A church on South Main since 1899
Stallings Memorial Baptist Church has gathered on South Main Street in Salisbury for more than a century. The congregation was organized on June 25, 1899 with 23 charter members under the name Chestnut Hill Baptist Church, and the first building was constructed in 1901 on Chestnut Street. In 1921 the body took the name Stallings Memorial Baptist Church in honor of its founder and first pastor, the Reverend John N. Stallings. Today the church is affiliated with the Rowan Southern Baptist Association, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Southern Baptist Convention, and describes itself as a friendly, caring family of believers dedicated to sharing the love of God.
Sunday in three movements
Worship at Stallings follows a three-part rhythm that runs from morning into evening. Sunday School meets at 9:15 a.m. for all ages, with classes for children, youth, and adults gathering across the building. Morning Worship follows at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary. The day continues in the evening with three parallel gatherings at 5:30 p.m.: Kids For Christ in the Gospel Kids Room, Youth For Christ in the upper room youth ministry space on the third floor, and an Adult Bible Study in the Fellowship Hall. Services are livestreamed through Facebook Live so that members who are traveling or unwell can take part from home.
A midweek gathering in the Rhyne Building
A separate Bible study meets on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Rhyne Building, giving the congregation a second weekly touchpoint for teaching and prayer. The Rhyne Building is used alongside the Sanctuary, the Fellowship Hall, and the Gospel Kids Room to host the various ministries that share the campus.
Gospel Kids and Stallings Youth
Children and young people are described by the church as a vital part of its life. Gospel Kids is the children's ministry and meets on Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. for a program called Kids For Christ, held in the Gospel Kids Room. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. also offers a class for every age. Stallings Youth serves students in sixth through twelfth grade. The youth group meets for Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. in the upper room on the third floor, and gathers on select Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. as Youth For Christ for deeper Bible study, mission projects, and fellowship. Throughout the year the youth attend summer camp and take part in social gatherings, and they support many of the church's outreaches both inside and outside the building.
Feed the Need: a drive-thru food pantry
Stallings Memorial takes seriously the Bible's mandate to care for its neighbors. The Feed the Need Ministry operates as a free drive-thru food distribution twice a month. From January through October, food is given out on the second and fourth Thursdays at 2:30 p.m., and in November and December the schedule shifts to the first and third Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. The church publishes the distribution calendar on its Facebook page so neighbors know when to come.
Baptist Men, WMU, and a year of service
Two longstanding mission auxiliaries help shape the church's outreach. Baptist Men is a Christian missions organization whose four cornerstones are evangelizing men to salvation and into the church, equipping men for ministry, establishing men to spiritual maturity, and extending men on missions. The men serve monthly breakfasts and lunches for the church and community, host a free yearly Thanksgiving meal, build wheelchair ramps and do handyman projects for those in need, and take part in economic, children's, elderly care, and healthcare projects. The Women's Missionary Union (WMU) meets to pray, serve, and work on various mission projects, challenging believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God. Young at Heart is a ministry for senior adults, and Operation Christmas Child and mission trips round out the church's outreach calendar. A Music Ministry supports congregational singing in worship.
RightNow Media and the wider connection
Every member and regular attender can sign up for a free RightNow Media account, a streaming library of faith-based video Bible studies that the church calls the "Netflix of Video Bible Studies." It can be watched on a phone, tablet, computer, or home television. The church also stays connected through Facebook and Instagram, where Sunday services are streamed and updates are posted.
Pastor Larry Gilbreath
The Reverend Larry Gilbreath has served as Senior Pastor since January 2020. He and his wife Angela have three children, Eden, Josiah, and Titus. Larry is a 1998 graduate of The Citadel, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, and he later received a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007. He enjoys reading history and theology, jogging, and following sports.
What Stallings believes
The church's Statement of Faith sets out twenty-one articles. The Bible is held to be the inspired, infallible Word of God and the perfect rule of faith and practice. There is one God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Humanity fell from holiness by voluntary transgression and is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The church practices believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper, which is open to all who acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior. The congregation confesses the doctrines of election, sanctification, and the preservation of the saints, along with the future resurrection of the dead, final judgment, and the everlasting blessedness of the righteous and misery of the wicked. A church of Christ is defined as a congregation of baptized believers with pastors, deacons, and trustees as its officers. The statement also affirms the divine appointment of civil government and the biblical definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Office hours and contact
The church office is open Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The address is 817 South Main Street, Salisbury, NC 28144, the phone number is (704) 636-2052, and the administrative email is admin@stallingsbaptistchurch.org.