On Russell Road in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, Del Ray Baptist Church has gathered since 1897 as a Bible-teaching, Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying congregation. The church describes its services as pretty simple: prayer, singing, the preaching of God's Word, the proclamation of the gospel, and a lot of talk about Jesus. Two and a half decades after thirteen residents of a community then numbering fewer than a dozen homes first met in a private parlor to organize the church, members had grown enough to build a sanctuary of their own. Today they still occupy the building they moved into on Russell Road in 1961.
From a Carpenter's Shop to Russell Road
On the evening of November 12, 1897, thirteen people gathered in the home of B.W. Nalls to organize a Baptist church in the town of Del Ray. The nearest Baptist church at the time sat in the city of Alexandria, and Rev. James H. Butler of First Baptist Church of Alexandria helped the small band of neighbors form their own congregation. They called Rev. James Godwin Council, then ninety years old, to serve as pastor for one year.
Within weeks, the new church was meeting twice a month at the Del Ray Methodist Church and soon after in a carpentry shop fitted out for worship. In 1899 members bought an unfinished schoolhouse from a Catholic parish and refurbished it. Supply preachers from Alexandria and Washington filled the pulpit until January 1901, when Rev. Robert Harlan was called to preach twice a month. By 1904 the roll listed 28 members and 60 in Sunday School.
Weekly preaching settled in under Rev. C. Kelly Hobbs in September 1907. Eight years later the congregation built its first purpose-built home at the corner of Mt. Vernon Avenue and Del Ray Avenue, where it stayed for thirty-five years. Under Rev. Dr. Julius Paul Gulley (1941 to 1957), the church grew again, moving in 1950 to a new building on West Del Ray Avenue and giving rise to two mission churches: Sunset Hills Baptist in 1953 and Virginia Hills Baptist in 1957.
On May 21, 1961, Del Ray Baptist moved to its present building on Russell Road. That same year it co-sponsored a church plant in West Springfield that grew into Westwood Baptist Church. In the decades that followed, the church sponsored a Hispanic ministry from 1987 to 2012, helped launch a Korean ministry that is now its own church plant, and gave space to Alexandria Presbyterian Church from 1997 to 2022.
A new chapter opened in 2007. After the pastor resigned, Paul Douglas, an Army National Guard chaplain, came as interim. In 2008 the church called him without salary. Under his leadership the members voted to enter a Watch Care agreement with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and, on February 2, 2011, approved a revitalization partnership with Capitol Hill Baptist Church. On August 19, 2012, the church called Garrett Kell, then an associate pastor at Capitol Hill, to serve as the full-time pastor; he began September 1, 2012.
Sundays on Russell Road
Sunday is the heart of the week at Del Ray Baptist. The day opens at 9:00 AM with the Equipping Hour, the church's version of Sunday School for every age. At 10:15 AM the main service fills the Main Hall. On the first Sunday of each odd-numbered month, and on the third Sunday of every month, members gather again at 5:00 PM for the Sunday Night Service.
Visitors will find the services described by the church as pretty simple. The congregation prays, because God is the provider and the one to be sought. They sing, because God is worthy of praise. They preach God's Word, because God gives life through Scripture. They proclaim the gospel, both to those who do not yet know God and to those who do. And they talk a lot about Jesus, because He is the only hope for the world.
Music is Christ-exalting, God-glorifying, and Scripture-saturated. Instruments accompany the singing, and the song list routinely pairs a hymn from the 1600s with a song from the 2020s. As for dress, the church says visitors will see all kinds of people wearing all kinds of different clothing. Shorts and suits are equally welcome.
Equipping Hour and the Children
The 9:00 AM Equipping Hour is more than Sunday School. Children's ministry is offered for nursery through sixth grade during that hour, using a Bible-based curriculum that emphasizes age-appropriate teaching about God and His Son. Parents may also keep their children with them in the main service; many families do, especially with older children. During the 10:15 AM Main Service, children's ministry is available for children four years old and under.
Children's ministry is built around five commitments: supporting parents as the primary teachers of biblical truth, teaching the whole counsel of Scripture with an emphasis on the gospel, praying for the children's regeneration through the faithful teaching of God's Word, modeling Christian life before them, and freeing parents to participate fully in corporate worship. Every volunteer who serves with children is a church member who has been screened, interviewed, and trained. Most are moms and dads themselves.
Bible Time Before Sunrise
Outside of Sundays, the church gathers early. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 7:30 AM, Bible Time meets in the Main Hall for a verse-by-verse study through a single book of the Bible. Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM bring another verse-by-verse study, currently working through Psalms and 2 Peter in the Chapel; everyone is welcome. Two women's Bible studies also run on Wednesdays: a morning study on Ephesians in the Chapel and an evening ten-week study at a member's home on Nancy Guthrie's The Word of the Lord.
The Pastoral Internship
One distinctive offering is the Pastoral Internship Program. The internship runs nine months, September through May, with weekly reading assignments, papers, group meetings with the pastor, twice-weekly Bible Time, weekly staff meetings, and elder meetings every other week. The spring semester adds a course on biblical counseling. Past interns have gone on to serve as lay pastors, church planters, and full-time pastors; seminary credit is available through The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Stipends of $2,000 per month are provided. U.S. citizen applications are due March 1; international applications are due October 1.
Youth, Retreats, and Boot Camps
Youth Ministry meets twice a month. Students gather on the first and third Wednesdays at 6:30 PM and on the fourth Sundays at 9:00 AM. A youth retreat is held each summer at Black Rock Christian Camp and Retreat Center. A men's retreat takes place each fall, and a women's retreat each spring. Twice a year the church hosts Bible Boot Camps in the Main Hall: a Friday evening from 7 to 10 PM and a Saturday morning from 8:30 AM to noon, focused on deep study of a single book. Special Seminars are also held bi-annually. Fellowship Groups meet in homes across the D.C. region during the week and are reserved for current members.
A Four-Step Membership Path
Del Ray Baptist teaches that membership in a local church is the normal expectation for a healthy Christian. Joining involves four steps. It begins with a Membership Information Class: three one-hour Sunday morning sessions during the 9:00 to 10:00 AM Equipping Hour on the first, second, and third Sundays of the month, with childcare for nursery through sixth grade. Next comes a Conversation with an elder, who reviews the prospective member's testimony and a signed agreement with the Statement of Faith and Church Covenant. The elders then commend the candidate at their meeting, after which the congregation votes. Members Meetings are held six times a year to welcome new members, say goodbye to those moving away, and handle matters of stewardship and missions.
The Church Covenant itself has been renewed for over 114 years. New members publicly affirm a series of commitments: to submit to Scripture as the final word, to pursue holiness, to assemble regularly, to seek the unity of the Spirit, to use words to build one another up, to show Christian love and forgiveness, to encourage and watch over one another, to raise children in the instruction of the Lord, to rejoice and weep with one another, to defend the preaching of the Bible and the right administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper, to give cheerfully and regularly, to proclaim the gospel at home and abroad, and to unite with a faithful church wherever they next live.
What Del Ray Baptist Believes
The 2018 Statement of Faith stands alongside the Nicene Creed (325 and 381), the New Hampshire Confession (1833), the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), the Southgate Fellowship Affirmations and Denials, and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. The church believes in one true God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; in the Bible as the totally sufficient, trustworthy, and error-free revelation of God; in humanity's creation in God's image, ruined by the fall into sin and justly deserving punishment; and in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived without sin, died as a substitute, rose again, and now sits at the Father's right hand.
Salvation includes the gifts of regeneration and justification, tied to the response of repentance and faith, and continues in sanctification and the perseverance of believers kept by God's power. The church is made visible in local bodies that faithfully preach the Word and administer baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is by immersion for professing believers and is required for membership; the Lord's Supper is observed regularly by members in good standing with a Gospel-preaching local church. The church teaches that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman, that children are a blessing from conception, and that civil government is ordained by God and to be obeyed except where it contradicts the will of Christ. Christ will return to raise the dead, judge all people, and usher in the new heavens and new earth.
Elders, Pastors, and Deacons
Garrett Kell has served as pastor since 2012. He is joined on the staff team by pastors Chris Disch, Ben Hamilton, Jason Seville, and Bryson Thomas, alongside ten lay pastors. Pastoral Assistant Wyatt Griffin supports the ministry, and Sarah Kosbob coordinates Children's Ministry; Melissa Falcone serves as Women's Counseling Coordinator. A board of deacons and deaconesses oversees a wide range of practical responsibilities, from member care and children's ministry to missions, hospitality, finance, and facilities. Shepherd Statements published by the elders cover Attendance, the Lord's Supper, Baptism and the Lord's Supper and Membership and Children, and Financial Giving for Members.
Sermons, Songs, and Giving
Sermons are released through the Del Ray Baptist Sermons podcast and a secondary audio feed that includes Equipping Hour, Sunday-night sermons, and Special Seminars. The week's music is shared through a public playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Giving can be done online through the Church Center app, by mail, by check or cash dropped into donation boxes in the Main Hall on Sundays, or by securities through the treasurer. ACH bank transfers are encouraged to minimize processing fees. The Church Center app also hosts Bible study registration, group updates, event signups, and the church calendar.