A Congregation on Pilliod Road in Holland, Ohio
First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo sits along Pilliod Road in Holland, a community in the southwestern corner of the Toledo metro area. The congregation identifies as an American Baptist church and describes itself as part of a denomination of roughly one and a half million members shaped by believer's baptism, open communion, the autonomy of the local church, congregational government, the centrality of Scripture, religious freedom, the separation of church and state, and the affirmation of men and women in ministry. Worship is held in English, and the church's life revolves around a single Sunday gathering, weekday Bible study and prayer times, and a long-running pattern of community outreach through its on-site daycare, book club, missions ministry, and cooperative work with other local congregations.
Sundays in the Sanctuary
Worship begins at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday morning, with the service running for roughly an hour. The 10:00 gathering is the central rhythm of the church, and the Sunday bulletin also gives a clear indication of what to expect before and after. Sunday School follows immediately at 11:00 a.m. and runs until noon, allowing families to move from the sanctuary into classrooms without a long break. The church livestreams the 10:00 a.m. service on Facebook Live through its page at facebook.com/firstbaptistchurchofgreatertoledo, and online giving is available through the Give Now page.
First Baptist is intentionally a part of a wider network of area congregations. The pastor, Daniel W. Bellavia, regularly joins with other Holland and Springfield churches for joint worship, including the annual summer service at Strawberry Acres Park in Holland where pastors take part in the preaching, musicians lead the singing together, and congregations from many backgrounds share a single morning of prayer and praise. Locally, that circle includes Holland Free Methodist, Providence Lutheran, Second Baptist Church, The Dwelling Place, Maumee Valley, Living Grace, and Compelled, among others. The groups pray together, conduct prayer walks through the local schools through the Keep Watch ministry, and combine efforts to support students and families in need.
An American Baptist Identity
The church's statement of Baptist identity is posted on the home page and reflects the convictions that shape its life and ministry. The congregation belongs to a tradition that:
- Believes in a personal confession of faith expressed through believer's baptism and open communion.
- Is committed to the autonomy of the local church and practices a congregational form of government.
- Embraces a spirit of cooperation with other Christian churches and religious bodies.
- Adheres to the centrality of the Bible and is non-creedal.
- Advocates for religious freedom and believes in the separation of church and state.
- Affirms and supports men and women in ministry, and is described as the most racially diverse denomination in Protestantism.
That self-understanding is reflected in the way First Baptist relates to other Christians in Holland and in the wider Toledo area. Rather than positioning itself as a stand-alone congregation, the church is part of an intentional ecumenical network of local congregations that share facilities, volunteers, and prayer support. The pastor is quick to note that disagreements are inevitable among people of different political, economic, and social views, but that a shared love for Jesus and for one another sustains the cooperation.
Midweek Ministries: Bible Study, Prayer, and the Kitchen
The church's weekly calendar extends well beyond Sunday morning. Three regular gatherings fill the middle of the week and are open to anyone who wishes to come.
Tuesday Bible Study meets from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and is hosted virtually. The series is listed on the church calendar under the title Bible Study, and members are invited to join the online room each week for study and conversation around Scripture.
A.C.T.S. follows Bible Study on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The acronym A.C.T.S. is a long-standing prayer pattern - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication - and the church uses it as a regular midday time of structured prayer together.
ACTS-Kitchen gathers on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Kitchen is the practical, hospitality arm of that same prayer rhythm: members prepare and serve a community meal for neighbors who walk through the church doors. It is one of the most visible hands-on ministries of the week, and a place where regular volunteers and first-time guests sit at the same table.
The Pastor's Perspective
First Baptist's longest-running teaching voice is the Pastor's Perspective, a monthly column written by Pastor Dan Bellavia that has been appearing on the church's site since 2013. The articles are essentially sermons in print, and they cover an unusually wide range of topics. Recent columns have explored:
- The danger of post-liberalism to the constitutional order that protects religious freedom.
- Conflict and spiritual warfare, drawing on the story of Jacob and Esau.
- The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founders' wrestling with John Locke's language of "life, liberty, and property."
- Unity in the Church over political differences, with Paul's warning in 2 Timothy about godless chatter.
- The cost of resurrection living and the work of the Church between Easter and Pentecost.
- The meaning of repentance as a return rather than a change of mind, rooted in the Hebrew and Aramaic behind the Greek metanoia.
The pastor grew up in small-town western New York, came to faith in a Baptist congregation, and now serves in the greater Toledo area. His writing is consistently scriptural and confessional, leaning on passages from Genesis, the Gospels, Paul, the Psalms, and the prophets to ground reflections on contemporary culture, civic life, and the life of the Church. Recent columns on the cross and resurrection, on Lent and Ash Wednesday, and on the dangers of performative Christianity on social media all show a pastor who preaches Christ crucified as the center of the gospel while encouraging his readers to live out their faith through service to their neighbors.
Music Ministry
Music is one of the listed ministries of the church and is woven into both Sunday worship and the cooperative services the church shares with other local congregations. When the Holland-area churches gather each summer at Strawberry Acres, the First Baptist musicians join with musicians from the partner churches to lead the singing together, and the choir and musicians of the church also support services like Easter Sunday, Scout Sunday, Ash Wednesday, and Pentecost. Visitors should expect a blended style that draws on both traditional hymns and more contemporary selections, led from the platform by the church's musicians and choirs.
Prayer Ministry
Prayer is woven through every part of the church's life. The A.C.T.S. prayer gathering on Tuesdays is the most structured weekly time, but the Prayer Ministry also organizes prayer for the church's local outreach, its missionaries, the schools in Holland, and the civic leaders of the surrounding community. The pastor's own writing frequently calls the congregation back to prayer as the first response to difficulty, and the midweek rhythm of Bible study, structured prayer, and the Kitchen is itself an expression of the conviction that prayer and service belong together.
Children, Youth, and the All 4 Kids Daycare
Children are a regular presence in the life of First Baptist. Sunday School meets at 11:00 a.m. immediately after the worship service, providing classroom time for children and youth while parents and other adults finish conversations in the sanctuary and fellowship hall. The church also partners with Holloway Elementary through a recurring outreach that supports students, families, and the school itself, and it participates in the wider community's efforts to provide school supplies, pay off school lunch debts, and respond when families in the district face catastrophic crises.
Sharing the church's property and ministry footprint is All 4 Kids 2, LLC, a licensed daycare center that celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, August 27, 2022. The daycare operates under the umbrella of the church's campus and is the visible, weekday expression of the church's commitment to the families of Holland. Families interested in enrollment are invited to contact Camille at 419-865-3972 or visit all4kids2llc.com.
Book Club
The Book Club meets monthly and has become one of the more popular recurring programs at First Baptist. Past selections have included novels, nonfiction, and works of Christian reflection, and the group typically gathers in the evening for conversation, dessert, and a chance to talk through the chosen book. The Book Club is open to anyone in the church or the wider community who would like to read along, and the church posts monthly reminders and titles on its calendar.
Missions and Outreach
The Missions and Outreach Ministry organizes the church's efforts to serve beyond its own walls. Two expressions of that work are visible on the church calendar each year.
Operation Christmas Child is a long-standing partnership with Samaritan's Purse, in which the congregation fills shoeboxes with gifts for children in need around the world. Each fall brings a season of promotion, packing events, and prayer, and the church publicly reports when the boxes are sent off. The annual Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering, promoted each November, supports American Baptist missionaries and retired pastors who have given their lives to ministry. A June Mission Offering supports other causes the church has chosen for the year.
Locally, the Missions Ministry coordinates the Thankful Hearts Luncheon each November, the Church Picnic in the summer, the School Supply Drive before the school year begins, the Easter Breakfast on Easter Sunday, the Church Clean-Up Day in the spring, and periodic Painting Events when the building and grounds need a refresh. Volunteers are recruited regularly, and the church posts calls for help with projects like PowerPoint presentation support, building maintenance, and the Kitchen on its news feed.
Scout Sunday and the Wider Holland Community
First Baptist has long hosted Scouting ministries on its campus, and Scout Sunday each February is a regular feature on the church calendar. Scouts are invited into the sanctuary for recognition, and the church welcomes local troops for their annual celebrations. The relationship with the local schools is similarly long-standing: First Baptist partners with other Holland and Springfield congregations in the Keep Watch prayer walks, supports school supply drives, helps pay off lunch debts, and steps in when a family in the district suffers a catastrophic crisis.
The annual joint worship at Strawberry Acres Park in Holland is the most visible expression of the cooperative work. On that Sunday, area pastors share the preaching, musicians lead the singing together, and members of multiple congregations bring lawn chairs and food for a single morning of praise. The church closes some of its own programming for the morning so that members can attend with the wider Holland body of Christ.
Calendar, Seasons, and the Church Year
Although First Baptist is a Baptist congregation that historically has been wary of formal liturgical calendars, the church now observes several of the major seasons of the Christian year. Ash Wednesday services are held at the beginning of Lent, followed by a Wednesday evening Lenten study series. Easter Sunday is celebrated with a sunrise-or-morning worship and a church-wide Easter Breakfast. Pentecost is observed as a Sunday of worship. The Advent season is marked with special services leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and Scout Sunday falls on a Sunday in February.
Seasonal events that mark the year include the Church Picnic in summer, the Church Clean-Up Day in spring, the School Supply Drive in late summer, the Thankful Hearts Luncheon in November, and a Church Clean-Up Day and Painting Event at various points during the year. The annual meeting of the congregation is held early in the year, and the pastor's monthly column is organized by month and archived by year, going back through 2013.
Staying Connected
The church stays in touch with members and friends through several channels. The Pastor's Perspective column is published monthly and archived on the website. The Events and Activities calendar lists everything from Bible study to fellowship meals. Sermons are available as audio on the Sermons - Audio page, and a weekly bulletin or sermon summary accompanies the Sunday gathering. Giving can be done online through the Give Now page. The church's Facebook page carries announcements, livestream links for Sunday worship, and news from the congregation's ministry partners.
First Baptist also publishes a Ways to Stay Connected guide for members and friends who want to be more deeply involved in the church's life. The guide covers Sunday worship, Sunday School, the midweek Bible study and prayer gatherings, the Book Club, the Missions Ministry, and the various outreach projects that run throughout the year.
What to Expect When You Visit
First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo gathers at 6520 Pilliod Road in Holland, just off the main arteries that connect Holland to the rest of the Toledo metro area. The 10:00 a.m. Sunday service is the central gathering of the week, and visitors who come that morning will find a worship service that lasts about an hour, followed by Sunday School for children, youth, and adults at 11:00 a.m. The worship style is blended, with both hymns and more contemporary selections, and the preaching centers on Scripture applied to daily life.
Visitors are welcome to stay for Sunday School, to come back on Tuesday morning for the virtual Bible study and the in-person A.C.T.S. prayer time, or to join the Kitchen crew on Wednesday morning for the community meal. Those who want to learn more about the church's beliefs and life can read the Baptist identity statement on the home page, listen to recent sermons on the Sermons - Audio page, or read recent editions of the Pastor's Perspective. For more information, the church office can be reached at 419-865-9171 or by email at info@fbcogt.com.