary, and multiple worship times. The elders rejected multiple services because they were committed to gathering the church together rather than dividing it into separate assemblies. After prayer, study, and congregational approval, Rockport purchased the former St. David's Catholic Church building on Tenbrook Road. Members spent decades forming families, teaching children, marrying couples, honoring the dead, hearing the Word, and serving one another at Telegraph Road. They carried that accumulated history into their new location at 2322 Tenbrook Road, where the building has changed but the church's focus on the Word, worship, discipleship, and mission remains central.
Sunday Morning at 2322 Tenbrook Road
Sunday begins with Sunday School and Bible Study at 9:30 AM. Classes are offered for all ages, and anyone in the congregation can help a visitor find the appropriate class. At 10:40 AM, the congregation gathers for worship. There is no regular Sunday evening worship service; that time is used for special classes and occasional special events instead.
Visitors are welcomed by members and normally receive a welcome packet from a greeter. Children are not sent to a separate children's church or youth meeting. The church intentionally places them with their families so they can learn to worship as part of the congregation. A nursery is available for children age two and younger. Nursing mothers, or adults whose children may have a difficult morning, can watch the service on a video feed in the downstairs fellowship hall.
The church takes worship seriously but describes the gathering as joyful rather than solemn. An elder calls the congregation together, offers a few announcements, and leads prayer. Singing is congregational, and the songs are intended to be God-focused. Music may reflect a range of styles, but the aim is truthfulness and participation rather than distraction. The service includes congregational confession of sin, the promise of forgiveness through faith in Christ, Scripture reading, responsive readings, pastoral prayer, and an occasional testimony or exhortation from a church member.
Preaching is biblical and expositional. Messages commonly move through a book or section of the Bible, and the church holds the preaching team to Scripture alone as the authority for Christian faith and life. Scott Lee preaches most Sundays, while other elders also share the pulpit. The elders see themselves as a shared and accountable body rather than a church governed by one pastor alone. On the last Sunday of each month, the congregation observes the Lord's Supper.
Rockport does not rush people out at the end. Many members remain for an hour or more to pray, talk, and build friendships, and the congregation also makes time for members to speak with an elder when they need prayer or assistance. Photography, videography, and livestreaming may take place during services, classes, ministries, and other gatherings. Participation is treated as consent for the church to use recordings in its printed and electronic communications without compensation or additional consideration.
Sunday worship is also livestreamed through Rockport's YouTube channel. The Tenbrook building's central foyer is beside the parking lot, with the sanctuary, education rooms, offices, kitchen, and fellowship spaces serving the congregation's gathered life.
One Church Family Across Ages
Rockport does not organize its identity around separate youth, senior, or singles ministries. Instead, it encourages friendships and shared life across those divisions. Most gatherings are open to people of different ages and circumstances. Parents are given primary responsibility for discipling and guiding their children, while mature adults in the church seek to strengthen and encourage families. Children are included in worship rather than isolated from the congregation's life.
The clearest expression of this family approach is the D-Group network. D stands for discipleship. These small groups meet in members' homes throughout Arnold, South Saint Louis County, Barnhart, Festus, Crystal City, and Saint Charles County. Most meet on midweek evenings, while some choose other evenings. Groups meet every other week for six sessions in a three-month cycle, then begin a new quarter with a new topic.
A typical D-Group begins with informal fellowship, sometimes with snacks. Participants sing, share what the Lord is doing in their lives, open a Bible for a short devotional, and pray together. Meetings last about an hour and a half to two hours. Past subjects have included personal discipleship, Philippians, and praying Scripture. Children, senior adults, singles, married couples, and whole families take part, reflecting Rockport's desire to build a family in Christ without age barriers.
Men gather for breakfast on the second Saturday of every month at 8:00 AM in the fellowship hall. Men and young men of any age may attend, and church membership is not required. Those who can bring a breakfast item do so; the meal is followed by a devotional and prayer. The gathering also creates an opportunity to support missions projects. Women's discipleship includes regular inductive Bible study, an annual workshop, mentoring, and community outreach. Its broader ministry also creates space for women affected by abuse, unplanned pregnancy, grief after abortion, and other forms of suffering.
A monthly prayer meeting provides another regular gathering for the congregation. On the first Sunday of each month, a potluck fellowship meal follows worship. People bring casseroles, soups, desserts, and other food to share, and the gathering often includes pickup games for younger participants or simply plenty of time around the table. Two annual gatherings extend the same fellowship beyond the church year: Family Camp is a four-day retreat with games, activities, worship, and teaching for all ages, while the Grace Bible Conference is a three-day weekend centered on special preaching and worship.
Elders, Deacons, and Worship Leaders
Rockport combines elder-led pastoral oversight, congregational governance, and deacon service. The church describes itself as an autonomous congregation of baptized believers, with the congregation holding final authority in matters concerning the church. Elders teach and shepherd, and their authority is to be exercised as they lead according to Scripture. Deacons serve by meeting physical and material needs. Rockport also names compassionate church discipline among its distinctives, describing it as obedience to Christ intended to restore fallen believers and preserve His honor.
- Pastor-Elders: Scott Lee, Kyle Davis, Warren Kesselring, and Mike Booker.
- Worship and Music Leaders: Stuart McMillian and Intern Worship and Music Leader Luke McAllister.
- Deacons: Mark Stoner, Chairman of Deacons; Greg Chastain; Kurt Boehm; Josh Dittmann; Ray Gawlik; Scott Larson; Herman Meyer; and Brad Tompkins.
- Jail Ministry: Bake Ottofy.
Scott Lee has led Rockport since 1991. Before coming to Arnold, he studied at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and ministered to people experiencing homelessness in Fort Worth through Beautiful Feet Outreach Mission. He has also taught at Missouri Baptist University and led mission work through HeartCry Missionary Society and Psalm 67 Missions Network. His ministry at Rockport has included preaching, leadership development, congregational reformation, worship, fellowship, and outreach.
Kyle Davis joined the Rockport ministry in 2013 after describing his conversion as coming to understand God's saving grace rather than trying to earn God's favor. Warren Kesselring is a web developer with vocational ministry training and an M.Div. He previously served Rockport as a youth leader and summer missionary before joining the pastoral team in 2023. Mike Booker serves with them as a pastor-elder. Stuart McMillian leads worship and music, while Luke McAllister serves as an intern worship and music leader.
Service is expected from the whole congregation, not only its ministers. Nursery work, Bible teaching, greeting, hospitality, worship, music, sound, security, visitor follow-up, shut-in visitation, building care, meal preparation, missions, jail ministry, and other practical work are all ways to use spiritual gifts. The goal is a healthy body in which each Christian serves, encourages others, and helps the church pursue its mission.
The Word of God and the Glory of God
Rockport summarizes its Baptist confession in 21 articles adapted from The Abstract of Principles, a statement historically associated with agreement among Southern Baptists. It begins with the Old and New Testaments as God-inspired and sufficient, inerrant, infallible, and authoritative for revealing God's glory, salvation, faith, and obedience. The confession affirms one eternal God and the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It declares Jesus Christ to be fully God and fully man, the only mediator between God and humanity, and identifies his death, resurrection, ascension, and ongoing intercession as central to salvation.
The Holy Spirit is affirmed as God who indwells believers, teaches and guides them, and works toward their conformity to Christ. The confession also addresses God's sovereign providence, election by grace, the fall of humanity, regeneration, repentance, saving faith, justification, sanctification, and the perseverance of those whom God has accepted. Regeneration is described as the Holy Spirit's supernatural work, not something produced by human effort. Faith rests on Christ alone, and assurance is connected to enduring faith and the fruit of a transformed life.
Jesus Christ is named the head of the church. Christians are instructed to join a local congregation and use their gifts for the common good. Elders and deacons are identified as the regular New Testament officers. Baptism is an ordinance for every believer, administered by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and serving as a sign of fellowship with Christ's death and resurrection. The Lord's Supper uses bread and wine to commemorate Christ's death and strengthen church fellowship. Sunday is affirmed as the Lord's Day and is to be used first for worship and spiritual devotion.
The confession also protects liberty of conscience, calls Christians to submit to civil government except when it requires disobedience to God, and ends with the resurrection of the dead and Christ's final judgment. Rockport describes the statement as a guide rather than an exhaustive rule or something equal to Scripture. Its central aim is to keep God's glory, truth, worship, and the authority of his Word at the center of church life.
The church's practical theology follows that confession. Rockport stresses regeneration and assurance, compassionate discipline, every-member ministry, the authority of faithful elders, the service of deacons, and the importance of the local congregation. It also insists that evangelism must proclaim Christ without manipulating emotions or coercing the will. Repentance and faith are understood as the result of the Spirit's supernatural work, while believers are called to live as accountable disciples.
The Gospel at the Jail and Among the Nations
Rockport's longest-running outreach is its ministry inside the Jefferson County Jail. Working with the Jefferson Baptist Association and other local churches, the ministry evangelizes inmates and visits prisoners individually. Volunteers have documented visits to more than 1,300 prisoners, spending different lengths of time with people seeking to hear the Gospel. Bake Ottofy leads the ministry with a team of men and women.
Weekly one-on-one visits provide the foundation for the jail outreach. The team also conducts Wednesday church services in the prisoner's living quarters, with two services for men and two for women. These gatherings bring together a sizeable weekly population for Bible teaching and worship. Volunteers distribute Bibles, study Bibles, tracts, Christian books, and other Christian reading. Prayer is central to the work, with ongoing intercession for prisoners and the people serving them.
The congregation also carries a strong missions conviction through Psalm 67 Missions Network. Formed in 2008 through a partnership of congregations, Psalm 67 began with short-term mission projects and expanded to support unreached areas and the development of pastors and leaders. Its priorities are discipleship, encouragement, fellowship, and long-term commitment.
Psalm 67 works under the oversight of participating local churches and seeks to work alongside local believers rather than replace them. Its regular activities include prayer and encouragement among local leaders, distribution of Bibles and other biblical resources, training for Spanish-speaking congregations and pastors, preparation and sending of people for service, and targeted financial support for established projects. Rockport is described as the network's home, with members of the church serving on its board of directors.
That commitment has produced long-term fruit. Rockport has helped establish churches, including Heritage of Grace in Columbia, Illinois, and has sent members into ministry in other places. Members have supported international mission work, trained others to serve, and helped make Jesus known among the nations. For Rockport, world missions is not a detached program but an expression of its statement that the whole church should participate in making Christ known, making disciples, and giving glory to God among all peoples.
One Assembly, Continuing at Tenbrook Road
The move from Telegraph Road did not redefine Rockport. The church describes its enduring character as Christ-centered theology, biblical truth, expositional preaching and teaching, worship centered on Jesus, genuine fellowship, prayer, and a gospel mission. Those commitments grew across decades of worship, teaching, child formation, marriage, burial, celebration, struggle, and renewal. The Tenbrook Road building now provides room for the same local church to pursue those commitments together.
At 2322 Tenbrook Road in Arnold, Rockport Baptist Church continues to open hearts to the Word of God, form disciples through preaching and relationship, welcome people into one church family, minister inside Jefferson County Jail, teach and encourage women and men, and send the Gospel into the world.