Rocky Bayou Baptist Church sits on Partin Drive in Niceville, Florida, a few miles inland from Choctawhatchee Bay. It is a Southern Baptist congregation shaped almost fifty years ago by seventy-two charter members meeting in a high school chorus room, and today it draws a multi-generational crowd to a single Sunday morning gathering that runs about an hour and a half. The church is known for three commitments that run through everything it does: an expository, verse-by-verse pulpit; families worshiping together rather than being split off into age-segregated services; and a culture of sending out long-term missionaries from its own pews.
From a Chorus Room to Partin Drive
In September 1977 a small group of believers began meeting in homes to pray about starting a new church in Niceville. The Niceville High School chorus room became their first meeting place, and seventy-two people signed the charter roll. Jerrell Bunn was called as the first pastor. Land was purchased in January 1978, construction on a worship center began in March 1979, and Edmond Long followed as the second pastor in 1980.
Growth brought new facilities. Larry Corder became the third pastor in August 1986, and soon after the body agreed to come under the spiritual leadership of elders, a structure that remains today. An AWANA club ministry was added. The church became debt-free in 1990, then expanded again, completing an education building debt-free in January 1996 and a new worship center that was paid off in October 2000. Around this time the music and drama ministry began an annual Christmas season presentation called "The Gift." Mission support expanded to more than nineteen mission families and six established local missions.
Carey Olson became senior pastor in January 2006 and served for nine years. During his tenure a Fellowship Hall was completed in the summer of 2015. In April 2016 the church called Troy Hamilton to be its fourth and current senior pastor, a former International Mission Board missionary with a decade of service in Central Asia behind him.
A Sunday in the Life of Rocky
Sunday at Rocky begins at 9:00 a.m. with Adult Bible Fellowships, sometimes called ABFs, meeting on campus at the same time as preschool, children's, and teen Sunday School. Three adult ABFs are loosely grouped by age and stage of life. ABF 1 serves singles, young married couples, and parents with children from post-high school through the forties and meets in Genesis Hall. ABF 2 serves singles and parents of teens and college students from the thirties through fifties and meets in the Fellowship Hall. ABF 3 serves single adults and empty nesters from the fifties up and meets in the Choir Room inside the Worship Center. Each group is discussion-based and works through Bible books or Christian living books.
At 10:15 a.m. the congregation gathers for the Sunday Morning Worship Service, which typically runs about ninety minutes and includes both musical worship and the preaching and teaching of God's Word. The preaching is overwhelmingly expository, working through books of the Bible verse by verse, with occasional short topical series. Worship blends the traditional and the contemporary; recent worship guides include classic hymns such as "O Worship the King" and "All Creatures of Our God and King" alongside newer songs like "All Sufficient Merit." A nursery is available for infants through preschool during the service, and a nursing room is provided for mothers adjacent to the ladies restroom in the main foyer.
On the second Sunday evening of most months a smaller evening service is held, with a rotating emphasis on worship, prayer, ministry, and mission updates.
What Visitors Want to Know
Rocky Bayou Baptist Church sits on North Partin Drive, also called Highway 285, about a mile and a half north of the intersection of Highway 285 and Highway 20. Parking is available on site. First-time guests are encouraged to stop by "The Hub," the Welcome Center in the foyer of the main Worship Center, where greeters can answer questions about the service, Sunday School, LIFE Groups, and other ministries. Dress is casual for most; a T-shirt and jeans are as common as a suit. The church typically teaches from the English Standard Version in its gathered services, though no single translation is treated as uniquely authoritative.
For those who cannot attend in person, services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel. A weekly Worship Guide with the order of service, song lyrics, and a Sermon Listening Guide is published online.
Worship That Centers on God and the Word
Rocky describes its gathered worship as God-centered, Christ-focused, Spirit-fueled, Word-saturated, and believer-edifying. Music is one part of the gathering, with several opportunities for singers and instrumentalists to serve on rotation. The Worship Choir is open to church members from high school age up, including those who have never sung in a choir before, and rehearses on Sundays from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. The Worship Praise Team, drawn from the choir, rehearses on Sunday mornings from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. and requires an audition. The Worship Orchestra, which aims to fill the rhythm, wind, and string sections, rehearses on Sundays from 7:45 to 8:45 a.m. and is also audition-based. A Worship Tech Team handles audio, video, and livestream support and rehearses on Sundays from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m.
Family Discipleship: Worshiping Together
One of the more distinctive things about Rocky is its commitment to keeping families in the same worship service rather than sending children and students off to their own. The church is committed to "not only welcoming, but embracing children in our Sunday worship gatherings, starting at kindergarten." Children are not separated off into a children's church; instead, parents are regarded as the primary disciplers of their children, and the gathered congregation is seen as a powerful reinforcement of that calling.
The nursery is staffed by volunteers who have all submitted to background screenings and nursery training. Parents are given a number when they drop off a child; if a child needs a parent during the service, the number appears in red on signs at the front of the main sanctuary. Paid childcare providers are used for special events and Bible studies.
Sunday School for ages three through sixth grade runs during the 9:00 a.m. Bible Fellowship hour, August through May, using the Truth:78 curriculum. Children's ministry extends into the week with AWANA on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The program is structured around handbook time, council time, game time, and Scripture memory, with three clubs: Cubbies for three- and four-year-olds, Sparks for kindergarten through second grade, and T&T for third through sixth grade.
Equipping Students and Children
The Student Ministry exists to partner with parents in making lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ through faithful teaching of God's Word, authentic relationships, and encouragement to participate in the life and mission of the church. Weekly gatherings on Sundays and Wednesdays feature biblical, expositional teaching, Christ-centered worship, small groups, prayer, and intentional relationships with vetted, trained leaders. The ministry views itself as a supporting voice to parents in the primary work of discipleship at home.
Outside the church, The Heights Tutoring Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit outreach ministry of Rocky Bayou Baptist Church. Founded in August 2008 after years of prayer, it provides educational tutoring for children in Niceville, Valparaiso, Bluewater, and surrounding areas. Two paid staff members, an Executive Director and an Administrative Assistant, lead the work, with all other positions filled by volunteers. The Heights is funded by Rocky Bayou Baptist Church, area businesses, and individual donors, and exists to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ while ministering in practical ways to families and the local school systems.
Small Groups and the C.A.R.E. Model
Rocky encourages every member to be involved in a small group. Adult Bible Fellowships meet on campus on Sunday mornings. LIFE Groups meet in homes during the week and are described as the place where most of the relational, pastoral, and outreach life of the church actually happens. The acronym C.A.R.E. outlines what the groups aim to provide. Community so newcomers can plug into the life and family of Rocky. Accountability so members are challenged to fulfill their roles as husbands, wives, parents, and active church members. Relationships that bear one another's burdens and lift each other up. And Encouragement toward spiritual disciplines so that minds and hearts are shaped by the Word of God. LIFE Groups also serve as first-responders to crises within the group and keep pastors and elders informed of needs.
Sent Out: Missions Near and Far
Missions is woven into the identity of the church. Mission support and prayer are regular features of worship services and Bible fellowships, children learn about missions in AWANA and Sunday School, and each fall the church hosts a Missions Conference that highlights and connects the congregation with global workers. The majority of the families and individuals RBBC supports were active members of the church before going out to the mission field. Current mission partners serve in Zambia with Heart of the Bride, in Thailand with the National Institute for Christ, in Asia with the IMB and ABWE, in Senegal with World Venture, in Brazil with Gospel Fellowship Missions, in Wroclaw, Poland, in Southeast Asia with JAARS, and in Bible translation with Wycliffe. Locally, the church supports prison ministry, disaster relief, and a Christmas outreach.
The Heights Tutoring, LIFE Group outreach, and disaster relief round out the local mission strategy.
Men and Women Around the Word
Men's ministry at Rocky takes several forms. A "Faithful Men" study group gathers Tuesday mornings from 5:30 to 7:00 a.m. in the Conference Room for study, life-sharing, and prayer, with the facilitator position rotating among members. A Men's Fellowship Breakfast meets every third Saturday from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. in Genesis Hall with a guest speaker and food. Each fall the men hold a Men's Night Out, and each February the men's annual retreat draws roughly one hundred men for a Friday-night-and-Saturday program of fellowship, worship, teaching, testimonies, the Lord's Supper, and meals.
Women's ministry, which exists to fulfill the biblical mandate of Titus 2, focuses on the Word, fellowship, service, and retreats. Bible studies are offered on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings, with new classes beginning in August and January; childcare is available by reservation for some studies. Annual retreats alternate between the church and an off-site retreat center. The women's ministry also coordinates placing Bibles and sending cards.
What Rocky Believes
Rocky Bayou Baptist Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and holds to the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted in 2000, with one exception: rather than operating through democratic process, the church functions under the overseeing ministry of elders.
The church teaches that there is one God, infinite and eternal, existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and that Jesus Christ is God who took on human flesh, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died as a substitutionary atonement on the cross, rose bodily, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return in power and glory. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and indwells believers at the moment of faith, producing the fruit of the Spirit. The entire Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God.
Salvation is by grace through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ and results in a changed life submitted to the Lordship of Christ. The dead will be raised, Christ will judge all people in righteousness, the unsaved will be consigned to hell, and the righteous will dwell forever with the Lord. The church practices baptism by immersion for believers as a symbol of new birth, and observes the Lord's Supper as a remembrance of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, with no salvific effect. Membership is open to all who have received Christ and have confessed him publicly through believer's baptism, and a seven-week Discover Rocky class is offered three times a year during the 9:00 a.m. Bible Fellowship hour for those exploring membership.
Elders, Pastors, and Ministry Leaders
The spiritual oversight of the church is shared among elders, who function under the Lordship of Christ and to whom the congregation is spiritually accountable. Troy Hamilton serves as senior pastor, having come to Rocky in 2016 after twelve years with the International Mission Board in Central Asia and degrees from Cedarville University, Columbia Biblical Seminary, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he completed his Doctor of Ministry in 2023. Robbie Gray serves as Associate Pastor of Discipleship and Administration. Jonah serves as Minister of Students and Young Adults, joining the staff in 2026 after completing a Master of Divinity in Bible Exposition at Columbia International University. Pam Bristol directs Children's Ministry and The Heights Tutoring. Elisabeth Jolson directs the Worship Choir, and Chris Quinlan serves as Technical Director.
Elders include Ken Bandy, Billy Moore, Joshua Latham, and Bart Swan, each of whom also serves the church in additional capacities such as ABF leadership, choir, AWANA, and disaster relief.
Practical Information
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and can be reached at (850) 678-6062 or rbbc@rockybayoubaptist.org. Three free assistive listening solutions are offered for those who need help hearing during the service: lightweight portable receiver packs available from the sound booth, telecoil-loop lanyards for hearing aids with a T-coil, and direct streaming to Auracast-compatible hearing aids through a smartphone app under the broadcast name "RockyBayouBaptist." Giving is available online, and members may also text "RBBC" and a dollar amount to 73256, or text "GIVE" to (850) 900-2401.