A Family of Faith on East Centerville Road
South Garland Baptist Church sits on East Centerville Road in Garland, just across the street from Homer B. Johnson Stadium, and the life of the church is shaped by a vision the congregation has named in three short phrases: multigenerational, community focused, and a family of faith. The church is a Bible-believing Baptist congregation that holds to the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message and partners with the Dallas Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists). It is the kind of place where preschoolers learn to share during Mother's Day Out, a Parkinson's exercise group fills the building twice a week, and a GriefShare group gathers on Thursday nights, all under the same roof.
Sunday Mornings: Bible Study, Worship, and the Table
The Sunday rhythm at SGBC is simple and steady. The morning opens at 9:00 AM with Bible study, also called Sunday School, with classes divided roughly by age group for children, students, and adults. The congregation gathers for worship at 10:15 AM in the sanctuary, and the service usually runs between 11:15 and 11:30 AM.
On the first Sunday of every month, the evening takes a different shape. From 5:30 to 7:00 PM, the church hosts an informal gathering called the Table, a potluck dinner followed by a brief time of worship and breakout discussion groups. It is a less formal setting where new faces mix easily with longtime members and where the church's identity as a family of faith shows up around plates of shared food.
Wednesday Nights Around the Family Table
Midweek at South Garland Baptist starts at the table. A fellowship meal is served at 5:45 PM, and first-time guests are invited to eat free of charge. After dinner, at 6:30 PM, the building sorts itself out by age. Preschoolers head to a music class followed by a Bible lesson, students from kindergarten through fifth grade go to their own Bible lesson, and middle and high school students gather for games and Bible study. The adults settle in for a time of prayer and Bible study. The same building that hosts Wednesday supper and Bible study also runs Mother's Day Out on Wednesdays and Fridays, a thriving preschool ministry for children from nine months through Pre-K.
What to Expect as a First-Time Guest
The church wants visitors to feel welcomed the moment they step inside. Greeting, faith, and a sense of God's presence are the three things the church hopes every visitor will encounter.
Worship at SGBC is a blend. The praise team leads most services with contemporary Christian music and traditional hymns woven together, and on some Sundays the Generations Chorale, the church's traditional choir, leads in worship or shares special music. The church describes itself as multigenerational and prefers to focus on the message of each week rather than on fitting tightly into one musical genre.
Dress is just as relaxed. On any given Sunday some men wear jackets and ties, others wear blue jeans, and most of the congregation dresses the way one might for an outdoor wedding: nicer than at home but not formal. The church is more interested in seeing people in the pew than in what they are wearing.
Childcare is available during the worship service for all preschoolers, and check-in takes place at the front door of the Family Ministry Center. Parents who prefer to keep their children with them in worship can pick up children's activity pages tied to that morning's message, and a Parents Room near the foyer offers a quiet spot when a little one needs a moment away.
At the close of every worship service, Pastor Daniel Camp issues an invitation to respond to worship, ask for prayer, or follow up on any decision a guest would like to make. New members are received by believer's baptism, by statement of faith, or by transfer of letter from another congregation.
What SGBC Believes
South Garland Baptist Church holds to the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, the historic confession adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention and shared with churches across the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The statement begins with the Bible as the divinely authored, fully trustworthy revelation of God, and then unfolds the classic Baptist affirmations: one true God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; humanity created in God's image, marred by the fall, and in need of grace; salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; the church as a covenanted, autonomous body of baptized followers; believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as the two ordinances of Christ; the Lordship of Christ over every area of life; the priesthood of all believers; the autonomy of the local church; and the separation of church and state.
The statement is presented as a guide, not a creed with binding authority. The opening preamble quotes the historic Baptist principle that the sole authority for faith and practice is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and that Baptists should hold themselves free to revise their statements of faith as wisdom and circumstance require. In its own words, the church believes that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life, die an atoning death on the cross, and rise victorious over sin and death, and that anyone can know salvation from sin and eternal life with God by professing faith in Christ and following Him in discipleship.
A Multigenerational, Community-Focused Vision
The congregation has named its vision in three phrases: SGBC is multigenerational, community focused, and a family of faith. The church is not trying to brand itself as young or as a church for seniors; it is working to integrate children's, student, and adult ministries so that the whole congregation grows together, anchored in passages like Matthew 19:13-14, 1 Timothy 4:12, Exodus 20:14, and 1 Timothy 5:1-2.
Being community focused means the church is intentional about partnerships and ministry programs that serve beyond its own walls, with passages like Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Matthew 22:36-40, and Matthew 5:16 shaping how the congregation reaches out.
The family of faith language comes from passages like Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 2:19-22, and 1 Corinthians 12:26. The church wants to be a place where brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice together, grieve together, and worship together, not as a club of acquaintances but as a family knit by the gospel.
South Garland Kids and Youth
Children's ministry at SGBC begins with nursery care for the youngest and continues through fifth grade, with a separate student ministry for sixth through twelfth grade. Children's Sunday School starts at 9:00 AM with sign-in at the front of the Family Ministry Center as early as 8:45.
On Wednesday nights, after the churchwide fellowship meal, preschoolers have a music class from 6:30 to 7:00 PM followed by a Bible lesson from 7:00 to 7:30 PM, while kindergartners through fifth graders have a Bible lesson from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Middle and high school students gather for games and Bible study during the same window.
Safety is built into the program. Every child is signed in by a parent at the check-in station in the Family Ministry Center foyer and receives a guardian sticker that is shown at pickup. Doors to the building are locked and manned during children's activities, a security team member monitors the building during activities, and every volunteer sixteen and older is required to take the Ministry Safe child protection training every two years and pass a background check before serving with kids.
The student ministry for sixth through twelfth graders is described by the church as vital to the congregation right now, not just the church of tomorrow. Students are given numerous opportunities to learn, grow, and serve Jesus within the community, with the same check-in and safety standards as the children's ministry.
Mother's Day Out and the Family Ministry Center
The Family Ministry Center is the hub for almost everything that happens for kids at SGBC. Mother's Day Out runs there on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, following the Garland ISD calendar for holidays and weather closings. Tuition is $200 per month for one child, $380 for two, and $540 for three, with an annual enrollment and supply fee of $120 per student due by August 15. A drop-in option is offered by appointment when space allows, and a homeschool enrichment class serves kindergarten through sixth grade with lessons, arts and crafts, music and movement, science experiments, and chapel.
The Mother's Day Out program centers on Jesus, love, and learning through play in the younger classrooms and more structured learning in the older ones. The Pre-K class is described as rigorous and designed to ready children for kindergarten. Children bring their own lunches (no refrigeration or heating is provided), the program supplies a mid-morning snack, and parents are asked to label everything and to keep sick children home until they have been fever-, vomit-, and diarrhea-free for forty-eight hours without medication.
Walking with Grief Through GriefShare
On Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, the church hosts GriefShare, a thirteen-week support program for people who have lost a loved one. Participants receive guidance and tips, share about their own grief journey, and hear from others navigating loss. The full course is thirteen weeks, but anyone can join at any point, many participants continue attending after completing the course, and there is no cost to sign up, though donations are welcome to cover the cost of the books. The program is offered in partnership with GriefShare, the national grief support ministry.
Partnering with the Dallas Area Parkinson Society
For decades SGBC has partnered with the Dallas Area Parkinson Society to host one of the largest and most respected Parkinson's exercise and support groups in the state. The group meets every Monday and Thursday from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM with trained physical therapists who walk participants through a series of exercises. There is regular time for music, prayer, conversation, and a shared meal. First-time attendees are asked to park around the back of the building by the playground, which is the closest door to where DAPS meets.
The People Who Lead SGBC
Daniel Camp is the pastor of South Garland Baptist Church. Alicia Colston leads the worship ministry and oversees the praise team and the Generations Chorale. Three Family Ministry Coordinators, Lindsey Camp, Sarah Hubbard, and Lindsay Springer, serve across the children's, youth, and family discipleship ministries, and Laurie Wallace directs the Mother's Day Out program. The church is served in addition by a small administrative staff that keeps the building running Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
How to Give
SGBC offers several ways to give. Gifts can be dropped in the offering plate during Sunday worship, brought to the church office Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or mailed to the church address with a note indicating whether the gift is for the budget or a designated fund. Online, gifts can be scheduled as a one-time or recurring debit, credit card, or ACH transaction through the church's online giving page, and gifts can also be made through the Realm Connect app on iOS or Android. The church also accepts stock donations, qualified charitable distributions from IRAs for those over seventy-and-a-half, and legacy gifts through estate planning. 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Finding South Garland Baptist
The church sits at 1330 East Centerville Road in Garland, across the street from Homer B. Johnson Stadium. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The phone number is (972) 271-5428, and the general email address is info@sgbaptist.net. Sunday worship is at 10:15 AM, preceded by Bible study at 9:00 AM, with the Table on the first Sunday evening of each month and a full Wednesday night schedule built around the family table.