A Heart for God in Southington
Central Baptist Church sits on eighteen acres along West Street in Southington, Connecticut, a few minutes from the center of town. The church was founded in the spring of 1975 by Pastor Jim Townsley and his wife Janet, who arrived fresh out of college and began weeks of door-to-door visitation before the first service was held on May 25, 1975, in the local Knights of Columbus Hall. Sixty-nine people attended that first gathering, and on July 27, 1975, twenty-seven charter members signed the church into permanent existence. Five decades later, the same campus that began as the old Gibbs Wire and Steel plant now holds a sizable church, a K-12 academy, a music school, and a Bible college, all under the church's oversight.
The church describes itself as an Independent, Fundamental Baptist congregation, and its motto, "A Heart for God and A Heart for People," captures the dual priorities that shape everything from Sunday preaching to a worldwide missionary-sending program. Central Baptist has started sixteen churches and continues to identify church planting as one of its core missions, alongside supporting more than fifty missionary families across the globe.
Sunday on West Street: Services for the Whole Family
Central Baptist runs a full day of services each Sunday. Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m., with graded classes for all ages - "Whether you are two or ninety-two, you can find a place at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings to grow in your faith and study God's Word." The morning service follows at 10:30 a.m. and is interpreted for the deaf, with services also livestreamed on Facebook Live. An evening service gathers at 6:00 p.m., and the week closes with a Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m.
Music is a steady thread through the services. The music ministry uses traditional hymns and gospel songs, and the choir, orchestra, and special music are open to anyone who wants to serve. The team is led by Music Director Matt Bennett, who grew up in Connecticut and earned a music degree from New England Baptist College before joining the staff alongside his wife N'gella and daughter.
First-time visitors are welcomed at a welcome center on the way into the auditorium, where they receive a small gift from the church. There is also a Connection Card available online for anyone who would like the church to follow up after a visit.
A Sign-Language Welcome: The Deaf Ministry
One of the most distinctive features of Central Baptist is its long-standing commitment to the deaf community. The morning service is interpreted, and the livestream on Facebook Live is also interpreted for the deaf. The church maintains a separate Deaf Ministry that gathers for fellowship, food, and seasonal activities, with several different interpreters serving on rotation. Visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing are welcomed with the same emphasis as anyone else walking through the doors on West Street.
The Pastoral Staff
Pastor Joel Boyle grew up in a pastor's home in western North Carolina and was saved at a young age. He submitted to the call to preach in 2000 and was among the first students to attend New England Baptist College, where he completed his ministry training. He and his wife Sarah have four children and now lead the church.
Assistant Pastor Jared Petrie grew up in a Christian home in Saratoga Springs, New York, came to New England Baptist College, and met his wife Anna there. They have three children and are involved in many areas of practical church ministry, including the bus ministry that picks up riders from Waterbury, New Britain, and Bristol.
Music Director Matt Bennett grew up in a Christian home in Connecticut, served in church music throughout his teen years, and received his music degree from New England Baptist College. He leads the choir, orchestra, and the New England Academy of Music.
Founding Pastor Jim Townsley and his wife Janet arrived in Southington in 1975 to plant the church. Under his leadership, the church launched Central Christian Academy in 1984, New England School of the Bible in 1992, and New England Baptist College in 2004. Pastor Townsley is the author of several books and a frequent speaker at church planting and leadership conferences around the country.
The Bus Ministry: Reaching Neighboring Communities
The bus ministry is one of the church's longest-running outreach arms. Each week, buses pick up riders from Waterbury, New Britain, and Bristol, bringing people of all ages to services and Sunday School. The ministry is a practical expression of the church's belief that no one should have to find their own way to a pew. Assistant Pastor Jared Petrie oversees the bus ministry and works with the team of drivers and helpers who make the weekly routes possible.
Central Youth: Raising the Next Generation
Central Youth exists to nurture a heart for God in the next generation. The teen ministry runs summer camps, youth rallies, and the annual Youth Fest, an action-packed fall day of preaching, games, music, food, and competition held on the church campus in Southington. Registration is open to groups and individuals, and medical release forms are available online. Pastor Townsley has written at length about the urgency of investing in young people, noting that "from where will the next generation of leaders come if churches don't have any children?" That conviction shapes the youth ministry's emphasis on mentoring, fellowship, and serious Bible teaching.
Central Christian Academy: Four Decades of Christian Education
Central Christian Academy (CCA) opened on August 25, 1984, with ninety-five students in grades K through 12. The first graduating class of six walked down the aisle in May 1985. Nearly forty years later, CCA continues to train students from kindergarten through twelfth grade with qualified Christian teachers, organized sports, and music programs. By 1992, growth in the academy led the church to build additional classrooms and a gymnasium, completed in December 1993.
The school describes its mission as helping students master academic concepts while growing in their relationship with God, with coaches and teachers investing in building capable Christian leaders. A campus tour reveals students learning and growing in a setting that integrates faith with every subject.
New England Academy of Music: Music Education with a Faith Foundation
New England Academy of Music (NEAM) is the music school housed on the West Street campus. The academy offers high-level music training to young people in a wholesome, faith-based environment, with a curriculum that balances technical skill with creative expression.
Instruction is available in piano, voice, and violin, with a classical-based philosophy for piano that develops technique, music theory, and performance. Violin students are accepted starting at age six. The NEAM Girls Choir is open to young ladies in sixth grade and above, and the NEAM String Orchestra welcomes string players from fifth grade to adult. Both ensembles meet every other Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. A Moms and Tots class meets Thursday mornings at 11:00 a.m., using classical music to develop listening and motor skills. The faculty includes Matt Bennett (piano and composition), Julia Brooks (voice and violin), and Lydia Bennett (piano and violin). Inquiries can be sent to music@centralbaptistchurch.net.
New England Baptist College: Training for the Ministry
New England Baptist College (NEBC) opened on September 7, 2004, with twenty-three students enrolled, building on the foundation of New England School of the Bible, which had begun in 1994 under the direction of Dr. Bob Elzey as a three-year night program. The college is the training ground for many of the pastors, missionaries, and church planters associated with Central Baptist, including Pastor Joel Boyle, Assistant Pastor Jared Petrie, Music Director Matt Bennett, and the church planters featured in the annual Missions Conference.
NEBC also hosts the Heart for God Podcast, where Pastor Townsley interviews pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders on topics ranging from evangelism and church planting to retirement planning and family life on the mission field.
A Confessional Statement of Faith
Central Baptist holds a detailed Statement of Faith covering twenty-one doctrinal points, beginning with the Scriptures: "We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction." The King James Version is the only translation used in the church's public ministry.
The statement affirms one true God in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the fall of man, salvation by grace through faith in Christ, and the believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper as the two ordinances of the church. It holds to believers' church polity with pastors and deacons as the only Scriptural offices, the premillennial and imminent return of Christ, six literal twenty-four-hour days of creation, the biblical definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and the sanctity of human life from conception. The statement explicitly rejects the ecumenical movement, evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution.
On baptism, the statement reads, "We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior." On the Lord's Supper, the church practices commemoration of Christ's death, preceded by solemn self-examination.
Becoming a Christian
The church offers a simple, Bible-based pathway to faith through its Becoming a Christian materials. The five truths include: all have sinned; God is holy and cannot allow sin into heaven; Jesus Christ is the only one who can save; Christ's death on the cross paid the penalty for sin; and the sinner must repent and trust Jesus Christ alone as Savior. The materials invite anyone reading to pray, admit sinfulness, and call upon Christ for salvation.
Reaching the World: Missions and Church Planting
Central Baptist has supported more than fifty missionary families and organizations, and the church's annual Missions Conference brings many of them to Southington. Recent conference missionaries have included families preparing to plant a church in Bridgeport, Connecticut; serve in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and other locations; and minister to the deaf in Gabon, the Hopi people, and inner cities in the United States. Missions conferences feature preaching, family updates, and opportunities to connect personally with missionaries.
The church has started sixteen churches and counts church planting as a continuing priority. Pastor Townsley maintains a Church Planter Helper blog where he writes on church planting, preaching, personal growth, retirement planning, and the everyday challenges of ministry, with categories that include articles on the pastor's car, the pastor's salary, retirement investing, and the emotional stress of ministry life.
The Church Helps Ministry: Mentoring Pastors
After fifty years of pastoring Central Baptist, Pastor Townsley now dedicates much of his time to the Church Helps Ministry, which offers church reviews, revival meetings, missions conferences, family conferences, Bible conferences, financial conferences, spiritual warfare conferences, and wild game dinners. The flagship church review is a three-day weekend that includes a questionnaire, a property tour, attendance at Sunday School and morning services, an evening preaching service, a vision presentation, and a two-year plan for both pastor and church. Pastors who have participated recommend the process as thorough and beneficial.
The Northeast Leadership Conference
Each spring, Central Baptist hosts the Northeast Leadership Conference on its campus, a day of training and encouragement designed to equip servants for local churches fulfilling the Great Commission. What began as a Sunday School Teacher's Convention has broadened to include a variety of topics helpful to every level of leadership in Baptist churches. The conference features a guest preacher and the annual Faithful Servant Award. Pastors and church leaders from across the region gather for fellowship, preaching, and practical ministry training.
Summer VBS and Year-Round Activities
Summer Vacation Bible School is a fixture of the church's summer calendar, running each year from Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., for children ages four to twelve. The church also runs an annual Youth Fest each fall, drawing teens and youth groups for a day of games, competitions, preaching, and food. Men's and Ladies' Fellowships meet regularly for connection and spiritual growth.
Foundations for Faith and Heart for God Podcasts
Two podcasts carry the church's teaching well beyond Southington. The Heart for God Podcast, produced through New England Baptist College, features Pastor Townsley and a variety of guests discussing ministry, missions, family, finances, and Christian living. The Foundations for Faith Podcast, also hosted by Pastor Townsley, includes extended interviews on church planting, raising children, missions, the next generation, and the transforming power of the gospel. Both are available through the church's online channels.
Sermons and Live Streaming
Sermons are available on the church's YouTube channel and through Sermon Audio, with archives of recent messages accessible online. Sunday services are livestreamed on Facebook Live, with interpretation for the deaf. CD and DVD copies of messages can be requested by calling the church office. The live stream page also provides alternate listening options for those unable to access the primary feed.
How to Get Connected
Visitors and newcomers are encouraged to stop by the welcome center, fill out a Connection Card online, or simply introduce themselves to a pastor after the service. The church invites anyone to visit, attend a Sunday School class at 9:30 a.m., stay for the 10:30 a.m. worship service, and return for the 6:00 p.m. evening service or the Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m. Giving is available online through a secure giving portal.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
From a first service of sixty-nine people in a Knights of Columbus Hall to a multi-building campus that hosts a church, a K-12 academy, a music school, and a Bible college, Central Baptist Church has spent fifty years building a community of faith in Southington. The church's story is closely tied to one family, the Townsleys, whose vision for sound Bible teaching, conservative worship, and global missions has shaped every ministry on the West Street campus. With sixteen churches planted, more than fifty missionary families supported, and the next generation being trained in its own classrooms and college, Central Baptist continues to point to the same heartbeat it has carried since 1975: a heart for God and a heart for people.