A Pioneer Congregation on the Banks of Brushy Creek
Brushy Creek Baptist Church sits at 4999 Old Spartanburg Road in Taylors, South Carolina, on the northern edge of the Greenville area. The congregation traces its roots to 1794, when five men and their families met on the banks of Brushy Creek while George Washington was still President and Greenville County itself was barely eight years old. First services were held in a humble pioneer log cabin on land owned by a man known in church history as "Captain Abney." From those beginnings, Brushy Creek went on to plant thirty-three other churches across the Upstate, from First Baptist Church of Greenville to Taylors First Baptist, earning it the nickname "Mother Church of Greenville."
By 1802, members had begun meeting on land that cartographers believe is the current campus. Two centuries later, the property now holds a Worship Center, an Education Building, a Gym and ARC student worship center, plus outdoor recreation space, and serves people who live in Taylors, Greer, and the wider Greenville community. The church's purpose statement is short and direct: "Offering Hope, Building Community."
Three Sunday Mornings, Three Worship Styles
Brushy Creek gathers three times each Sunday. The 8:00 AM service is led by the band and is family-style, with all ages in the room together. The 9:30 AM service features the full choir and orchestra and is the service where ASL interpreters are stationed to the right of the stage. The 11:00 AM service returns to the band-led format. Both the 9:30 and 11:00 services are livestreamed on Facebook, YouTube, and the Church Center app, so members on the road or at home can follow along.
Life Groups for all ages and the Preschool and Kids programs meet during the 9:30 and 11:00 services only. A Spanish-language ministry called Iglesia Refugio meets at 10:45 AM on Sundays and again on Wednesday evenings.
Deaf Ministry and ASL Worship
The Deaf Ministry at Brushy Creek is one of the most visible expressions of the church's commitment to radical hospitality. American Sign Language interpreters translate the 9:30 AM Sunday service, and the 9:30 service is also livestreamed in ASL each week. Past sermons in ASL are archived in their own series list. For those who need audio support, enhanced audio earphones are available at the Info Desk.
The ministry extends well beyond the worship service. Brushy Creek provides transportation and support for individuals from local deaf group homes so they can participate fully in church life. The Deaf Ministry also plans its own fellowship activities, building community among Deaf members and their families.
Preschool, Kids, and Kids Blast
The next generation is the church's most important investment. On Sunday mornings, the Preschool (birth through K4) and Kids ministry (K5 through 5th grade) meet at 9:30 and 11:00. Children divide into small groups and large groups for games, music, and Bible teaching that work hard to make the Bible come to life. Child check-in runs through Planning Center, with kiosks on the first and second floors of the Education Building.
Wednesday nights during the school year bring Kids Blast, an evening for two-year-olds through 5th graders from across Greenville County. The program runs from 5:45 to 7:45 PM and includes a free dinner, recreation, worship, and small group time. Guests are welcome. K2-K4 children enter at the roundabout Preschool Entrance of the Education Building, while K5 through 5th grade enter at the Gym or ARC. A separate Weekday Preschool Program operates during the week under Director Tina Stephens.
Students and College
The Student Ministry draws middle and high schoolers from more than two dozen area schools. On Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM, students gather in the Student Worship Center for Life Group Bible study. Wednesday nights are MDWK, the Student Ministry's midweek gathering, which runs from 5:45 to 7:45 PM during the school year with a free meal, group worship, and small group study. A Student Band leads MDWK worship each week. Camps, retreats, and a graduating-senior mission trip round out the year.
The College and Career Ministry serves students aged 18 to 22, drawn from a dozen area schools and recent graduates who have started working in their field. They meet at 9:30 AM on Sundays in room E307 for Bible study and stay for the 11:00 worship service. Wednesday nights during the school year bring College MDWK from 8:00 to 10:00 PM, with dinner, fellowship, prayer, and worship. Game nights, movie nights, baseball outings, retreats, and topical Bible studies fill out the calendar.
Women, Senior Adults, and Life Groups
The Women's Ministry gathers women from every stage of life. Coffee and Conversations meets regularly for activities such as book club, game night, and crafting, and women of all ages, including moms and daughters, are encouraged to attend. Midweek Bible studies are offered on both Monday and Wednesday mornings, supplementing the Sunday Life Groups. Each Christmas season, hundreds of women gather for the Women's Christmas Banquet, a three-course meal and evening of entertainment.
The Senior Adult Ministry supplements Sunday worship and Life Groups with a monthly fellowship on the third Tuesday, complete with lunch, and an annual Senior Adult Banquet. The group is also known for its road trips, which have carried them as far as Florida and Alaska. Senior adults are sprinkled all over the campus, serving in nearly every ministry area.
Life Groups are the small-group backbone of the church. Classes of men, women, and co-eds at every life stage meet each week around God's Word for encouragement, fellowship, and spiritual growth. There are also topical adult Bible studies during the week. A monthly men's prayer gathering, led by Pastor Cory, meets on the third Thursday from 6:00 to 7:00 AM at the Brushy Creek Cafe in The Lobby.
The Worship Ministry
Music is central to Brushy Creek. The Worship Team includes the Choir, Orchestra, Band, and soloists who lead the three Sunday services and special events throughout the year. Rehearsals take place on Wednesday nights. Worship Pastors Tom Barrett and Robert Hargrove, along with Worship Director Jacob Rotton, oversee the program, and the Audio/Video team handles sound, lights, cameras, and the livestream. A Student Band leads MDWK worship each week and performs at special events.
Missions: The GO. Strategy
Missions at Brushy Creek is organized around a four-step framework called GO.: fill out a Serve and GO. application, complete the Opportunities and Trips Form, take the GO. Assessment, and Make Disciples. The church cultivates deep partnerships with individuals, organizations, and locations across the city, the nation, and the world.
Local GO. Partners include Heritage Baptist Church in West Greenville, the Greenville Baptist Association, Piedmont Women's Center, Miracle Hill Ministries, Mitchell Road Food Bags, the Westside Crisis Center, and a Summer Meal Program in West Greenville. Brushy Creek Ambassadors represent the Kingdom at community events, while Fellowship of Christian Athletes reaches local high school and college athletes and Good News Club shares Jesus with children at Brushy Creek Elementary.
Nationally, the church partners with DoXa Church in New York, Bengali churches in New York, Redemption Church in Utah, and the Metro New York Baptist Association. Internationally, members serve with Chosen Children's Ministries in Nicaragua and with the International Mission Board in the Asia Pacific. Each fall, the congregation sends more than a thousand Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes through Samaritan's Purse, and many families sponsor children through Compassion International. In 2025, Brushy Creek gave more than $793,834 to missions, including significant support of the Lottie Moon International Mission Board and the Annie Armstrong North American Mission Board.
Serving on Campus
Volunteers carry most of the ministry at Brushy Creek, and a long menu of opportunities is available. The Audio/Video team runs sound, lights, cameras, and the livestream and is open to beginners. The Brushy Creek Cafe team serves hot coffee and warm smiles every Sunday. The Care and Prayer Team welcomes people at the front of the altar near the end of services. The Connections Team opens doors, answers questions, and helps guests feel at home. The Kids Team supports Preschool and Kids Blast, the Student Ministry invests in middle and high schoolers, and the Worship Ministry welcomes instrumentalists, vocalists, and tech volunteers. The church also partners with Church at the Mill to certify members through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, with scholarships available to members.
A History of Firsts
Brushy Creek has long been a church that introduces new programs to the Greenville region. In 1830 it became the first church in Greenville County to start a Sunday School. The Women's Missionary Society followed in 1881, and youth programs began in 1920. James C. Furman, the first president of Furman University, served as Brushy Creek's pastor for eight years beginning in 1856; during his tenure members collected $17 for the church's first missions fund.
A brick chapel and sanctuary were dedicated in 1902 across from the current property. During World War I, soldiers training nearby at Camp Sevier attended services and were hosted by members for Sunday dinner before returning to post. The first Vacation Bible School in the area was held here in 1945, the Weekday Preschool began in 1968, and the church hired its first Student Pastor in 1970. In 1982, members joined an international crusade to England, opening decades of mission work that has since stretched from Serbia to Turkey, Peru to Japan. By 1995, having outgrown its earlier home, the congregation moved back to the original 1802 land and broke ground on a new Sanctuary.
What Brushy Creek Believes
Brushy Creek is a local church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Its priorities are stated plainly: uphold biblical teaching, show radical hospitality, overwhelmingly love the next generation, strive for excellence in all areas, labor to spread the gospel, and talk about Jesus - a lot.
The church's plan is built on four pillars: Worship, Grow, Serve, Go. Believers gather regularly for worship to glorify God, grow spiritually through personal time with God and intentional discipleship with others, serve the church body through time and gifts, and obey the Great Commission by taking the message of Jesus to their neighborhoods and the nations. Baptism is reserved for those who have personally repented and trusted in Christ for salvation and is performed by immersion, as an outward expression of inward change.
Planning a First Visit
Guests at Brushy Creek are invited to come as they are. Some attend casually, others more formally; all are welcome. Guest parking is available immediately in front of the Worship Center, the middle building on campus between the Education Building and the Gym. Golden Pass Parking, for those with mobility needs, sits next to the Gym. On arrival, visitors head to the Next Steps booth in The Lobby, where Connections Director Alex Pagliaro and a team of volunteers hand out a small gift, answer questions, and point guests toward Membership, Life Groups, Baptism, and service opportunities.
Children from babies through 5th grade can be checked in at kiosks on the first and second floors of the Education Building. Those who want to follow along can watch the 9:30 or 11:00 livestream on Facebook, YouTube, or the Church Center app, and the ASL stream is available for Deaf viewers.
From a log cabin on the banks of Brushy Creek to a multi-building campus serving thousands across the Upstate, Brushy Creek Baptist Church has kept its focus on a single promise: offering hope and building community, one generation at a time.