A Faith Family on the South Side of Aiken
Town Creek Baptist Church sits on the south side of Aiken, South Carolina, just off Town Creek Road between Silver Bluff Road and Pine Log Road and adjacent to the Gem Lakes neighborhood. The property holds the church building, a Christian academy, and summer camp facilities that anchor a ministry Town Creek leaders describe as a Biblically conservative Christian church committed to becoming a people who seek, serve, and share Jesus Christ.
Affiliated with the Aiken County Baptist Association, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention, Town Creek affirms the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as its confessional standard. The congregation gathers under the leadership of Rev. Clint Smith and a staff of ministry directors, and the doors stay open across the week for Sunday worship, midweek discipleship, a Christian academy, and a summer day camp.
A Sunday Built Around Catalyst and Worship
The Sunday rhythm begins at 9:00 a.m. with Catalyst. These adult small groups meet for forty-five minutes and are the front end of the Sunday schedule. Groups are co-ed and arranged around seasons of life, from college students and young parents to empty nesters and seniors. Catalyst is intentionally short, conversational, and centered on Bible study, prayer, and the accountability that comes with being known by a handful of people.
At 10:00 a.m. the congregation moves into the auditorium for the worship service, which runs until 11:30 a.m. The service opens with a blend of contemporary and traditional songs, and Rev. Clint Smith preaches a verse-by-verse sermon that walks through books of the Bible one chapter at a time. On the first Sunday of each month, the service closes with the Lord's Supper.
A second adult discipleship hour gathers on Sunday evenings at 5:00 p.m., running until 6:30 p.m. These short-term Bible studies are offered in co-ed and single-gender formats and rotate through different books and topics throughout the year.
TCKids: A Children's Ministry Built Around Safety and Biblical Depth
Town Creek's children's ministry, called TCKids, serves preschoolers through preteens. The aim is to welcome every child in a comfortable environment, push them to wrestle with a better understanding of Jesus, disciple them in small and large groups, and give parents tools to lead spiritually at home.
Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. children gather in their own Lifegroups on the first floor, across from the auditorium. Greeters stationed at every entrance will walk a parent to the right room. Kids ages five and up join their families in the auditorium for the 10:00 a.m. worship service.
Sunday evenings from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., August through May, TCKids focuses on music and missions. The first half is spent working on songs and the basics of worship through music at every age. The second half is a walk through what it means to live on mission, with lessons about current missionaries, hands-on mission projects in the Aiken area, and the conviction that being on mission locally is just as serious as being on mission overseas.
Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. TCKids meets collectively for worship, Bible study, and games. The room is loud, the games are intentional, and the teaching is structured around Scripture.
Safety is built into the system. Every TCKids volunteer is background-checked. Every child is checked in through an electronic kiosk before class, and parents receive a pick-up sticker that must be presented at the door. A nursery is available during all services for infants through four-year-olds.
One Route: Youth Ministry for Middle and High School
Students in sixth through twelfth grade are part of One Route, the youth ministry whose name comes from John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." One Route meets in the upstairs center room for everything except Sunday morning worship.
Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. students start together as a large group and then break into age- and gender-specific small groups led by trusted adult volunteers. Sunday evening discipleship runs from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. with the same format. Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. is Midweek Matrix, a midweek break designed to give students a chance to take a breath from school, hang out with friends, play games, and then settle into worship and Scripture together.
One Route's stated goal is to equip students with the gospel in a safe, welcoming community, tying three commitments together: community, where no student is a stranger; discipleship, where students learn to live out their faith boldly; and activity, with trips, 5th Quarter events, conferences, and game nights through the year. Summers center on FUGE, a week of camp that the ministry counts among its favorite rhythms for growth.
Adults: Catalyst, Discipleship, and Senior Adults
Adults at Town Creek are encouraged to grow in faith, connect with others, and serve locally and globally. The three main tracks are Catalyst, short-term Discipleship, and a dedicated Senior Adult Ministry.
Catalyst is the entry point. The groups meet from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings in age- and stage-specific rooms. Discipleship classes run on Sunday evenings at 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., with additional home groups meeting during the week. The Senior Adult Ministry gathers on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. for Bible study, prayer, and social connection, with a steady rhythm of events that build friendships across the years.
College and Young Pros
College students and young professionals have their own place in the church. The College and Young Pros ministry is designed to support adults in that life stage with fellowship, discipleship, and service opportunities that fit the demands of work and graduate study, and it ties directly into the Catalyst class designed for that demographic on Sunday mornings.
American Heritage Girls
Town Creek hosts a charter of American Heritage Girls, a national character and faith-development program for girls ages five through eighteen. Troop AHG meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The program frames itself as a catalyst for building young women of integrity and faith through service to God, family, community, and country, with badges, service projects, and outdoor adventures.
Town Creek Christian Academy and Town Creek Lions
Sharing the Town Creek campus is Town Creek Christian Academy, the church's Christian school, whose students are known as the Town Creek Lions. The academy operates in two divisions. The preschool serves children from birth through 4K, and the academy serves 4K through twelfth grade. Together they offer a continuous Christian education track from infancy through high school graduation on the same property as the church.
Camp Exemplar: Summer on the Same Grounds
From June through August, the Town Creek campus hosts Camp Exemplar, a summer day camp open to the community. The camp frames itself around the idea that the ultimate exemplar for a Christian is Jesus, and that as His followers, campers and staff are to be exemplars of His character and behavior as found in Scripture.
Each week of Camp Exemplar is filled with activities and field trips. Parents can hand their children off to a team of guides for the summer knowing the environment is safe, the leaders are vetted, and the goal is growth that is physical, emotional, and spiritual. Information and registration are available through campexemplar.com.
Recreation
The Recreation ministry keeps the church's gym and recreation space active through the year with leagues, tournaments, and open-gym hours that bring church members and the wider Aiken community together. The Recreation Director oversees scheduling and programming.
What We Believe: The Baptist Faith and Message 2000
Town Creek's teaching aligns with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. The church affirms that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God and without error, that there is one God who exists in three distinct persons as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that salvation comes only through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as the sufficient payment for sin.
The full statement of belief walks through eighteen articles. The church teaches that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man, and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. There is one and only one living and true God, infinite in holiness, all powerful and all knowing, who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with distinct personal attributes but without division of nature, essence, or being.
Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, who perfectly revealed and did the will of God, who honored the divine law by His personal obedience, who in His substitutionary death on the cross made provision for the redemption of men from sin, who was raised from the dead with a glorified body, who ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God as the one Mediator, fully God, fully man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
The Holy Spirit is fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures, illuminates truth, convicts of sin, regenerates, baptizes every believer into the body of Christ, cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
The Church is understood as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
The church affirms the everlasting gospel and the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It teaches the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of all men in righteousness, and the biblical view of marriage as the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. On questions of religious liberty, the church holds that God alone is Lord of the conscience, that church and state should be separate, and that a free church in a free state is the Christian ideal.
The Pastoral Team and Staff
Rev. Clint Smith serves as Senior Pastor and brings the bulk of the pulpit ministry on Sundays and Wednesdays. Chris Gratton directs Music, Media, and Missions. Derek Swarthout oversees Stewardship. MaKenzie Gratton directs Recreation. Kristin Morris is the Children's Ministry Director, and Elizabeth Moulton coordinates the Nursery. Together this team carries the day-to-day ministry of the church across worship, children, students, recreation, and operations.
The Building and the Campus
The church building is laid out so that first-time guests find it easy to settle in. There is ample parking on the campus, with reserved spots up front for guests. Visitors are encouraged to enter under the covered walkway beneath the steeple. Greeters there will point the way to Catalyst, the auditorium, or the nursery. The Welcome Center, right inside the doors, has a small gift for first-time guests and volunteers ready to answer questions. Pastors would love to talk, so first-time visitors are invited to introduce themselves.
Children's classrooms are on the first floor across from the auditorium. The Kid's check-in station is set up there for Sunday morning Lifegroups and Sunday and Wednesday night activities. The youth meet in the upstairs center room for everything except Sunday morning worship.
The church office is in the back of the building. Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Visitors are welcome to drop in or call ahead to schedule an appointment.
Sermons, Media, and Giving
Sermons are available in audio and video. Audio is hosted online and video is streamed on the YouTube channel. The archive runs deep, with recordings going back over a decade of expository series through Daniel, Hebrews, 1 John, 1 Corinthians, Revelation, the Sermon on the Mount, and books of the Old Testament prophets. A podcast version is available on Apple Podcasts.
Giving to Town Creek Ministries and payment for events is handled online through a secure giving page, available around the clock. TCBC.LIFE serves as the church's signup hub for events, volunteer registration, and updates.
Getting Connected: Catalyst, Starting Point, and Prayer
The church's most natural onramp for newcomers is Catalyst on Sunday mornings. The greeters will direct visitors to the group that best fits their stage of life, and the small-group format makes it easy to be known.
For those ready to take a deeper step, Starting Point is a 90-minute new members class held on the second Sunday of each month at 2:30 p.m. Starting Point walks through what it means to be part of the Town Creek faith family. Attending the class does not obligate anyone to membership, though it is required for those who choose to join.
Members and visitors can submit prayer requests online and sign up to receive prayer request emails so that the prayer team can lift specific needs up week by week.
What to Wear, Where to Park, and What to Expect
Visitors can come as they are. On any given Sunday some men wear coats and ties while others are in polos; women wear dresses and casual clothes alike; young people wear the same thing they would wear to school. The church's priority is meeting real life needs, not monitoring wardrobes.
A Place in the Life of Aiken
Town Creek Baptist Church has been a steady presence on Town Creek Road for decades. Rev. Clint Smith's pulpit ministry now stretches back over ten years of archived sermons, and the church family has grown around an expository approach to Scripture, a robust discipleship culture, and a calendar that takes seriously the call to equip every age, from the nursery through the Senior Adult Ministry, to seek, serve, and share Jesus Christ.