Worship on Rowland Road
Rowland Road Baptist Church meets on the east side of Monroe, Louisiana, in a campus that has grown over decades around its 336 Rowland Road address. The church's motto, Love God, Love People, Live Obediently, Serve Purposefully, sets the tone for everything that happens inside its buildings and out in the surrounding community.
Sunday begins early. The 8:50 AM worship service fills the main sanctuary with music and a Bible message. No children's programming is offered during that first hour, and many of the church's own volunteers attend it so they can be fed by the Word before they serve during the second service. At 9:30 AM, a Senior Adult Bible Class led by Charlie Brown gathers for older believers.
The 10:30 AM second service is the church's main family hour. Alongside the service in the sanctuary, the Bus Ministry picks up children from surrounding neighborhoods, and the preschool through sixth grade programs run at the same time. A Coffee Corner in the auditorium serves complimentary refreshments for both services, and free coffee and donuts are offered at 8:35 and 10:15 for those who arrive early.
First-time guests are encouraged to come as they are and dress casually. The church describes its services as combining great music with positive, practical Bible teaching. Each Sunday's sermon is also livestreamed online for those who cannot join in person.
The week picks up again on Sunday evening at 5:00 PM, when Life Groups meet in homes across the community, a youth worship service gathers in the Student Center, and children's programming fills the Children's Building. Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM bring the college ministry together. Wednesdays at 6:00 PM bring Youth Discipleship and the Prime Time Fellowship Life Group at the Family Life Center. Ladies meet Thursday mornings, and a monthly Ladies Luncheon fills the third Friday at 11:00 AM.
A Place for Every Age
Children are woven into the life of Rowland Road, both during the week and on Sunday mornings. Two programs run from 10:30 to 11:45 AM during the second service.
FirstLook is the name given to the preschool environment for infants through kindergarten. Caring teachers introduce little ones to God's love through storytelling, hands-on projects, and creative play. By the time a child enters kindergarten, the church wants him or her to know three things: God Loves Me, God Made Me, and Jesus Wants to Be My Friend Forever.
Just 4 Kidz, for first through fifth graders, fills the Children's Building with energy. Each week, Bible stories come to life through live actors, costumes, videos, and games. Children join in exciting worship music and split into small groups for hands-on activities. Before sixth grade, the church's goal is for every child to know: I can trust God no matter what, I need to make the wise choice, and I should treat others the way I want to be treated.
The Fission Student Ministry serves students in sixth through twelfth grade. Sunday nights at 5:00 PM are the heart of the ministry, mixing worship, biblical teaching, and small group time, with each month built around a different topic relevant to teenagers. Throughout the year, students add game nights, D-NOW weekends, and Cross Camp to their calendar. The ministry keeps both a Student Groupme and a Parent Groupme open so families can stay in touch.
For university students, Thrive College Ministry meets every Tuesday at The Thrive House, located near the ULM campus at 109 University Avenue. Anyone ages 18 to 25 is welcome. Home-cooking starts at 6:00 PM, worship follows at 7:00 PM, and Bible study begins at 7:15 PM. The Thrive House itself, on the edge of the University of Louisiana at Monroe campus, gives the gathering a home-style feel rather than a classroom feel.
The Next GEN Renovation: Building for the Next Generation
The most visible project at Rowland Road right now is the Next GEN Renovation, a campaign to reshape the spaces where children and families are discipled. The campaign goal is $110,000, with the pledge period running through August 1, 2027.
The vision is straightforward: children's spaces should reflect how deeply the church values them. Plans call for warm, engaging rooms where kids can learn about Jesus and grow in their faith, thoughtfully designed nursery and preschool areas, and flexible spaces where children can move, play, and build relationships. The renovation is described by the church as more than a building project. It is an investment in gospel impact.
Pledges and gifts toward the Next GEN project are above and beyond regular tithes and offerings. Regular giving continues to support the church's weekly ministry and operating budget. Updates to the campaign are posted as the project moves forward.
Adults Connected Through Life Groups
For adults, the church's primary vehicle for connection beyond Sunday worship is the Life Group system. Co-ed groups meet weekly throughout the community for fellowship, food, and Bible study. Times and locations vary, and newcomers are encouraged to ask the staff for help finding a group that fits.
The Ladies Ministry meets on Thursdays at 6:30 AM in the Family Life Center. A monthly Ladies Luncheon gathers women every third Friday at 11:00 AM at Kayla's Kitchen in West Monroe for fellowship, encouragement, and connection. Bible studies for women are offered as well, giving ladies a regular place to dig into Scripture together. Women also have a Seek First Sisters group for deeper connection.
The Men meet through a Men's Fraternity, and the Prime Time Fellowship Life Group meets Wednesdays at 6:00 PM and gives older adults their own weekly touch point.
The Bus Ministry: Half a Century of Bringing Children to Church
Rowland Road's Bus Ministry has been part of the church since 1971. For more than fifty years, church-owned buses have traveled into Monroe neighborhoods to pick up children and bring them to Sunday school, church, and Vacation Bible School. Families are welcome to ride along. The ministry is one of the most established in the church, and thousands of children have come to faith in Jesus Christ through it. A dedicated phone line, 331-1689, is set up for those who need a ride or want to volunteer.
Beyond the buses, the church's community outreach includes monthly meals served to local educators and law enforcement officers. A team prepares, delivers, and serves the meals as a way to thank those who serve and sacrifice in the community. Each fall, Rowland Road joins with Loch Arbor Baptist Church and Swartz First Baptist Church to host a safe alternative to Halloween - a night of games, food, candy, and outreach booths that has become a community favorite.
Inside the Prisons of Louisiana
The Film and Prison Ministry of Rowland Road Baptist Church travels weekly to adult prisons and youth centers throughout central and northern Louisiana. Each visit includes music, an evangelistic film, and a gospel message aimed at those who have been separated from their families and communities. The ministry is led in coordination with Norman Bryant, the church's Congregational Care Pastor, who first became part of the church in 1971 and has spent decades serving in bus, student, children's, teaching, and film ministries alongside his wife Barbara.
The church reports dozens of professions of faith each month through this work and prays for lasting fruit, continued discipleship, and changed lives across the state.
Missions Across the Map
Rowland Road supports a wide network of missionaries and ministries both close to home and on the other side of the world. BEAMS Bible Ministry, led by Dr. Arthur "Butch" Lockard Jr. and his wife Rhonda, places complete, durable Bibles in the hands of believers around the world who do not have access to Scripture. The church follows their work through regular prayer letters and newsletters.
Carl and Melanie Bromley are serving in Australia following many years in New Zealand, with Rowland Road now serving as their sending church. World-Wide Literature and Missionary Supplies (WWLMS), based in the area, collects and ships Bibles, literature, school and medical supplies, and other needed materials to missionaries in more than sixty countries, and the church follows their quarterly reports.
Larry and Lorinda Fincher lead HomeBuilders Ministry, which strengthens marriages and families through retreats and biblical teaching. Dr. Mark and Sabrina Holmes serve in Nigeria through Fundamental Baptist Missions International, planting churches and training leaders. Edwin Jardinel serves in the Philippines through preaching, discipleship, and Bible training. Caleb Turk and his family are raising support as they prepare to move to Indonesia. Louis and Cheryle Turk serve in Southeast Asia with a ministry focused on Bible translation and Scripture distribution. Danny and Janice White serve in Vanuatu and the South Pacific. WorldView Ministries, led by Ken Fielder, is currently involved in thirteen Bible translation projects across eight countries.
Prayer letters, ministry updates, and ways to pray are available for each of these families and ministries.
What Rowland Road Believes
Rowland Road's statement of faith reflects a classic, conservative Baptist position. The church holds to the verbal, infallible inspiration of the whole Bible as the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice. It believes in one personal, triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in divine perfection. Rowland Road affirms the Genesis account of Creation, the virgin birth and sinless humanity of Jesus Christ, His deity, His substitutionary suffering and death, His bodily resurrection and ascension, and His premillennial, personal, bodily return.
Salvation, in the church's teaching, is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The church believes in the eternal security of all who trust Christ, the present ministry of the Holy Spirit in regenerating and indwelling every believer, and the eventual bodily resurrection of the saints. The two ordinances observed are baptism, by immersion of penitent believers, and the Lord's Supper, observed as a memorial restricted to members of the local church.
The church holds that each local congregation is an independent, self-governing body, accountable directly to Christ, and that associations and fellowships serve under the authority of churches rather than over them. The church affirms the biblical definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and holds that God designates gender at creation.
The Pastoral Team
Jonathan Barbo serves as Senior Pastor. He first came to Rowland Road as its student pastor and served in that role for sixteen years before becoming the church's lead pastor. A graduate of Leavell College at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Faith Bible Institute, he is also an Iraq War Veteran. He and his wife, Ashley, have been married since November 9, 2002, and are the parents of three - Brennon (and his wife Cameron), Elizabeth, and Addisyn - and grandparents of Sutton Charlotte Ann Barbo.
Norman Bryant is the Congregational Care Pastor. A Vietnam Veteran, he first became part of Rowland Road in 1971 and has served over the years in bus, student, children's, teaching, and film ministries, alongside his wife Barbara.
Brennon Barbo, Jonathan's son, joined the staff full-time in 2024 as Youth and Worship Pastor. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Leadership from Faith International University and Seminary and a degree from Faith Bible Institute. He and his wife, Cameron, are the parents of a daughter, Sutton.
Will Honeycutt serves as Educational Pastor and as Vice President of Faith Bible Institute, the church's equipping program. He and his wife, Holly, joined Rowland Road in 2019.
Kara Steele is the church's Children and Preschool Director. She joined the staff as Preschool Director in 2025 and stepped into the children's director role in early 2026. She and her husband, Chris, have been part of RRBC since 2016 and are the parents of a son, Micah.
Giving and the Work Behind It
The church invites its members and friends to give online, in person during a service, or by mail to the church office. Donations support the ongoing ministry and operations of Rowland Road, while designated gifts are reserved for their intended purpose. Contribution statements are available on request through the office.
The Generosity and Ministry Update that the church shares with its family tracks the ministry budget, weekly giving averages, baptisms, and other milestones. Adult worship attendance averages around 180 by current headcount estimates. Vacation Bible School has served around 78 children with more than 45 volunteers, and a homeschool co-op that uses the campus has served about 75 families in a recent school year.
The church also offers its people a free RightNow Media account. Anyone can text "RRBC" to 49775 to receive an activation link on their phone. A church app is available as well, where members can track giving history and access church-wide resources.
A Church at 336 Rowland Road
Rowland Road Baptist Church has been a fixture on its street in Monroe for more than half a century, sustained by a steady rhythm of Sunday worship, midweek Bible study, neighborhood buses, prison trips, and a network of missionaries carrying the gospel around the world. The Next GEN Renovation is the church's current way of investing in the next generation, building the spaces that children, students, and families will walk into for decades to come. Whether a visitor arrives on a Sunday morning at 8:50 or 10:30, climbs aboard one of the church's buses, joins a Life Group during the week, or follows along online, the invitation is the same: Love God, Love People, Live Obediently, Serve Purposefully.