Three Sunday Languages on State Route 56
Bellevue Baptist Church sits along State Route 56 on the east side of Owensboro, Kentucky, and it has become known for something many mid-sized American churches rarely attempt: four distinct language ministries gathering on a single campus every Sunday. English services are held at 9:15am and 10:45am, a Hispanic congregation meets at 1:00pm, and a Congolese congregation meets at the same hour in a different part of the building. A Burmese fellowship is shepherded by a church-planting pastor, and the church is also working alongside an Afghan mission strategist to reach Afghan internationals arriving in Owensboro. Bellevue describes itself as a Bible-believing, contemporary, growing congregation that loves God, loves people, and wants to make a difference around the globe. Its stated mission is to encourage people from all walks of life to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
What Sundays Look Like at the English Services
First-time guests are welcomed into a relaxed, multigenerational room where jeans, shorts, and the occasional suit and tie all sit comfortably together. The 9:15am and 10:45am gatherings follow the same pattern: a band and worship team lead a blend of contemporary praise songs and traditional hymns, the congregation prays together, and one of the pastors preaches an expository message rooted in Scripture. Both services are also live-streamed on the church's online platform so that regular attenders who are traveling, sick, or living out of town can worship with the body from wherever they are.
Near the main entrance, a Welcome Center is staffed to help newcomers find their way and to point families toward the kids' check-in stations. The Preschool (birth through Pre-K) and Elementary (Kindergarten through fifth grade) classes run during both morning services, so parents do not have to choose between hearing the sermon and having their children cared for. During the first service, middle and high school students break off into their own Life Groups for age-tailored Bible teaching and discussion, with the option to sit with family or with friends during the second service.
Hispanic and Congolese Services in the Afternoon
At 1:00pm on Sundays the same building fills up with two more congregations, each with its own pastor and its own rhythm of worship. The Hispanic service gathers in the Youth Room (Y140) and is filled with music, prayer, and preaching in Spanish. The African service fills Room A101-103 and lifts up the cultural heritage of the Congolese people through music, dance, and heartfelt prayer. The Congolese live stream invites online viewers to participate in real time through live chat, prayer requests, and song requests, and the wider Bellevue team supplies worship guides, Scripture reflections, and prayer groups for those who join remotely.
The church describes the African service as both a spiritual encounter and a celebration of cultural traditions. It is one expression of a broader commitment to language ministry that includes the Burmese fellowship, the developing Afghan outreach, and a long history of welcoming internationals into the Owensboro community. For newcomers and longtime members alike, the multilingual Sunday schedule is one of the clearest markers of Bellevue's identity.
Kids from Birth Through Fifth Grade
Kids Ministry Director Erica Houston leads a children's ministry built around the conviction that life is very busy at this stage of family life and that Bellevue wants to partner with parents to lay a strong spiritual foundation. The Preschool area serves babies through Pre-K with an active, hands-on approach to learning that includes a lot of singing, dancing, jumping, and laughing. The Elementary area serves Kindergarten through fifth grade with leaders who are well trained and serve weekly to build relationships with the kids in their class.
Sunday mornings at both 9:15 and 10:45 follow the same simple rhythm. Parents check in at the Preschool or Kids Ministry Check-In Station near the main entrance (just past the Welcome Center), receive a nametag for their child and a matching pickup label, and walk their child to the classroom. After the service, presenting the matching label at the check-in station brings the child back to the parent. First-time guests can reach out to Erica Houston ahead of time through the church office or stop by the Welcome Center when they arrive.
Students in Middle School and High School
The Student Ministry, led by Pastor Kyle Watkins, shares the simple goal of walking alongside parents to help middle and high school students develop and grow in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Activities range from mission trips and camps to movie nights and bowling, but the weekly rhythm is the backbone of the ministry.
Sunday mornings begin with Bible teaching followed by Life Groups during the first service, a time for relevant life discussions and the kind of relationships where students are individually known and cared for. Wednesday nights are louder. Doors open at 6:00pm with upbeat music playing, and from 6:15 to 7:30pm students take part in a high-energy worship service with games, skits, videos, and a message aimed squarely at the realities of teenage life. From 7:30 to 8:30pm the gym opens for basketball and other recreation. First-time visitors are encouraged to let the team know it is their first week, and a warm welcome will be ready.
Worship Through Choir, Orchestra, and Band
The Worship Ministry at Bellevue, led by Worship Pastor J.P. Kwok, builds its philosophy on the simple conviction that worship is responding to God as He reveals Himself. The ministry supports four ensembles that rotate through Sunday mornings. The Choir is open to ninth graders and older, requires no audition, does not require music-reading skills, and asks only that members be willing to attend Wednesday rehearsals from 7:00 to 8:30pm. The Choir sings at both morning services and participates in special events and the annual Winter Worship Retreat, with breaks from mid-July to mid-August and mid-December to mid-January.
The Orchestra is similarly open to ninth graders and older, requires a high school level of playing experience, and rehearses on Wednesday evenings. The Band and Worship Team are auditioned ensembles that rotate on a schedule based on the players available; Worship Team hopefuls must first spend three months in the Choir before auditioning. Together these groups supply the music for every Sunday morning, and they collaborate for special events like the Winter Bible Conference. Kathy Smith serves as Orchestra Librarian.
Growing Together Through Life Groups, D-Groups, and Grace Marriage
The Discipleship Ministry is structured around three main pathways. Adult Life Groups are ongoing Bible study groups for all ages that meet on Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and throughout the week. A list of open Life Groups is maintained in the church center and updated regularly. Discipleship Groups (D-Groups) are short-term classes designed to help people grow in the basics of following Jesus, with new classes launched on a rolling basis.
SupportU provides short-term courses and support groups for people walking through difficult seasons. Current offerings include DivorceCare and GriefShare, each meeting on specific Sunday evenings in the spring and fall. Healing Hearts, a separate monthly support group, runs throughout the year. For couples, Grace Marriage is a multi-month curriculum designed to build marriages that last a lifetime; new cohorts register each November and gather on Saturday mornings in quarterly sessions beginning in January. Women's, men's, and 55-plus ministries round out the discipleship pathways for adults at different stages of life.
A Church with a Global, National, and Local Reach
Missions are woven into Bellevue's identity. The Missions Ministry coordinates partnerships on three levels. On the global level, Bellevue sends and supports missionaries who serve alongside the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, including the Wainwrights in Lyon, France, where they are planting churches in a city of more than 1.7 million; Michael and Sandra Little in Guatemala, providing food, medical, dental, and vision care alongside church planting; Every Village A Church in Malawi, which has planted 19 new churches and trained more than 840 widows in partnership with the Baptist Convention of Malawi; the Dirinamai family in the Himalayan foothills; the McKinleys in Budapest, Hungary, through Navigators; Hannah O. as an English teacher in North Africa; the Sequeira family and the Emmanuel Home of Protection for abused young women in Nicaragua; StoryTogether Bible work in Madagascar and other parts of Africa; and a Haiti widows' meals ministry. Each global partner is supported with a defined annual allocation from the church's BIG Missions Offering, alongside the congregation's Lottie Moon giving through the IMB.
On the national level, Bellevue supports church planting through Real Life Church at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and The Well Community Church in the greater St. Louis area, both of which minister to populations with little gospel saturation. The church also supports an Afghan church plant in the Louisville area, gives to the Annie Armstrong National Missions Offering and the Eliza Broadus State Missions Offering, and partners with Ross Boultinghouse of Across Campus, an evangelistic campus ministry at the University of Louisville.
On the local level, Bellevue partners with Refuge Owensboro for refugee and asylum-seeker ministry, Good News Jail and Prison Ministry, the Friends of Sinners faith-based recovery program, MentorKids Kentucky, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, YoungLife Owensboro, CareNet Pregnancy Support Center, Sunrise Children's Services for foster and adoptive families, the in-house food ministry known as Christ's Cupboard, the Bellevue Quilt Ministry, and a Deacon-led Benevolence fund that assists church members during acute financial needs.
Christ's Cupboard, Quilts, and Compassion
Two of Bellevue's signature local ministries reflect the creativity of the congregation. Christ's Cupboard is a food ministry that each year provides needed groceries to more than a thousand people in the Owensboro area. Every distribution is paired with an invitation to church and a willingness to pray with families for their specific situations. The Bellevue Quilt Ministry brings volunteers together on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30am to 3:00pm at the Bellevue Quilt Center on West Ninth Street. The group's quilts, clothing, and personal items go to CareNet, Fresh Start, Lighthouse Recovery, Owensboro Recovery, Friends of Sinners, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and mission teams serving in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Africa; every quilt carries with it the message of the Gospel.
The Bellevue Disability Ministry makes room for families affected by disability to participate fully in the life of the church, and Healing Hearts provides a monthly support group for those walking through grief and other hard seasons. Recreation opportunities are coordinated through the church center calendar and typically include open gym nights and seasonal gatherings.
The Bellevue Arts Collective
For those whose calling is to fill the earth with good and beautiful things, Bellevue runs an arts community that takes the cultural mandate seriously. The Bellevue Arts Collective gathers painters, poets, writers, musicians, photographers, and craftspeople on the last Monday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00pm in the Missions Café. Each meeting opens with a devotion on the arts from a biblical perspective, includes featured artists sharing their work, and ends with planning for future exhibits and events.
The collective has hosted several exhibitions inside the church atrium, including Works in Progress, Baptism, Psalms, Gardens, Home, and Shalom. Original short stories, poems, and song lyrics produced for these exhibits are made available for reading online. An opening reception for each exhibit typically includes a curated menu, refreshments, and childcare so families can attend together.
Digital Resources for Growing at Home
Outside of Sunday, the church produces a steady stream of digital content. Senior Pastor Greg Faulls hosts the Jesus in a Tragic World podcast, an honest and practical conversation about faith in the middle of real life. The Good News Show is a video interview series covering topics of interest to the church and the wider community. Annual 21 Days of Prayer guides walk members through a structured season of focused prayer at the start of each year. Archived sermon series, including The Master's Class on Prayer, The Power of With, Receive, The Goodness of God, Get Your Life Back, and many more going back more than a decade, are available through the church's online media library.
Beliefs and Statement of Faith
Bellevue's statement of faith is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the confession of faith adopted by Southern Baptist churches. The church teaches that the Bible is the trustworthy Word of God, that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that those who follow Jesus are called to be fully devoted disciples in every area of life. Services combine expository preaching with congregational worship, believers' baptism follows a personal profession of faith, and the Lord's Supper is observed in keeping with Baptist tradition. The church cooperates with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board and North American Mission Board in gospel work both at home and abroad.
Leadership
Senior Pastor Dr. Greg Faulls provides the overall preaching and vision for the church. Executive Pastor Billy Bell assists with leadership and oversees the operational health of the congregation. Worship Pastor J.P. Kwok leads the music ministry and oversees the choir, orchestra, band, and worship team. Pastor Kyle Watkins leads both the Student Ministry and the Discipleship Ministry. Erica Houston directs the Kids Ministry. Antonio Garcia pastors the Hispanic congregation. Kam Len Thang Haokip serves as the Burmese Church Planting Pastor. Lwambo Bakwite serves as the Congolese Pastor. Wes Buehler directs the media ministry that supports live-streaming, audio, video, and online resources.
First-Time Visitors and the Weekly Rhythm
Visitors typically arrive a few minutes before the service they plan to attend and head first to the Welcome Center near the main entrance. From there they can be pointed to kids' check-in, a Life Group meeting, the Missions Café for coffee, or simply a comfortable seat in the worship center. Dress is casual; a smile and an openness to worship are the only real expectations. The church's typical week moves from Sunday morning worship and Life Groups to Wednesday night choirs, orchestras, and student ministry. Members and guests can register for events and classes through the church center, give online, subscribe to the podcast, and download the Bellevue app for mobile access to sermons, groups, and the events calendar. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00am to 5:00pm and Friday from 8:00am to 12:00pm.