Who We Are

We know you have plenty of choices in where to go to church–and that’s great! There is FAR too much for any one church to accomplish for God’s kingdom. But, because there are plenty to choose from, we want you to know who we are and why we might be the best fit for you as you seek to follow Jesus in community! Here are the defining characteristics and beliefs about our church that we think you should know:

We are a community under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

We believe that Jesus is Savior and Lord.

We believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived among humans on earth, died on the cross as the atonement for our sins, and rose again by the power of God defeating death and the grave for good. We believe that by faith in Jesus, every individual can be saved.

We strive to learn how to live like Jesus.
We believe in the authority of Scripture over our lives and interpret it through the lens of Jesus Christ—his life, teachings, and guidance through the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we offer a variety of Bible study and discipleship opportunities throughout the week for our members and attendees to grow in their knowledge of God’s love, Christ’s way, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and our work in the world.
We value thoughtful, congregation-led worship.
Our worship is shaped around a theme each week, and traditional in style—shaped around the singing of hymns with organ and piano, handbell arrangements, and the occasional singing of contemporary praise songs. Being congregation-led, our choir, youth choir, children’s choir, or the entire worshipping body (in song or in reading) lead the worship service elements. Rather than leaning on soloists, this invites every participant in worship to be invested in what we offer to God in praise and gratitude.
We affirm men and women in all leadership roles.
Committee members, Sunday School teachers, deacons, and pastors—at Madison Heights Baptist Church, we believe that God calls men and women to all forms of servant leadership in the church. There are a variety of sources for this position, but a compelling one can be found in Romans 16: where Paul references as many women in leadership as men, and describes them with many of the same words he uses to describe himself. For more information, article references are available upon request.
We invest in the next generation.
On a Sunday morning, you will find our kids involved in the worship service—either as active participants or even leaders! We believe that every follower of Jesus is capable of offering something in praise, and shape our services accordingly. We offer a Kids Worship option for children from birth to kindergarten, but encourage children beyond that age to learn to worship alongside church members.
We work to love each other despite our differences.
There is no delusion of uniformity at MHBC! We have different political views, idealists and realists, faith stalwarts and doubters, longtime believers/new converts/undecideds, different denominational histories, etc. BUT: we try to embrace these differences with unity and love. We work together where our defining characteristics take precedent, and try to offer grace and unity where we differ. In all things, we try to let Jesus’ mandates from the gospel of John win the day (John 13:34-35, 17:20-21).

We are in our community as Jesus.

We are committed to the well-being of Madison Heights.
In like fashion, we invest ourselves in a variety of ministries and opportunities in Amherst County to do as our mission statement calls us: “To be the hands of Christ in the place we live.” When possible, MHBC partners with other community churches to accomplish greater work in the community. Our members serve in a variety of volunteer and leadership positions in the county to bring the presence of Christ to different spaces. And all of our members are challenged to be good neighbors where they live individually as a witness to the love of Jesus.
We are committed to the well-being of Amherst County & Greater LYH.
We believe in the authority of Scripture over our lives and interpret it through the lens of Jesus Christ—his life, teachings, and guidance through the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we offer a variety of Bible study and discipleship opportunities throughout the week for our members and attendees to grow in their knowledge of God’s love, Christ’s way, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and our work in the world.

We partner with communities around the world toward common goals because of Jesus.

The Great Commission compels us to go.

We believe that, because all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, we are called to do what he says and to share his story with the world. Jesus tells his followers to make disciples in all nations—baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and teaching them to do all that he has commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20). At MHBC, we still believe this to be our calling today, and work primarily with ministries and missionaries in the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia to do this.

What we mean when we call ourselves "Baptist."

There are A LOT of different varieties of Baptists out there today. We understand that, and we want you to also. That said, our particular understanding of what it means to be Baptist lines up with our partnerships, and comes from Walter Shurden’s book, “The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms”:

Soul Freedom – We believe in the priesthood of all believers and the freedom and responsibility of each person to relate directly to God without imposition of creed, or control of clergy or government.

Bible Freedom – We believe the Bible, under the Lordship of Christ, is authoritative and central to the life of the individual and the Church. We affirm the freedom and right of every Christian to interpret and apply scripture under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and in a community of believers.

Church Freedom – We believe in the autonomy of each local church. We believe Baptist churches are free, under the Lordship of Christ: to determine their membership and leadership, to order their worship and work, to ordain whomever they perceive gifted for ministry and called by God, and to participate as they deem appropriate in the larger Body of Christ.

Religious Freedom – We believe in freedom of religion, freedom for religion, and freedom from religion. We support the separation of church and state.

Download a copy of our "Who We Are" statement