A House for the Truth on Southland Drive
Trinity Baptist Church sits at 433 Southland Drive on the south side of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The phrase the congregation uses to describe itself, “a pillar and support of the truth,” comes from 1 Timothy 3:15, and the church takes it as a working description of its calling. Members identify as historic, Reformed Baptists who want their worship, teaching, and fellowship ordered by Scripture alone. The church traces its history to 1942, when a small gathering began in Fayetteville, and its work has continued across eight decades through changing neighborhoods, generations of families, and the steady turnover of pastors and elders.
A Confessional Foundation
Trinity’s doctrinal identity is anchored in the historic Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, the Reformed Baptist confession that arose from the English Particular Baptists. The church endorses the 1689 Confession alongside the ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Members and visitors are also pointed to Spurgeon’s Catechism and to several more recent doctrinal statements, including the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, the Nashville Statement, and the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel.
The church’s own articulation of doctrine is short and direct. The Bible is the inerrant and infallible Word of the living God and the sole authority for faith and life. Every thought and practice is to be tested by Scripture. Trinity confesses the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one being, and affirms the fellowship of the saints as a body that is both universal and local.
Sundays: Family-Integrated Worship
Sunday is the heart of the week. The doors open for Sunday School at 9:15 AM in the Fellowship Hall, the room on the far left of the building as one walks toward the main entrance. The class is currently working its way through the Psalms, meditating on selected psalms from Book 1 and moving at a pace that allows returning members and visitors to step in easily.
Worship begins at 10:30 AM in the Sanctuary. The service is integrated, meaning that children are welcomed into the gathering with their parents rather than sent off to a separate classroom. Trinity does not run a separate children’s program because the church is family integrated, and children belong in the service with their parents. A space is available as needed for nursing mothers or restless little ones, but the default expectation is that the whole congregation worships together. The congregation describes its worship as “orderly and theocentric,” structured around the reading and preaching of God’s Word.
On Sundays when the Lord’s Supper is observed, it is celebrated within the 10:30 service. The church treats the Supper as a regular ordinance of the gathered body, set apart and administered by the elders.
Wednesdays: Bible Study and Corporate Prayer
Midweek teaching meets on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall, with one exception. On the fourth Wednesday of each month the Wednesday slot shifts to a Monthly Prayer Meeting, also in the Fellowship Hall from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, with room for members to arrive early and fellowship with one another.
The current Wednesday series is a steady walk through the Book of Ephesians, working through the text toward Christian maturity and the attributes of God. The format is conversational and text-driven, in keeping with the church’s stated conviction that preaching and teaching are meant to feed the people of God with the Word of God in the power of the Spirit.
Men’s and Women’s Book Studies
Two parallel book studies run through the year, meeting weekly and working through the same short book.
The men’s group meets on Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 PM on Zoom. The men are reading God Without Passions: The Majesty of God’s Unshakeable Perfection by Samuel D. Renihan, working through chapters one by one and discussing the doctrine of divine impassibility. New participants contact Elder John to receive the link.
The women’s group meets twice a week to allow for different schedules. A Tuesday-morning session gathers in the Fellowship Hall at 10:00 AM, and a Thursday-evening session meets in Room 4 at 6:30 PM. Both groups cover the same chapters of Renihan’s book and focus on God’s immutability and impassibility. Christina coordinates the women’s study and handles book orders.
A Calendar of Fellowship
The church calendar reveals how a small congregation builds community outside the sanctuary. Bowling with Brenda has become a recurring event, gathering at B&B Bowling Lanes on Fort Bragg Road for three games and shoe rental at a low cost; all ages and families are welcome. The women have built their own calendar of seasonal fellowship: ladies’ brunches at iHop on Skibo Road, a tea outing to Winterbloom on Hay Street in downtown Fayetteville, a Ladies Bingo Night in the Fellowship Hall with prizes and light refreshments, a clay-and-bake craft day, and a Ladies Pumpkin Paint gathering in the fall.
A Church Brunch is held periodically in the Fellowship Hall, and occasional work days, such as a Summer Clean Up focused on the shed and indoor organization, round out the rhythm. These events rotate with the seasons, but the pattern is steady: Trinity values face-to-face fellowship and uses ordinary settings, restaurants, bowling alleys, and the church’s own Fellowship Hall, as places to deepen the bonds of the body.
Elders and Leadership
The preaching and oversight of the church rests with the elders. The active teaching elder is John Pabon. Bob Rochelle serves as Elder Emeritus, continuing to mentor and pray for the body. Marcus Deel serves as a Teacher, contributing to the instructional life of the church. Members recognize these roles under the New Testament pattern of plural, male eldership and congregational affirmation.
Listening Online: Sermons and Giving
Trinity posts its sermons online for members away from Fayetteville and for anyone exploring the church. The sermon audio archive is hosted through Sermon Audio under the broadcaster name trinityfaync, and a video presence is maintained on YouTube. The church shares updates and event notices on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Online giving is available through a dedicated donations page linked from the navigation menu.
Sermons are lightly edited for volume and evaluated for sound doctrine before being posted. The church’s policy is that what a listener hears online is what was preached from the pulpit, an intentional choice that reflects a commitment to genuine, transparent proclamation.
A First Visit
Sunday School begins at 9:15 AM in the Fellowship Hall on the far left of the building as you face it from the parking lot. The Integrated Worship Service begins at 10:30 AM in the Sanctuary. The Wednesday study meets at 6:30 PM in the Fellowship Hall, skipping the fourth Wednesday for the monthly prayer meeting. The dress expectation is left to the Christian conscience, with the gentle guidance to be mindful of brothers and sisters in Christ. As for who attends, the church’s own answer is the simplest: “Imperfect people who need a perfect Savior.”
The church office can be reached at 910-488-2668 or by email at tbcoverseer@trinityfay.org. A digital connection card is available for visitors who want to share their contact information.
Eight Decades on Southland Drive
Trinity Baptist Church has gathered in and around Fayetteville since 1942. The continuity of confession across the decades is part of what the congregation emphasizes: the same Bible, the same Christ, the same faith once delivered to the saints, taught and lived out in a particular corner of southeastern North Carolina. The work continues today as the members seek to glorify God through the faithful preaching and teaching of his Scriptures, accompanied by the fellowship of the body in unified love for God Almighty and one another, and in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. “Glory to God Alone.”