Homeland Park Baptist Church has stood on Abbeville Highway in Anderson, South Carolina, since 1945, sharing the good news of Christ with the surrounding neighborhood of Homeland Park. Three quarters of a century on, the church still gathers each Sunday morning for Sunday School and worship, still opens its Family Life Center for community events, and still treats Abbeville Highway as a place where the next family can be welcomed through the doors. The church's motto - Connecting Lives With God and Others - sums up the rhythm of a congregation that takes its Bible seriously and its neighborhood personally.
Sunday Mornings on Abbeville Highway
Each Sunday in Homeland Park begins at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday School for all ages, meeting in classrooms across the church's campus at 3010 Abbeville Highway. Classes dismiss at 10:30 a.m. to make room for the morning worship service, which gathers the full church family in the sanctuary. Children's Church runs alongside the worship hour so younger children have a lesson and activities tailored to their level while parents remain in the main service. At 4:00 p.m. the choir returns for rehearsal, preparing the special music that has become a hallmark of seasonal services - including the choir's powerful musical celebration each Easter.
The service follows a traditional Baptist order with congregational singing, Scripture reading, prayer, and an expository sermon. The congregation is led in worship by the church's praise team and choir under the direction of Worship Leader Donna Strickland. Pastor James Strickland typically preaches, working through books of the Bible in series such as the recent studies through Malachi and First Thessalonians. Communion, which the church calls the Lord's Supper, is observed on the fifth Sunday of any month that has one, with a dedicated committee preparing the bread and cup each time.
Newcomers are welcomed as part of the regular Sunday flow. There is no separate guest registration table to navigate; visitors slip into the pew, follow the bulletin, and are greeted warmly by the First Impressions Team that staffs the lobby on Sunday mornings. Dress runs the full range from jeans to suits. Families with children find the Children's Church check-in straightforward. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to noon for any questions about a visit, and the office number, (864) 296-9751, reaches the administrative assistant during those hours.
Wednesdays Around the Word
Midweek life at HPBC centers on Bible study. At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, adults and children meet on the campus at the same hour so the whole family can come together and divide into age-appropriate groups. The adult Bible study walks through Scripture book by book, building on the Sunday sermons and giving the congregation a steady midweek diet of teaching. Children's Bible Study runs in parallel, with songs, games, and a lesson scaled for younger hearts. The Wednesday rhythm has been a fixture long enough that families plan their week around it, and the church encourages members to invite a friend or neighbor to come along.
For adults looking for additional connection, the church's ministry model - known inside the congregation as the Mission to M.A.R.S. - organizes teams around the work of the church. Among the active teams are the First Impressions Team, which welcomes people on Sunday morning, and the Community Team, which prepares and serves meals for outreach events. New deacons have been voted into service and a Leadership Recruitment Team meets regularly to coach and place volunteers in roles that match their gifts. Members are reminded often that the church only moves as far as its people carry it, and Wednesday nights are where much of that carrying gets done.
What HPBC Believes
Homeland Park Baptist Church confesses the historic Baptist faith as set out in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, the confession adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention. Eighteen articles anchor the church's teaching.
The first article affirms that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man - a perfect treasure of divine instruction, totally true and trustworthy, the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.
The church confesses one living and true God, infinite in holiness and all other perfections, who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - three Persons without division of nature, essence, or being. God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe. God the Son, the eternal Christ, in His incarnation was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, made provision for the redemption of men from sin in His substitutionary death on the cross, was raised from the dead with a glorified body, ascended into heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God as the One Mediator, fully God and fully man. The Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, illuminates truth, convicts of sin, regenerates the sinner, baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ, and seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.
Man, made in the image of God, brought sin into the human race through his free choice, and his posterity inherit a nature inclined toward sin. Salvation, offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, involves regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification - and there is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The church also confesses God's purpose of grace in election, the nature of the church as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers governed by the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes, the ordinances of believer's baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, the observance of the Lord's Day, the Kingdom of God, the personal and visible return of Jesus Christ, the duty and privilege of evangelism and missions, the importance of Christian education, the stewardship of time, talents, and material possessions, voluntary cooperation among Christians, the Christian's obligation to make the will of Christ supreme in human society, peace among peoples, religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and the family as the foundational institution of human society, defined by the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper
The church observes the two ordinances Christ entrusted to His people. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life. Being a church ordinance, baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. The church prepares the elements with care on every fifth Sunday, and Pastor James has written that the Supper is not a ritual to be hurried through but a moment to reflect, appreciate, and give honor to Jesus for what He endured. The table is open to believers who have trusted Christ as their forgiver and leader, and the church urges each one to use the moment for a spiritual self-check.
The Family Life Center and a Walking Track
Beyond the sanctuary, the most recognizable feature of the Homeland Park Baptist campus is its Family Life Center - a gymnasium the church describes simply as the church with the walking track. The FLC opens its doors for Vacation Bible School in the summer, hosts the annual No Trunks Just Treats fall festival each October, and turns into a candy-filled field of games for the Children's Easter Egg Hunt each spring. The adjoining field provides space for outdoor games and overflow activities. Together, the FLC and field give the church a flexible indoor-outdoor footprint for both Sunday morning overflow and big-tent community events that draw families from across the Homeland Park area.
The building also houses the Bible Study Office where members drop off candy donations for upcoming events, and it accommodates setup and rehearsal spaces for the many concerts and dinners the church puts on throughout the year. The walking track that gives the church its informal nickname is open to members of the community as part of the church's ongoing invitation to use the facility for healthy recreation. It is, in a real sense, the church's hospitality room - the place where neighbors are most likely to encounter HPBC for the first time.
A Heart for Anderson: Outreach Events
Community service runs through the calendar at Homeland Park Baptist like a second congregation. Several events have become traditions the neighborhood looks forward to.
Each summer, the church partners with Southside Baptist Church and Tri-County Tech to host the Back 2 School Supplies Giveaway. School supplies are distributed to local students on a first-come, first-served basis, with families asked to bring the children who will receive them. The most recent giveaway served 385 individuals, including over 249 children, an outreach the church describes as a tangible way to share blessings with the community.
In October, the church opens its Family Life Center for No Trunks Just Treats, an indoor alternative to the typical trunk-or-treat. Tables are set up around the FLC so children can walk by in a relaxed, weather-proof environment and collect their candy. Church members host the tables, decorate them if they like, and dress up if they choose. Recent years have drawn so many volunteers that tables have filled the gym.
Each spring, the Family Life Center and the church field host a Children's Easter Egg Hunt, with crafts, games, and snacks alongside the hunt itself. Donated candy is used to fill the eggs, and a parent tip sheet asks for individually wrapped candies small enough to fit inside a standard plastic egg.
Throughout the year the church also hosts concerts such as Echoes of Mercy in Concert, where the visiting gospel group leads a powerful morning of music and worship at 10:30 a.m., followed by a free barbecue lunch served by the church's Community Team. The church's emergency food pantry is restocked each year through donations collected at the Thanksgiving Soup & Sandwich Dinner, a potluck the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at which families bring soup, sandwiches, desserts, and a canned good for the pantry.
When severe weather has kept members home, the church has kept watch with the wider community: in February 2026 the building lost power during a snowstorm, and Pastor James and Donna led a worship service from home that was broadcast on Facebook. The pastor also uses his platform to remember national moments of grief, praying on the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11, 2001 for the families of the lost, for first responders serving today, and for service members stationed here and abroad.
Vacation Bible School: Dive Deep
Vacation Bible School is one of the largest ministries the church undertakes each summer. Held in mid-June over four evenings at the Family Life Center, VBS opens its doors to children of all ages from the surrounding community. Each night involves worship, crafts, recreation, a meal, and Bible study, and a praise band leads theme songs. Recent themes have walked children through Jonah's journey of obedience under the banner Dive Deep, with a power verse drawn from Luke 11:28 - Blessed... are those who hear the word of God and obey it.
Thursday of VBS week is set aside as Family Night, with a slightly earlier close and a free meal for the whole family, followed by a special presentation by the children themselves. Pre-registration is offered so that children can skip the first-night check-in line; for those who do not pre-register, registration begins at the front doors of the sanctuary at 5:45 p.m. The church also runs a bus route for children who need a ride, with transportation coordinated through the church office. Parents registering their children are told that the information they share is handled with care and used exclusively for VBS.
Ministries Across the Generations
Beyond Sunday School and VBS, Homeland Park Baptist sustains ministries for nearly every stage of life.
Children are served through Children's Church during the Sunday worship hour, through Wednesday Children's Bible Study, through Vacation Bible School in the summer, and through occasional outreach events like the Easter Egg Hunt and No Trunks Just Treats.
Youth meet through the church's youth ministry, with activities that include intergenerational events like the Men's Breakfast and seasonal outreach. The church has long supported a student ministry tradition, given Pastor James's two decades of prior service in that field.
Young adults find their place in the regular worship and Bible study life of the church as they age out of youth ministry. WMU - Women's Missionary Union - gathers the women of the church for prayer emphases each month and supports missions work, while Men meet for periodic Men's Breakfasts, casual Saturday gatherings at 9:00 a.m. with biscuits on the house and drinks brought by attendees. Senior adults are cared for through the Senior Adults ministry, with Faith Fellowship gatherings and visitation by church members. Homebound members are remembered on birthdays and anniversaries, and a mailing list keeps shut-ins connected to the church's life.
Mission support runs through state missions emphases, the annual Season of Prayer, and Mission Action offerings collected each month. Church members have been sent off into the field - including Nathan and Jody O'Neill, commissioned by the church with a fellowship meal - and the church continues to pray for those serving away from Anderson.
Pastor James and Donna Strickland
The pastoral life of Homeland Park Baptist is shared by James and Donna Strickland. Rev. James Strickland is the Senior Pastor. He holds an Associate in Arts from Anderson University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Charleston Southern University, and a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Before coming to Homeland Park he spent more than twenty years in student ministry, a background that shapes his ongoing passion for families and reaching others with the love of Christ. Pastor James also serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Broadway Fire Department, an extension of his calling to serve the community beyond the church walls. He and Donna, his wife of more than thirty years, returned to South Carolina in 2012 and live with their lab/border collie mix, Bruno.
In December 2024 Pastor James was presented with the John E. White Award from Anderson University as the South Carolina Baptist Pastor of the Year for churches up to 350 members, given in recognition of meritorious servant leadership to the high calling of the pastorate. The award was presented by Mason Easterling, Vice-President for Church Engagement at Anderson University, following the morning worship service.
Donna Strickland serves as Worship Leader. A native of South Carolina, she holds an Associate in Business Education from Anderson University and a Bachelor's Degree in Management and Organizational Development from Mount Olive University, where she graduated with honors. Music has been part of her life since childhood, and she has written that her love of music and passion for sharing God's love through music drew her to this role. In her spare time she enjoys writing, listening to music, shopping trips with her best friend, and going on adventures with her family - including Bruno.
Trista Cox serves as the church's Media Operator, handling the audio and visual equipment that supports worship services and broadcasts. A graduate of Westside High School and a lifelong member of the Homeland Park family, Trista has been operating the church's AV gear since her teens. She and her husband, Joshua, are raising their daughter in the ways of the Lord.
Worship Online, Sermons, and Giving
Homeland Park Baptist makes its Sunday worship available beyond the building in several ways. The church livestreams its services on Facebook at facebook.com/homelandparkbc, allowing members at home - and neighbors without transportation, those who are sick, or those watching across the country - to follow along. Audio sermons are posted at Sermon.net and as a podcast through Apple Podcasts under the title Homeland Park Baptist Church.
Online giving is available through a secure portal powered by Tithe.ly. Members who tithe electronically are thanked for choosing to support the ministry of the church in this way, and the church makes clear that online giving is one of several faithful stewardship options. For those who prefer to give in person, the office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, and offerings can be brought to the Bible Study Office any time someone comes to the church.
Members and visitors who want to stay connected can follow the church on Facebook at facebook.com/homelandparkbc and on Instagram at @homelandparkbc, with additional media handled at @homeandparkbc_media. The office number for the church is (864) 296-9751; the office email is office@homelandparkbc.org, and the general inquiry address is info@homelandparkbc.org.
A Heritage on Abbeville Highway
Homeland Park Baptist Church has been bringing people together to share the good news of Christ since 1945, and the campus on Abbeville Highway still bears the marks of a community that has served its neighborhood for generations. The sanctuary where Sunday School and worship unfold, the Family Life Center that fills with candy each fall, the field where children hunt eggs each spring, the walking track that gives the church its nickname - all of these spaces have been used and reused by generations of Anderson families. As Pastor James has written, worship is not an obligation but a privilege, an expression of love for God for all He has given us. Whether gathering in the sanctuary, around the communion table on a fifth Sunday, or at a concert followed by a barbecue lunch, Homeland Park Baptist Church keeps that conviction at the center of everything it does on Abbeville Highway.