Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of church is Western Avenue Baptist Church?
Western Avenue is a conservative evangelical church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
What times do you meet?
We have an early worship service at 8:30 AM, Sunday School classes from 9:45 until 10:45 and a later worship service at 11:00 AM. Please refer to the Sunday School page to see which classes you would like to attend.We meet on Sunday evenings at 6:00 pm for our evening worship service. Our children attend missions education in Mission Friends (ages 2-5 years), Girls in Action (girls ages first through fifth grade) and Royal Ambassadors (boys ages first through fifth grade). Our teens meet together for their own energetic worship service with a challenging Bible study with our youth pastors.We meet on Wednesday evenings at 5:00 pm for a fellowship meal. At 6:30 pm, our adults enjoy a selection of relevant and challenging Bible study classes in our Equipping University. Our children meet for children’s choirs, while our youth join together for Bible study.
Who can become of a member of Western Avenue Baptist Church?
Any person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and has undergone baptism by immersion is welcome to join Western Avenue. There are several ways to join Western Avenue, regardless of who you are or from where you have come.
- If you are not yet a believer in Jesus Christ, you may join by FAITH. This means to recognize your sinfulness and repent from the sins you have committed, trusting and accepting in the forgiveness offered only by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, following the example of Jesus, be baptized as the public profession of youth faith.
- If you belong to another Baptist church, you may come by LETTER. This simply means transferring your membership from one Baptist church to another. We will contact your previous church and notify them of your desire to transfer membership.
- If records of your membership in a Baptist church are unavailable or if you were still considered a member of a Baptist church and are now coming from a different denomination, you may join by STATEMENT OF FAITH .
- If you are coming from a church in another denomination and have already accepted Jesus Christ as Savior but have not been baptized by immersion, you may join by BAPTISM.
To join Western Avenue, please come forward at the end of the service to one of the ministers and express your wishes to become a member, ask for prayer or seek spiritual guidance. We welcome your desire to find faith in Jesus Christ.
I noticed that Statesville Christian School also uses the church’s facilities. What is the relationship between Western Avenue Baptist Church and Statesville Christian School?
In May of 1994, a group of parents began to meet and the state of the children's education. Statesville Christian School arose from a prayerful and passionate desire to offer to our community an educational option of a school with a total commitment to academic excellence fully and wonderfully integrated with an excellent Biblical worldview. Statesville Christian School was incorporated December 30, 1994 and classes began in the fall of 1995. The school has no official ties to Western Avenue Baptist Church. Western Avenue gladly allows the school to use its facilities and supports Statesville Christian School and its ministry to the children of Iredell County and beyond. The school has a separate administrative staff from the church.
Why are you called “Western Avenue Baptist Church” when you aren’t located on Western Avenue?
That is a good question and the answer is, “We used to be located on Western Avenue.” This church was founded in September 1901 on Western Avenue, then a thriving section of south Statesville. The church enjoyed great success as God blessed over the years. However, as we entered the 1980s, Western Avenue began to realize that it was not able to fulfill its mission in its former location. We had outgrown our buildings and construction was not a solution. Therefore, the church relocated to its current site in May 1983. Our current fellowship hall was originally the sanctuary. The current sanctuary was built in 1989 and we held our first worship service in the new building on August 27, 1989.