A Main Street Church in Zachary

First Baptist Church sits at 4200 Main Street in Zachary, Louisiana, where the red brick campus faces one of the most traveled roads in town. Locals know the place simply as First Zachary or FBCZ, and the church's mission statement frames everything that happens inside: First Baptist Zachary exists to glorify God by proclaiming Jesus Christ and making disciples of all nations.

The staff, members, and weekly program are organized around three short words (Gather, Grow, Geaux) that show up on signs, in printed guides, and across the church's online presence. To Gather means encountering God in worship and responding to Him. To Grow means becoming more like Christ through relationships and the Word. To Geaux, spelled with the Louisiana flair, means going out in the power of the Spirit to proclaim the gospel at home and around the world.

Sundays at the Worship Center

The Sunday schedule at First Zachary is built to keep families together for most of the morning. Two identical-format services bookend an hour of small-group Bible study.

• 8:30 AM - Worship Service in the Worship Center. Nursery is open for children up to age five.
• 9:45 AM - LifeGroups for all ages. Nursery through senior adult classes meet across the Education Building, Family Life Center, The Passage, and The Crossing.
• 11:00 AM - Worship Service in the Worship Center, with the same nursery care. Kids in grades 1-4 can attend KidsWorship and preschoolers ages 3-5 can attend Preschool Worship, both held in the Family Life Center.

The 11:00 service is also livestreamed each Sunday. A volunteer interpreter for the deaf serves at the 8:30 service, and a family room off the front foyer gives parents a place to step out with infants during the service. Mobile devices are welcome, and the church actively encourages worshipers to share clips of sermons and music using the hashtags #GrowFBCZ and #GatherFBCZ.

First-time guests will find First Time Guest Parking signs on Main Street across from the Worship Center and on 42nd Street at the west entrance to the Education Building. Greeters stand at the main entrances and will walk visitors to a LifeGroup, a worship service, or the children's check-in.

LifeGroups: The Hub of Community

LifeGroups are the small-group Bible studies that meet at 9:45 on Sunday mornings, and the church describes them as the best way to get plugged in at FBCZ. The published class list includes more than fifty LifeGroups spread across every life stage.

For adults, options include College, Coed 20s, Coed 30s, Coed 40s, Coed 50-60s, Men 30-50s, Men 50+, Ladies classes at several ages, Coed Senior Adult, and Senior Adult Ladies. Median-adult classes are organized by decade, with teachers and hosts named on the church's LifeGroup directory. A LIFEGroup designed for Adults with Special Needs meets in The Passage, room 104, led by Billy and Kristi Beasley, and a Deaf LifeGroup led by Cliff and Dianne Byrd meets in The Passage, room 103.

Children's LifeGroups run from nursery (Nursery 1A through 3B) up through sixth grade, with named classes like K-1 Frogs, K-2 Gators, and Pre-K Turtles, each with a year-by-year cutoff. Student LifeGroups are organized by grade and gender (Grade 7 and 8 Boys and Girls, Grade 9 Boys and Girls, Grade 10 Boys and Girls, Grade 11, and Grade 12) and meet in The Crossing.

Two introductory classes run through the LifeGroup hour. FIRST Steps is a one-session class for new and prospective members, led by Scott McKenzie, typically held on the last Sunday of odd-numbered months. NEXT Steps is a six-week class for new believers, led by Ken and Renee Mann, beginning in even-numbered months.

Children: From Nursery to Sixth Grade

The children's ministry at FBCZ runs in parallel with adult Sunday programming, plus an active Wednesday program. On Sunday mornings at 9:45, kids move through age-graded LifeGroups, with the nursery open for children birth through age three, Bible Bayou for ages four through Kindergarten, and Kids Classes in the Family Life Center for first through sixth graders. At 11:00, the nursery stays open, Bible Bayou continues, and KidsWorship serves grades 1-4. On the last Sunday of each month, KidsWorship students join the adults in the Worship Center to worship together as a family.

Wild Wednesdays fill the Family Life Center from 6:00 to 7:30 PM during the school year, with nursery open for the youngest children, Music and Missions for ages four through Kindergarten, and Wild Wednesdays for grades 1-6. Summer shifts to Excavate, a Wednesday evening program from 6:00 to 7:00 PM that runs from May through the start of the next school year.

Upward Sports extends the children's ministry into athletics. Each winter the church hosts Upward Basketball and Cheerleading for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. Registration opens in early October, evaluations take place in early November, and the season runs from January to February. Practices happen on Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday evenings in the Family Life Center gym, and games are played there on Saturdays.

Students in Grades 7-12

The student ministry at First Zachary is led by Andrew Forque. On Wednesday nights, students gather from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at The Crossing for Student Night, a combined time of Bible study, fellowship, and games. Sunday mornings offer grade-specific LifeGroups in The Crossing during the 9:45 hour, with separate classes for boys and girls in seventh through twelfth grade.

The student calendar fills the year with major events: Mission Lab New Orleans during fall break, the Bayou Youth Rally in the fall, the Youth Evangelism Conference in late November, Disciple Now Weekend in January, and FUGE Camp each summer. Registration, liability forms, and details are handled through the church's Realm account system.

Women: Bible Study, Service, and Conferences

Women's ministry at FBCZ is anchored by a deep commitment to Bible literacy and personal ministry. A Tuesday morning Bible study at 9:00 to 11:00 AM and an evening study at 6:00 to 8:00 PM in The Passage 101, both led by coordinators Debbie McElroy, Kathy Dykes, and Lisa Rioux, work through Kristi McLelland's Luke in the Land study. A Bible Study Fellowship satellite group for women also meets on Tuesdays at 6:30 PM in the hall above the nursery, working through Exile & Return, a study of Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, Nehemiah, and Malachi that runs from September through April.

The Ladies Ensemble rehearses on Mondays at 10:00 AM in the choir suite as an outreach branch of the worship ministry. Members visit assisted living facilities and participate in community ministry events. Other ongoing women's groups include Servants of Grace, a service ministry that visits and calls homebound women of the church and is coordinated by Niccie McKey, and a Women's Prison Ministry that partners with the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, often celebrating graduations from Leavell Seminary.

Mission Union (WMU) groups meet monthly. Morning, evening, and leadership groups are organized under Denise Burdette, Lauren Baudouin, Mary Stagg, Janna Gibbon, Sharon Campbell, and Bonnie Clark. Each fall, ladies gather for The Gathering, a night of fellowship, food, and Bible teaching. The Conference Trip ministry takes women to events such as the Abide Women's Conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in the spring and the WMU Women's Conference in the fall, and an annual Ladies Advent Simulcast in early December brings women together for teaching, lunch or dinner, and seasonal reflection.

Men, Senior Adults, and the Wider Family

The men's ministry emphasizes service and brotherhood. Men at FBCZ serve in the Security Ministry, D-Groups, the Deacons' Ministry, and the Widows and Widowers Care ministry, as well as the Welcome Team, LifeGroup leadership, the Worship Choir and Band, and construction mission trips. The Brotherhood, a periodic men's event, gathers men for fellowship and a round of golf each fall.

The Prime Timers is the senior adult community of FBCZ. Open to all local senior adults regardless of church membership, the group meets for a monthly lunch in the Family Life Center, usually on the second Thursday of the month, with fellowship and games starting around 10:00 AM and a program of inspiration, information, or entertainment beginning at 11:00 AM followed by lunch for a small fee. A regular monthly trip on the third Thursday takes the group on outings that have included a WBRZ 2 Studio Tour and lunch at a local restaurant, with a Senior Adult Christmas Trip each December. The Senior Adult Ministry is led by Debbi Mashaw, Minister to Senior Adults and Recreation.

The Worship Ministry: Choir, Band, and Praise Team

Worship at First Zachary is led by Tommy Quinn, Associate Pastor of Worship, alongside Jennifer Fleming, who serves the worship ministry as a staff member. Worship teams include the Choir, Praise Team, Band, Ladies Ensemble, Tech Team, and Drama Team. Rehearsals happen on Wednesdays at 6:00 PM, with the choir meeting from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. The Choir is open to church members at least 13 years old who can smile and enjoy singing, and no audition is required. Childcare is provided until 7:30 PM on Wednesdays for choir families.

The Praise Team is an auditioned vocal team drawn from active choir members who also attend a LifeGroup and the worship services. The Band welcomes church members who play piano, keys, drums, or guitar. The Tech Team, led by Hunter Heath, handles lights, sound, lyrics, and broadcast for each service. The Ladies Ensemble, an outreach branch of the worship ministry, rehearses on Mondays at 10:00 AM in the choir suite.

On Sunday mornings, choir members warm up in the Choir Suite at 8:00 AM before the early service and again at 10:45 AM before the late service. The worship ministry uses Planning Center Online for scheduling, sheet music, and rehearsal tracks, and worship team members are given access through their own profile.

Mission Trips in Louisiana and Around the World

First Zachary takes the Geaux in Gather, Grow, Geaux seriously. The church organizes a year-round slate of mission trips that range from local service days to international partnerships.

Closer to home, Geaux Day sends members into Zachary for litter pickup, median landscaping, helping at the food pantry, and cleaning the public cemetery. Serve Tour partners with Send Relief and the Louisiana Baptist Convention for projects in Monroe, including light construction, painting, and neighborhood outreach events. Mission Lab New Orleans brings students to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary during fall break for a week of hands-on ministry in the city.

Nationally, the Beach Reach Mission Trip in Kenai, Alaska engages the public during the Salmon Frenzy with bounce houses, free hot dogs, prayer, and trash pickup. The South Texas Mission Trip partners with a local church in the Rio Grande Valley for construction projects, a Christmas stocking project, a beds-books-and-bookshelves project, and outreach to border patrol and first responders.

Internationally, the Honduras Mission Trip to Guaimaca partners with Commissioned International for door-to-door evangelism and medical ministry, and trips are planned in partnership with the Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge to Belarus and to Kota, Rajasthan, India.

The Colvin Mission Fund, named for former staff member Dr. Les Colvin, helps remove financial barriers by covering up to half the cost of any FBCZ mission trip for members who apply. Each year the church also takes up the Georgia Barnette Louisiana Missions Offering for state missions, with the goal of keeping every dollar inside Louisiana.

What First Baptist Zachary Believes

First Baptist Zachary is a Southern Baptist church and aligns its teaching with the Baptist Faith and Message (2000). The church's statement of faith affirms that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant Word of God and the supreme and final authority in faith and life. The church teaches the Trinity (one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ. Salvation is by grace through faith, and the church holds to the biblical understanding of the church, Christian conduct, and Last Things as set out in the Baptist Faith and Message.

The church's core values flow from those beliefs. Members value sending believers out to live among non-Christians in the city, nation, and world so that the gospel can be seen and heard. They value Christ-centered relationships through small group discipleship. They value both lifestyle and corporate worship that honors God. They value giving God their all in time, service, and finances. They value personal and corporate prayer. And they value the Word of God as gospel-centered, grace-saturated, theologically driven, doctrinally sound, and biblically focused.

Pastor Eddie Wren's own book, Comfortably Numb: A Study of Apathy in Malachi, gives a window into the preaching ministry. Drawing on the prophet Malachi, the book calls Christians to shake the apathy that grips the modern church and serve the Lord with passion, words, worship, and everything they have.

Preschool and Mother's Day Out

The church operates a Mother's Day Out program that runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM, September through mid-May in sync with the Zachary Community School District calendar. Children from 18 months through Pre-K are enrolled in classes with two full-time teachers each and a low student-to-teacher ratio. Tuition is set at $225 per month, and parents provide lunch and snacks. Registration for the 2026-27 season is full; registration for the 2027-28 school year opens in May 2027. Director Jennifer Rupnow oversees the program.

Getting Connected at FBCZ

First Zachary keeps its doors open wide. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Friday from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with the weekday entrance on the 42nd Street side of the Education Building. Members and guests can register for events, give online, listen to the sermon archive, request prayer, and join LifeGroups through Realm Connect, the church's online portal, or through the FBCZachary mobile app, which provides the livestream, message archive, calendar, and giving links.

The church also maintains an active social presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, and publishes podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. The First Zachary Podcast gives listeners another way to follow the Sunday messages, and on-demand video of recent services is posted to the church's YouTube channel.

For anyone ready to dig deeper, the church's Bible Reading Plans page offers a Navigators Book at a Time Plan, a Chronological Reading Plan, a Navigators Reading Plan, a Thematic Reading Plan, and a Spanish-language Navigators plan. Printed copies are kept at the Welcome desk in the Large Atrium.

First Baptist Zachary keeps the message simple and the schedule full: come as you are on Sunday, find a LifeGroup that fits, and join the work that God is doing in Zachary and around the world.