First Antioch Baptist Church (Of Christ)
Our Spiritual Beliefs
First Antioch Baptist Church (Of Christ) exist for the purpose of
proclaiming Jesus Christ; through the holy spirit, the gospel, healing the
broken, deliverance to captives, giving sight to the blind and liberating
the oppressed. Luke 4:18
Keeping The Faith
During the late summer of 1979 a group of Christians known as the
"Gathered Fellowship" met on the back porch ant 644 Moran Avenue in order
to worship together. These prayer meetngs were held on a regular basis as
need and occasion arose. At one such meeting, the question was voiced by
one of the members, "Why can't we organize our own church?" The group
voted to pray over the question of whether or not we were led by God to
ormally organize our fellowship into a new church.
Consequently on
Saturday, January 12,1980 the "Gathered Fellowship" met at the home of
pastor Henry Clarke Nabrit and voted to formally organize the fellowship
into a new church. We called the Reverend Henry Clarke Nabrit, as Pastor,
Founder, and Organizer of the "First Antioch Baptist Church (Of Christ). A
motion was passed to adopt the statement of purpose in organizing, the
Articles of Faith, the Covenant, and officers.
Since our beginning up
until now we have had three pastors. Rev. Rudolph A. May, Jr. February 28,
1990 to July 17, 1991. During the period of Reverend May's leaving, we
used one of our own, brother Sylvester Rome as our stablizer, presiding
over our worship services and assisting all prospective ministers. On
October 12, 1991 our church committee recommended Rev. Albert L. Reed to
serve as our interim pastor. Rev. and Mrs. Reed demonstrated a zeal that
constantly inspires us tomove forward in the study of the Bible and to
take the church outside of the building and into the community. God has
richly blessed us throughout these 19 years. In the beginning, we
constantly sang "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow," and today we
still sing the same song. He has allowed us to start off on a firm
foundation with such a profound leader in the form of Dr. Henry Clarke
Nabrit. He has continued his guidance with the leadership of other great
preachers in the persons of Rev. Rudolph May, Rev. Sylvester Rome, and our
current Pastor, Reverend Albert L. Reed.
We base our ministries on the
ministry of music, the ministry of the Word, and the ministry of service.
Today our thrust is still focused on these ministries. We are truly
blessed by God as he carries us thru difficult and binding times. We each
try to do our best to serve, to worship, to give thanks, to love, to show
mercy, and to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ. Our song will always
remain, "PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW."
Holy Spirit, this is your church, we ask you to direct it as you will.
We strive to commit ourselves to tithing and to missions, distributing
to the needy, and assisting the victims of disasters. We study God's Word
daily. Pray for one another and the entire church. Commit ourselves to
fulfill the provisions of our Covenant agreemnt. Honor and follow our
elected leadership that the church may fulfill its calling to follow
Christ. Honor and obey the constitution and by laws of the First Antioch
Baptist Church (Of Christ).