Who We Are

Heritage and Identity

First Baptist of Rome is a downtown, county-seat church, the church has been serving Rome for 180 years. The church has approximately 1100 local members and averages approximately 400 in Sunday school and more than 500 in worship. There are five full-time ministerial positions: Senior Pastor, Minister of Education/Administration, Minister of Faith Development (children and preschool), Minister of Worship/Music, and Minister of Students. 

Missions is a strong focus of First Baptist of Rome. Our trademarked mission statement is: “seeking His heart. . .being His hands.” We speak often about being the “hands of Christ.” This commitment is expressed globally and locally. In the past few years, we have sent teams or individuals to North Africa, Kenya, Asia, India, and Peru. Our primary vehicle for working with other Baptists is the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We are also affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia and the Georgia Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Local ministry partners include: Good Neighbor Ministries, Rome Action Ministries, the William S. Davies Homeless Shelters, Rome-Floyd Community Kitchen, and Habitat for Humanity.

Women and men participate equally in church leadership. First Baptist has ordained women as deacons for decades. We have also ordained and employed female ministers.

Our Mission

The Mission Of First Baptist Church is . . .
To be a community of believers where we seek to mold our lives after the heart of Jesus Christ, and where we seek to be His hands in missions and ministry.

Our Core Values
In heritage . . . Baptist
In relationships . . .Family
In character . . . Christlikeness
In service . . . Leadership
In all things . . . Prayer

Covenant of Church Members
Led by the Spirit of God to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and having entered into the fellowship of the Spirit through His Church, we, the members of the Church, prayerfully make this covenant with one another and with our Heavenly Father.

We respect all faith traditions, but we shall cherish our heritage as Baptist Christians. We shall hold dear the principles of soul competency, the priesthood of all believers, the autonomy of the local Church, and the Bible as our trusted and authoritative guide in matters of faith and practice. As a group of gathered believers, we understand ourselves to be a part of a family of faith. Therefore, we shall love, forgive, admonish, encourage, serve, and pray for one another—always in the spirit of being sisters and brothers in Christ.

Jesus Christ shall be our model for living. We recognize that none of us shall ever attain his perfection; yet, we shall always strive to grow in likeness of Him. His heart shall be our guide for the way we minister, organize ourselves, conduct our business, and treat others.

We believe that the Church is the body of Christ on earth; therefore, we are the hands of Christ. Knowing this about ourselves, we shall be satisfied with nothing less than being leaders in Christian service. We can only accomplish this goal by serving more. Our Master is our example. We know that we serve Christ himself when we minister to the least, the last, the lost, and the overlooked.

We believe that, on our own, we are not strong enough, wise enough, nor good enough to accomplish our mission as a Church. Therefore, we trust in God’s strength, God’s wisdom, and God’s righteousness to empower us. Only through prayer do we accomplish our mission as a Church.