More Than a Century at 31st and Springhill
Woodland Heights Baptist Church sits at 611 West 31st Street in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Richmond, one block off Semmes Avenue at Springhill Avenue. The congregation's roots run back to 1908, when a Baptist Sunday School organized in nearby Forest Hill. A small frame building followed, and in April 1910 Woodland Heights Baptist Church was formally born.
As the neighborhood grew, so did the church. A larger building was completed in 1917, and in 1927 leaders dedicated a new sanctuary with distinctive architectural features. That sanctuary is still in use today, and Sunday morning worship takes place in what the church describes as an atmosphere of reverence and historic beauty that proclaims the glory of God.
Across more than a hundred years the church has birthed three other local congregations and is grandparent to a fourth. The 2010 centennial marked the occasion and launched a Second Century initiative focused on community missions and ministries, working in partnership with the Woodland Heights Civic Association, Patrick Henry School for Science and Arts, and other neighbors.
In January 2021, Southampton Baptist Church, which had been sharing the Woodland Heights building since 2018, formally joined Woodland Heights as one congregation. The two bodies had worshipped and served together for years, and their unification has shaped the church's character and its motto: One in Worship...Many in Service.
One in Worship, Many in Service
The church describes itself as a welcoming, worshiping, and ministering community of Christians that bears witness to Christ through creative and inclusive worship, compassionate deeds of service, and a deep commitment to caring and community. Those three commitments - worship, service, and community - show up everywhere at Woodland Heights, from Sunday morning handbells to Thursday mornings spent stocking the food closet.
The phrase One in Worship...Many in Service is more than a tagline. It captures the conviction that the congregation gathers as one body in worship each Sunday, then scatters into many acts of service throughout the week and around the neighborhood.
Joint Pastors and a Choir of Bells
Woodland Heights is currently served by two Joint Pastors, Rev. Dorryce Ann Rudd and Rev. SaraAnne Burgess. Rev. Rudd grew up in Crewe, Virginia, where her family was active at Crewe Baptist Church. She came to faith at the age of six, graduated from Radford College, taught at J.B. Watkins Elementary School, and in 2002 earned a Master of Divinity from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. She was ordained into the Gospel Ministry in 2006 by Branch's Baptist Church.
Rev. Burgess is a native of Richmond. She attended Mars Hill College and earned her Master of Divinity from Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond. She has served churches in various roles, including as Pastor of Ellis Avenue Church in Chicago, Illinois. She also serves as Camper and Family Liaison at Camp Alkulana, a program of the River City Faith Network.
Mr. Emmanuel Dudkin has served as Interim Director of Music since May 2023. A native of Ukraine with extensive experience in choral and church music, Emmanuel has lived in Richmond for more than twenty years and holds a degree in Choral Directing from Ukraine as well as a Master of Divinity from Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond. Handbells, choral music, and special ensembles regularly enrich Sunday worship under his leadership.
The church also remembers Rev. Tom Ficklin, Pastor Emeritus, who guided the congregation through the merger with Southampton Baptist. Tom stepped down from the pastorate due to health concerns, was named Pastor Emeritus in August 2022, and is remembered for his warmth, wisdom, and his simple refrain: I LOVE CHURCH!
Sunday Mornings at WHBC
A typical Sunday at Woodland Heights begins earlier than worship. Handbell rehearsal starts at 9:15 a.m., and children and youth gather for Sunday School at 9:30. An adult Discipleship Bible Study also meets at 9:30 in the Chapel, working through books of the Bible and current themes. Recent studies have walked through Acts, the Book of Numbers, and a series on Christian priorities drawing on passages from Matthew, Mark, Luke, James, and the Pastoral Epistles.
Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. and runs about an hour. Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month. The service is livestreamed on Facebook Live, so members who are traveling, ill, or otherwise unable to attend in person can still take part.
Childcare is available for infants through five years, beginning at 10:15 a.m. The church notes that children's activities for older ages have been curtailed since the COVID pandemic and are being phased back in.
Dress ranges across the spectrum. The church invites visitors to come as they are: some worshipers arrive in suits, ties, and dresses, while others come in business casual or simply casual. For services other than Sunday morning, dress tends to be very casual and relaxed.
Finding the Sanctuary
The building sits on West 31st Street, with a parking lot behind the church and additional street parking on the surrounding blocks. The most-used entrance is along the 31st Street walkway, which opens into the church office and continues into the sanctuary. Main steps lead up to the sanctuary from Springhill Avenue, and a ground-level entry with interior steps is on 31st Street. An elevator to the sanctuary is located off the Springhill entrance, and a ground-floor entrance with a ramp opens off the parking lot, making the building step-free for those who need it.
The sanctuary, offices, and main fellowship spaces are on the main floor, while the fellowship hall sits on the ground floor. Greeters are on hand to help newcomers and families get settled on Sunday morning.
Office hours run Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with the church office reachable at (804) 233-2222 during those times.
Food Closet, Vacation Bible School, and Going Where the Need Is
Mission and service are a regular rhythm of life at Woodland Heights, not occasional add-ons.
- Food Closet Ministry meets every Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, serving neighbors in need in the 23224 and 23225 zip codes. The food closet is supported by church members and community partners and has long been a way the congregation meets new friends and serves its own neighborhood.
- Vacation Bible School is a week-long summer program for children ages three through sixth grade, held in late July. Recent themes have drawn children from the congregation and the wider neighborhood.
- Impact Virginia is a week-long summer opportunity through Virginia Baptists that takes youth out to assist with home repairs and improvements around the state.
Over the years the church has also opened its parking lot and sanctuary to the wider community for festivals, food truck days, vocal studio recitals, free concerts, and an Independence Day picnic. Music has been a particular gift the church shares with the neighborhood: the building has hosted brass and handbell performances during worship, vocal studio recitals, and free concerts such as a Latin Voices cello and guitar performance by Juilliard-trained Gustavo Antoniacomi and guitarist Olivia Andersen.
Seasonal services and observances mark the church year. Recent years have included a Palm Sunday Processional around the neighborhood, a Tenebrae service of diminishing light during Holy Week, a Maundy Thursday dinner and Last Supper commemoration in the Fellowship Hall, an Easter Egg Hunt, an Advent series themed around C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a Blue Christmas service for those who find the holidays hard, and a Christmas Eve candlelight service.
Walking the Liturgical Year
Woodland Heights follows the traditional Christian liturgical calendar, treating Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost as a single story of Jesus - his birth, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and continuing presence with God's people. Advent, beginning in mid- to late-November, is a four-Sunday season of expectation and preparation. Christmas celebrates God's incarnation for twelve days. Epiphany, lasting seven or eight Sundays, marks the revelation of God's salvation to all people. The forty days of Lent lead from Ash Wednesday to Easter, a season of reflection, repentance, and focus on Christ's sacrificial life and death. The fifty days of Easter celebrate the resurrection, and Pentecost follows with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Christian church.
For the rest of the year, the calendar points to the continuing story of God at work in and through God's people. A visual of the liturgical calendar is shared in the worship space to help members follow the seasons.
Becoming Part of the Community
Woodland Heights welcomes new members upon profession of faith in Christ and baptism, by transfer of membership from another congregation, or by statement of faith. Anyone with questions about membership is encouraged to speak with one of the pastors.
The church is also glad to have people come alongside its ministry without yet joining. As the pastors put it, Come for a Sunday or a season. Come to serve. Come to heal. Just come and see what good work God is about. Baptisms are by immersion; those who have accepted Christ as Savior and wish to be baptized are invited to contact a pastor.
Volunteers are a backbone of the congregation. Opportunities range from behind-the-scenes tasks to front-and-center roles, from working with preschoolers to staffing the food closet. New ministry ideas are welcomed as well. Visitors are asked to fill out a visitor's registration card when they attend, either in worship or in Bible study, so the pastors and members can follow up and help newcomers find a place to serve and be served.
Affiliations and Giving
Woodland Heights partners with the River City Faith Network, the Baptist General Association of Virginia, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. These partnerships connect the local congregation to a wider Baptist witness across the city, the state, and the country.
Giving to support the church's ministries is available in several ways. Contributions may be mailed to the WHBC Treasurer at 611 W. 31st St., Richmond, VA 23225, dropped in the secure mailbox at the 31st Street entrance, or made online through Tithely. Designated funds include budget offerings, the Food Closet, a love offering, the Ministries Endowment Fund, the current mission offering, and other giving at the donor's direction. Tithely's standard processing fees are deducted from the donor's account in addition to the gift.