Tucked along Syphrit Road just off the railroad in northern Spartanburg County, Wellford Baptist Church sits in the small town of Wellford, South Carolina, where it has gathered a congregation around a single, simple sentence: grow as disciples and make disciples. From Sunday morning LifeGroups to Wednesday night dinners, from Vacation Bible School in the Family Life Center to a student beach camp on the Gulf, the church organizes its entire ministry around helping every age, stage, and season of person move deeper into life with Christ and further out on His mission.
Adore, Align, Advance
The framework that runs through everything at Wellford is a three-word rhythm: Adore, Align, Advance. The church describes it this way: Adore - we adore the King; Align - we align our hearts with His; Advance - we advance His Kingdom. The same three words shape the student ministry, the adult discipleship pathway, the worship gatherings, and the missions strategy. The whole church is built on the conviction that what a person adores determines who they become and what they pursue, and that genuine discipleship begins with a heart turned toward God in worship and continues as that heart is brought into agreement with His Word and then carried into the world.
Sundays at Wellford: LifeGroups and Worship
Sunday is the center of the church's life. LifeGroups meet at 9:15 AM in age-graded classes for preschoolers, students, and adults across the campus. These are the church's version of Sunday School - small-group Bible studies where people can go deeper in the Word and deeper in relationship, as the staff describes it, to know and be known. After LifeGroups, the whole church gathers at 10:30 AM for the Worship Gathering.
The worship service is structured around prayer, singing, the public reading and preaching of God's Word, and a shared response. From the pulpit, Lead Pastor Dr. Ricky Stark works through books of the Bible in extended series. Recent and ongoing series have walked through Genesis in a God of Joseph arc, through Paul's letter to the Galatians, through the Nicene Creed in a We Believe series, and through the epistles of John in a Letters from John series. The teaching ministry is expository and verse-by-verse, working through whole books over many weeks at a time. The congregation is invited to read along, take notes, and follow the text week by week.
Wednesdays Around the Table and the Word
The midweek rhythm at Wellford is built around a shared meal and a shared study. Wednesday dinner is at 5:30 PM during the school year, and adult Bible studies begin at 6:30 PM. The Wednesday meal is the social glue of the week - a chance for a college student to sit beside a grandparent, for a visiting coach to meet a church member, for a brand-new attender to be introduced to the family without having to bring anything but an appetite. After dinner, adults scatter to Bible studies while children and students move into their own programs.
Wednesdays also include WBC Kids, which gathers in the Family Life Center for a fun evening of games, activities, and time in God's Word, and the WBC Students midweek worship, a service designed specifically for seventh through twelfth graders that meets at 6:30 PM with its own music, teaching, and time for students to hang out with friends.
WBC Kids: From Birth Through Fifth Grade
Wellford Kids welcomes children from birth through fifth grade in a fun, safe, and gospel-centered environment. The ministry is built on three commitments. First, safety: every volunteer is background checked and specifically trained, and the ministry uses a check-out system with parental claim tags so that only an approved adult can take a child home. Second, creative Bible teaching: lesson materials are written for the developmental stage each child is in, with age-appropriate environments, songs, and stories. Third, partnership with parents: the church teaches that God has called parents to be the primary faith-nurturers of their children, and so the kids ministry is designed to come alongside families rather than to replace them.
On Sundays, preschoolers from birth through kindergarten are cared for during both the 9:15 LifeGroup hour and the 10:30 Worship Gathering, where they play, sing, and hear about Jesus' love for them. Children in first through sixth grade attend their own children's LifeGroup at 9:15 and then join their families in the worship service at 10:30. The church's stated reason for keeping first graders and up in the sanctuary is that one of the most valuable parts of their discipleship is watching their parents and the rest of the church engaged in worship. On Wednesdays, the whole children's ministry comes together again in the Family Life Center for games, activities, and Bible time. During the summer, Vacation Bible School takes over the campus for a week of adventure-themed Bible teaching with games, crafts, music, and missions. The 2024 VBS theme was Breaker Rock Beach, where children explored how God's truth never changes.
WBC Students: A Midweek Worship Just for Them
The student ministry exists to grow as disciples and make disciples among the next generation, equipping seventh through twelfth graders to Adore the King, Align their hearts with His, and Advance His kingdom here and now and for the rest of their lives. On Sundays at 9:15 AM, students are encouraged to join a LifeGroup of their own where they deepen their faith, build friendships, and learn what it means to follow Christ; then they attend the 10:30 worship service alongside the rest of the church. On Wednesdays at 6:30 PM, they gather for a midweek worship service designed just for them, with music, teaching, and time to hang out.
Throughout the year the ministry adds seasonal camps and weekend retreats. The most recent summer beach camp, Total Surrender, took students finishing grades 7 through 12 to Orange Beach, Alabama, for five days of conference teaching, worship, and beach time, with two meals a day included. Caleb Horton serves as the Student Pastor. A graduate of nearby Byrnes High School who is currently attending Boyce College and is married to Katie, Caleb is eager to get the gospel to the next generation and to help students and families grow in their relationship with Jesus and make disciples everywhere they go.
Adult Discipleship Across the Stages of Life
The adult ministry at Wellford is built around the conviction that a disciple is a growing disciple, and that growth looks different in different seasons. The church organizes adult ministry into four streams that meet alongside the Sunday morning LifeGroups.
Wellford Men gathers men around shared study, fellowship, and service opportunities. Annual rhythms include a spring golf outing at a local course, where teams are drawn up with a mix of ages so that a forty-year-old might find himself teeing it up alongside a retiree and a high school senior, the emphasis being fun and fellowship rather than score. Wellford Women meets around the table for evenings of fellowship, food, and fun. Recent gatherings have included a spring Chat and Chew ladies' night out at a local restaurant in Greer, where women share a meal and conversation together.
For older adults, the Happy Hearts Club (Wellford Seniors) is the community within the church for those in their later years. For younger adults, the Young Adults ministry provides a peer community for people in the years after high school and into early career and family life. Discipleship of every kind is shepherded by Mike Stokes, the Discipleship Pastor, who coordinates Sunday morning LifeGroups and the broader adult ministry of the church. Mike loves helping people know and trust the gospel of Jesus in every circumstance.
LifeGroups: Small-Group Bible Study at the Center
LifeGroups are the engine of the discipleship strategy. The church teaches that in order to grow as disciples, believers need the Spirit of God to work through the Word of God and the people of God to align their hearts with the will and purpose of God, and that LifeGroups are the primary environment where that alignment happens. Groups meet at 9:15 AM on Sunday mornings in a relaxed environment for informal Bible study, discussion, prayer, and fellowship. Classes are offered for every age and stage, and a Join A Group form is available for anyone looking to plug in. The church also runs a Discover Class through which prospective members can learn more about what it means to belong at Wellford.
Worship Ministry and the Arts
Music and the arts are central to the weekly gathering. The Worship Ministry invites singers, instrumentalists, and media team volunteers to use their gifts in the Sunday worship gathering. The church teaches that discipleship ultimately comes down to desire, because what a person adores determines who they are and what they pursue, and so the Sunday gathering is structured to shape the soul through congregational singing, prayer, and the proclamation of the gospel. Special worship nights are held throughout the year, including an annual Night of Worship that gathers the whole church on a Sunday evening for extended praise and prayer focused on summer outreach and missions.
What to Expect on Your First Sunday
The church wants a first-time guest to feel at home from the moment they pull into the parking lot. The Guest Services Team waits just inside the front entrance to the sanctuary and will guide visitors and their families to a LifeGroup or help them find a seat for the worship gathering. There is no dress code; the church believes God is more concerned with what is on the inside than what is on the outside, and casual or dressy attire is equally welcome.
For families, the Guest Services Team will assist with checking children into LifeGroups and nursery. Nursery and Wee Worship are available for children from birth through Kindergarten during the 10:30 Worship Gathering. Beginning in first grade, all children join the rest of the church for the 10:30 worship service, since the church believes one of the most valuable aspects of their journey toward discipleship is to see their parents and the rest of the church engaged in worship. A Plan A Visit form is available so that the team can be prepared to serve a first-time guest when they arrive.
A Confession of Faith Rooted in Scripture
The church publishes a detailed statement of beliefs organized around the central doctrines of the Christian faith. The Bible is described as the divinely inspired, wholly trustworthy revelation of God, the supreme standard for Christian belief and practice. God is one Being in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - infinite in holiness and perfect in all His attributes. The Son took on human nature in the incarnation, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death on the cross, rose again bodily, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return personally and visibly in glory. The Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, illuminates truth, regenerates sinners, baptizes believers into the Body of Christ, and empowers them for worship, evangelism, and service.
Salvation, in the church's confession, is the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification, and there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Christ. A New Testament church is described as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, governed by the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes, with two scriptural offices - pastor/elder/overseer and deacon. Baptism is practiced as the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord's Supper is observed as a memorial of the Redeemer's death and an anticipation of His return. The full text of the church's beliefs reflects the doctrinal commitments of historic Baptist confession.
Missions: Pray, Send, Give, and Go
The missions ministry exists for one reason: to take the gospel that transformed the people of Wellford to where it is not yet prevalent, whether across the street or around the world. The church teaches that there is only one name that can save, and it wants every person to have a chance to know Him. To that end, the church commits to pray, to send, to give, and to go. Believers are encouraged to engage in personal evangelism, to support missionaries, to give to cooperative mission efforts, and to go on short-term trips when opportunities arise. The annual Freedom Celebration is one example of a community-wide outreach event, held at the Star Center on Highway 29, with food trucks, inflatables, a kid zone, corn hole, disc golf, a concert, and fireworks.
Taking a Next Step at Wellford
The church describes discipleship as a journey of next steps, and provides a clear pathway for the ones most often on the minds of new and longtime attenders alike. The Next Steps Card connects a guest with the pastoral team for follow-up. A Discover Class prepares prospective members to learn what it means to belong to the church. Baptism is taught as a public proclamation of faith and new life in Christ, an outward testimony of an inward transformation. Joining a LifeGroup is the path to Bible study and Christian friendship. Serving the church is encouraged as a way to use specific gifts, talents, and interests in ministry. For those considering a first commitment of faith, the church offers to walk alongside them as they receive Christ. A wide range of volunteer and medical release forms is available so that adults and students can be cleared to serve on trips and in classrooms.
Staff and Leadership
The pastoral team is led by Dr. Ricky Stark, who serves as Lead Pastor. Ricky is passionate about King Jesus and wants everyone to know and love Christ and His Word, see all of life from a biblical worldview, and take the gospel to neighbors and nations. Mike Stokes serves as Discipleship Pastor, coordinating Sunday morning LifeGroups and adult ministry. Caleb Horton serves as Youth Pastor, working with students in grades 7 through 12. Worship services are livestreamed on YouTube each week, and sermon audio and video are archived for later listening and viewing. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM.