A Church on Trimmier Road
Memorial Baptist Church sits on Trimmier Road in Killeen, Texas, just minutes from Fort Cavazos in a city shaped by military families and steady growth. Across its campus of connected buildings, including a worship center, a MAC building behind the church, and a Rally Room for kids, Memorial serves a community that ranges from infants to senior adults, with a particular heart for the families who move in and out of post. Its mission is short and direct: "We exist to glorify God by equipping each person to know Christ and make Him known." Senior Pastor Justin Moss is fond of saying, "We are not a perfect church, but we serve a Perfect Savior!" - and that welcoming, transparent tone runs through everything the church does.
The congregation has structured its week around two Sunday worship hours and a full evening of Wednesday ministry, with room for adults, students, and children to learn, serve, and belong at every age. Tucked behind the main campus, Memorial Christian Academy (often shortened to NAPS) provides a preschool program that grows out of the same conviction that shapes the whole church: that faith is to be lived across generations and taught on purpose.
Sunday Worship and Bible Study
Worship services meet at 9:30 and 11:00 each Sunday morning, both in person and online through YouTube and Facebook. Each gathering centers on making much of Jesus through song, prayer, giving, Scripture reading, and preaching. Worship Pastor Charlie Pannell leads the music with a band and worship leaders, while Pastor Justin Moss brings what the church describes as an "authentic and biblical approach" that challenges believers to live out the faith their preaching proclaims. His stated goal through preaching, like the rest of the worship ministry's, is to "Make much of Jesus."
At the same hours on Sunday, the church runs Bible study from birth through senior adults on the campus. Life Groups meet in classrooms around the building, so parents can attend a small group at the same time their children are in age-appropriate classrooms. Special needs families are welcomed through HIS Kids, which serves students with disabilities during the 11:00 service in the Kid Ministry area - a program born out of the church's conviction that "EVERYONE is valued and welcomed."
Wednesday Nights: Three Tracks and a Children's Choir
Wednesday evenings at Memorial are built around a 6:00 PM hour when several ministries run at once, giving adults and students a place to dig into Scripture side by side. The current slate of gatherings includes:
- Faith2Life. Wednesday evening Bible studies for women that resume in the fall, focused on building community, studying Scripture, and learning to apply truth to daily life.
- Renewed Women's Ministry. Aims to equip, encourage, and train women as disciples of Jesus through teaching and relationships.
- Men's Ministry. A parallel track for men meeting at 6:00 PM on Wednesday nights.
- Re|Engage. A Christ-centered marriage ministry designed for every couple, whether strengthening a healthy marriage or walking through a difficult season. Re|Engage meets from 6:00 to 7:30 PM year-round and offers childcare.
- MEMBC Youth. Students in 6th through 12th grade meet in the MAC - the building behind Memorial Church - for teaching, fellowship, and a monthly calendar of activities.
For younger kids, the Empower Kids Choir gathers Kinder through 5th grade students in the Rally Room from 6:00 to 7:00 PM on Wednesday nights, combining games, music, and formation as worshipers. The choir practices feed into a Christmas and Spring program each year.
Life Groups and Sunday Bible Study
Memorial's small-group ministry - called Life Groups - is the church's main engine for adult discipleship. The groups meet at various times across the week (most on Sunday mornings alongside worship) and span demographic-specific and family-focused options:
- Phil Moore leads an Adult 50+ group meeting at 9:30 in room 1119.
- Caroline Robertson leads a Women 60+ group at 9:30 in room 1110.
- The Bowers group, for adults 60+, meets at 9:30 in room 1127.
- The Cranford, Barraza, and Walker family groups meet on Sundays at 11:00 or Monday evenings for intergenerational study.
- The Molyneaux adults' group meets at 10:00 on Thursdays in the church conference room.
- Rhonda Shelley leads a women's group on Tuesday evenings, and Debbie Shiller leads another women's group on Thursdays.
- A Young Adults (18-30) group is part of the Life Groups network.
For college-aged young adults, the Rooted Bible study meets Thursday evenings and is led by Thomas and Maggie Thurman. The group is open to anyone wanting a community aimed at that life stage.
Children, Nursery, and HIS Kids
Children's ministry at Memorial is built around one guiding idea: that church and family, working together, make a greater impact on the heart of a child. The Empower Kids Ministry serves Pre-K4 through 5th grade students during both Sunday services with age-appropriate worship, lessons, hands-on activities, Scripture reading, and memory work. The children's goal is summed up in three phrases - "Know God, Love God, Serve God."
Rebecca Maindelle directs the Nursery and Preschool (NAPS) program, which begins with secure automated check-in that prints matching parent and child name tags for safety. All volunteers must pass a background check and training before serving. Classrooms open 15 minutes before each service. PreK2 children work through the same lesson for five weeks, taking home parent sheets that reinforce the lesson during the week. Snacks and drinks are provided for toddlers through PreK3; parents provide formula and snacks for children who are not yet walking.
Angela Bacon oversees the Empower Kids Ministry alongside a team of volunteers. The Empower Kids Choir, the Empower Mid-Week recap page, and the Family Dinner Dives devotion guide all extend Sunday learning through the week - and any child who memorizes the unit's memory verse is invited by the front desk for a treasure box and a memory button.
HIS Kids exists so that families with children who have additional needs can find a place. The ministry meets during the 11:00 service in the Kid Ministry area and gives students with disabilities a place to be loved and hear the gospel.
Youth and Family Programs
Frank Ayala serves as Interim Student Director for Memorial's youth ministry, which gathers 6th through 12th graders on Sundays at 11:00 AM and Wednesdays at 6:00 PM in the MAC. The heart of the ministry is teaching students to live a life that honors God, with regular Scripture study, accountability, and fellowship. A monthly calendar and Instagram page (GenerationNOW) keep students and parents connected to upcoming activities and trips.
Family ministry at Memorial centers on three flagships:
- Parent Child Dedication is held three times a year (February, May, and November), with applications opening in March, September, and December and an orientation required for the family.
- Baptism is celebrated as a public declaration of personal faith in Christ, described in the church's own baptism materials as something that should follow "as soon as" a new believer has trusted Jesus.
- Family Camp takes place on the last Friday and Saturday of July, built around Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and shaped to help families play games, study Scripture, and build intergenerational friendships. The weekend wraps up with Family Worship Sunday at the 9:30 service.
The Family Dinner Dives and Empower Mid-Week resources round out the church's effort to make family devotion at home "easy, Biblical, and fun."
A Faith and a Statement of Faith
Memorial subscribes to the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as its confession. Beyond that confession, the church's own teachings center on a few key claims: that the Bible is God's Word, written under the superintending work of the Holy Spirit and therefore "truth without any mixture of error"; that God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; that human beings are made in God's image but marred by an attitude of disobedience called sin; that salvation is a gift received by faith in Jesus Christ and is kept by the grace and power of God; that believers are called to live under the Holy Spirit's daily control; and that baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of the church. The church practices believer's baptism by immersion and observes the Lord's Supper.
Five values shape the way Memorial lives out that faith:
- Make much of Jesus - in the workplace, in the marketplace, on campus, and in the family home.
- Pray boldly - together in small groups, in services, and as individuals.
- Love the broken - recognizing that brokenness often hides out of sight.
- Experience the gospel together - being intentional about gathering, whether on Sunday morning, in a life group, or in one-on-one discipleship.
- Radical generosity - giving freely and investing time, talent, and resources into the kingdom of God without counting the cost.
Becoming a Member
The Journey With Us pathway walks newcomers through three ways to join Memorial's membership: baptism by immersion after a personal profession of faith, transfer by letter from a church of like faith, or a statement of faith to one of the pastors. Adults and students who want to begin serving can fill out the volunteer form or contact a ministry leader directly.
Serving the Community: Neighbor Feeding Neighbor
One of Memorial's most visible outreach projects is Neighbor Feeding Neighbor, a monthly Sunday collection in the church's Connect Area. The church coordinates with local partners for food donations of items like canned soup, stew, and chili, and members are invited to bring donations on the designated Sunday of each month. Mission trips, including a December Mission Arlington weekend for individuals and families interested in short-term missions, round out Memorial's outward focus.
Memorial Christian Academy
Tucked onto the same campus, Memorial Christian Academy (NAPS) extends the church's ministry to the youngest learners. Sara Horal serves as the academy's assistant director under Rebecca Maindelle's oversight of nursery and preschool. The academy shares the church's conviction that early childhood is prime time to begin forming children in the faith, and parents looking for a Christian preschool can find more information on the academy's own site through the link on Memorial's main menu.
Giving and Staying Connected
Memorial offers online giving through a secure Breeze account, where members can set up a single gift or recurring tithes and offerings. Worship services are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook each Sunday, and photos and contact information for the staff team are linked from the main menu under "Staff." Visitors and members are encouraged to stop by a Connect Desk on Sunday mornings for help getting plugged in.