Shining God's Light on Lafayette Boulevard
Spotswood Baptist Church sits on a wooded stretch of Lafayette Boulevard in southern Fredericksburg, Virginia, with the address 4009 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA 22408. From a campus that includes a main auditorium, a Fellowship Hall, a Student Building, a YA Building, a Kids Wing, a Prayer Center, and a string of mobile units, the church holds out a single purpose to its city: to be a community of light. Its mission statement, repeated across ministry pages, says it plainly: 'a community of light by making disciples who love God and love their neighbor.' Five core values, vertical worship, transformational teaching, biblical community, missional living, and sacrificial service, shape everything from the way a Sunday service is staged to the way a casserole is dropped off at a shut-in's home.
What makes Spotswood distinctive in the Fredericksburg region is its scale and reach. The church operates four language-specific congregations on the same campus, runs an in-house biblical counseling center staffed by licensed professionals, and supports missionaries in places as far apart as Sapporo, Japan and St. John's, Newfoundland. Children through senior adults meet on the same campus throughout the week, and the same chronological Bible study, called The Gospel Project, walks preschoolers and retirees through the same passage on the same week.
Two Sunday Services, One Message
Spotswood gathers for two identical Sunday services at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Each runs about sixty minutes and is built around the same ingredients: a time of worship, Bible-based preaching, announcements, and an offering. The two services share a single sermon, delivered live by Dr. Drew Landry, Senior Pastoral Associate, with occasional teaching by other staff members. The content of the message does not change from one hour to the next; what changes is the sound.
The 9:30 a.m. hour leans traditional. Music is led by a 75-member choir and a 30-piece orchestra, drawing from hymns and choruses arranged for full ensemble. The 11:00 a.m. hour leans contemporary, anchored by a worship band whose sound runs from modern pop to rock. Between them, the church calls its overall style blended, because each hour makes room for the other. Visitors who want a quieter entry often choose 9:30; those who prefer a more energetic gathering show up at 11:00.
Visitors are greeted at the lobby by the First Time Guest team. A greeter walks families to the kids' check-in, helps them find a seat, and answers practical questions. The dress code is famously relaxed: a t-shirt and jeans fit in as easily as a suit. Anyone who fills out a First Time Guest form in advance receives personal follow-up after the visit.
A Church for the Whole Region: Five Languages Under One Roof
Spotswood's motto could be summarized as one campus, many doors. Four church-plant congregations share the campus with the main English-speaking church, each meeting in its own space and reaching a distinct community.
Deaf Church Spotswood meets at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays in the YA Building, with a Connect Group gathering at 9:30 a.m. in Mobile Unit M9. Worship is conducted in American Sign Language with voice interpretation available for hearing guests. A Wednesday night Bible study meets in person in Room E111 and over Zoom at 6:30 p.m., and a monthly Koinonia covered-dish lunch follows the third Sunday service. The congregation is pastored by Bob Rhoads, a lifelong member of the Deaf community who came to Christ at age nine, served with Campus Crusade for Christ at Gallaudet University, and worked with Deaf youth through Youth for Christ before launching this congregation with Spotswood's support. He and his wife Karen, who is also Deaf, have five children fluent in ASL.
Grace Vietnamese Church gathers at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays in The Underground, led by church planter Phuong Phan.
Iglesia Bautista Spotswood meets at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays in the Fellowship Hall and offers Connect Groups during both the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. English hours, so Spanish-speaking worship runs alongside English Connect Groups. The congregation is pastored by Raul Santamaria, with Marisol Santamaria serving as the Hispanic Biblical Counselor for the Spotswood Biblical Counseling Center. Giving is available in Spanish.
Spotswood Chinese Christian Church meets Thursdays at noon in the Prayer Center under church planter Qingjiang Jiang.
Together, these four congregations turn the campus into a five-language Sunday: English at 9:30 and 11:00, Vietnamese at 9:00, Spanish at 9:30, and ASL at 11:00, with Chinese in a weekday slot. The church's reasoning is missional, rooted in the conviction that the gospel moves most naturally through a person's heart language. The framing used by the YA ministry could be applied to the whole campus: a Gospel movement in FXBG, sharing the truth, community, and mission of Jesus Christ.
Kids, Birth Through Grade 5
The Kids Ministry at Spotswood is led by Kids Pastor David Short, who frames the work in terms of partnership with parents. As Short puts it, parents make the most significant spiritual impact on a child; the church's job is to come alongside. The ministry teaches through The Gospel Project from Lifeway, a chronological, Christ-centered curriculum that walks children through the entire Bible over three years. The same curriculum launched across the whole church so that preschoolers, students, and adults study the same passage in the same week.
On Sunday mornings, infants through fifth graders are welcomed into the Kids Wing during both the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. services. Preschoolers (birth through age 4) are placed in classrooms that use hands-on, activity-based learning to reinforce each week's Bible story. Children are offered a snack - Ritz crackers, with gluten-free Mott's fruit snacks or Cheerios as alternatives - and water. Parents of preschoolers are expected to serve in the classroom once a month as part of the rhythm of belonging.
AWANA takes over Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The acronym stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed," drawn from 2 Timothy 2:15. Children are grouped by age into Cubbies (3- and 4-year-olds), Sparks (kindergarten through second grade), and Truth and Training (third through fifth grade). Middle and high schoolers can join the Trek and Journey groups from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. AWANA registration happens in person on Wednesday nights.
Spotswood also operates a preschool program. BJ Mitchem serves as Preschool Director, with Sandra Kiefer as Preschool Ministry Assistant and Christi Tackett supporting both preschool and kids. The preschool is part of the same family ministry, sharing the Gospel Project curriculum and the campus's safety standards.
Special needs children are a first-tier part of the Kids Ministry, not a separate program. The Special Needs ministry, led by Coordinator Debra Anibal, gathers on Sunday mornings in Room C118 in the Kids Wing and in Mobile Unit M8. Classes use visual supports alongside the regular lesson, and offer time for crafts, activities, and games. A three-step intake process (email to set up a meet-and-greet, an intake form, and a class visit) ensures each student has a plan that fits. Young adults with special needs are also welcomed into a separate group on Sunday mornings, recognizing that the need for community does not end with childhood.
Across the year, the Kids Ministry runs a Parent Dedication several times annually for families growing biologically or through adoption, and a church-wide Trunk or Treat draws families from across the area to the parking lot for an evening of candy, kettle corn, and a petting zoo.
Middle and High School Students
Spotswood Students, the middle and high school ministry, is pastored by Dakota Gragg for high school and Nate West for middle school. Abbey Vernon serves as Student Worship Associate, and Rachel Herndon leads HS Girls Ministry while also serving as Women's Ministry Coordinator. The ministry's stated aim is to make middle and high schoolers into disciples who love God and love their neighbor.
Students meet in the Student Building on Sunday mornings for Connect Groups during both the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. hours, with many students attending Connect Group at one hour and worshiping with their families at the other. Wednesday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. bring high-energy games, meaningful worship, and strong teaching. The midweek gatherings are designed to be the kind of place students do not want to miss. Abbey Vernon oversees student worship, and the ministry runs on a phone-free basis, a deliberate choice to help students be fully present with God and with one another. Phones are not confiscated; students and parents are asked to partner by putting devices away during services, small groups, and ministry activities.
Four monthly Bible studies give students a chance to go deeper. Refuge is for middle school guys, Haven for middle school girls, Strive for high school guys, and Rooted for high school girls. Each meets on a regular cadence, mostly on Tuesdays, with several gatherings a month.
Grace Weekend, an annual high school retreat, draws students into a longer, more intensive time of teaching and worship. The HS Girls ministry also has its own rhythms of discipleship and mentoring, working closely with the women's ministry on milestones for older students.
Young Adults: A Gospel Movement in FXBG
Young Adults at Spotswood, ages 18 to 25, gather under the leadership of Tyler Cooper, who also serves as Communications Director. Tracy Embrey supports the ministry administratively. The YA ministry describes itself as a Gospel movement of 18-25-year-olds in FXBG, sharing the truth, community, and mission of Jesus Christ around the world.
The weekly rhythm centers on three touchpoints. Sunday mornings begin with a Midmorning Boost from 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. in the YA Building, with breakfast, coffee, and a chance to connect with friends old and new. Connect Groups follow from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. in the same building, providing the deeper Bible study, accountability, and prayer that the ministry considers central. Wednesday nights are the big gathering: doors open at 6:30 p.m. for food, games, and time with friends, and the evening kicks off at 7:00 p.m. with worship led by the ministry team, a word from Pastor Tyler, and prayer for one another and for specific needs.
Two gender-specific Bible studies round out the rhythm. Guys Bible Study meets on Saturday nights at 6:30 p.m. in the YA Building. Ladies Bible Study gathers biweekly on Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m., also in the YA Building, and works through a book study together. A podcast called You Asked, produced by the ministry, fields the questions college students and young professionals are actually asking and answers them over the summer.
The YA ministry also keeps a list of recommended churches near major Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia colleges so that students leaving for school can land in a healthy congregation. The list is detailed, with addresses, phone numbers, and notes about which churches have a college or young adult ministry.
Adults: Men, Women, Parents, and Singles
Adult discipleship at Spotswood is built around Connect Groups, Growth Groups, and Accountability Groups, each with a distinct purpose. Connect Groups are the main weekly small groups where people study God's Word, build relationships, and live on mission together. Many meet on Sunday mornings on campus; others meet throughout the week in homes. Growth Groups are short-term, semester-style studies that go deeper on a single topic; Accountability Groups are smaller, more intimate groups of two to four people designed to close the gap between what a Christian knows and how they live. The discipleship process moves a person from Connect Group to Growth Group to Accountability Group, and the church's own materials make the case that all three are needed.
Men's Ministry, led through a Tuesday morning Bible study at 9:00 a.m. in the YA Building, gathers around 1 Timothy 6:11: "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness." Fred Broadway coordinates the study. Every couple of years, the ministry hosts a Men's Conference on campus, bringing in a guest speaker to challenge men and forge friendships that last beyond the weekend.
Women's Ministry is coordinated by Rachel Herndon and Valerie Cook. The rhythms include the Spotswood Stitchers, a Monday morning quilting, crocheting, sewing, and knitting group that meets in the YA Building from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and shares its handiwork with the community. Women's Growth Groups meet in person and online on Tuesdays. MomCo meets biweekly on the first and third Thursdays, with morning and evening sessions in the Fellowship Hall and childcare up through grade five in the morning. Flourish, a mentoring Bible study for moms, meets on the second and fourth Thursdays. The Well, a twice-yearly women's gathering held in the Student Building, brings women of all ages together for biblical teaching and fellowship. Wilma Willard serves as Women's Ministry prayer coordinator.
Parents are supported through the Spotswood Milestones pathway, a downloadable playbook that helps families disciple their children from infancy onward. Parent Dedication services several times a year give families a public moment to commit to raising their child biblically, and a wide range of at-home resources, including family devotionals, Bible reading plans, and a children's Bible app, equip parents for the work between Sundays.
Young Singles, a ministry for adults in the second quarter of life, meets on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. in Mobile Unit M3. The ministry is built around the same three values as the rest of the church: transformational teaching, biblical community, and missional living.
Interwoven, the church's foster care and adoption ministry, advocates for vulnerable children and seeks to keep the church's attention on the fatherless, the oppressed, and the needy. The ministry's stated goal is that no child in the local area would be without a family or the hope of the gospel.
Worship: Choir, Orchestra, Band, and Organ
Worship leadership at Spotswood rests with Interim Worship Leader Grayson Perry, who returned to Fredericksburg with his wife Grace in 2023 after being baptized at the church in 2002. Perry works alongside a team that includes Director of Worship Technology / IT Justin Smith, Associate Director of Music - Orchestra Jennifer Lewis, Organist Marilla Haas, Audio Visual Technician Reese Saunders, Education/Worship Ministry Assistant Tanner Honig, and Digital Media Coordinator Corey Saunders.
The music ministry is unusually deep for a church of any size. A 75-member adult choir and a 30-piece orchestra anchor the traditional 9:30 a.m. service. A full band carries the contemporary 11:00 a.m. hour. Marilla Haas, who was asked to direct the Adult Choir at Spotswood during her sophomore year at Mary Washington College, has served the music ministry for decades, including time with the adult choir, the orchestra, the graded children's choirs, handbells, and as organist, pianist, and keyboardist. Jennifer Lewis directs the orchestra, a group she joined with her husband in 2004 and that welcomes instrumentalists who want to use their gifts in worship. Abbey Vernon serves as the student worship associate, building a pipeline for younger musicians.
The worship philosophy is laid out plainly: worship is the only appropriate response to God's love and grace for His children. God cares more about the focus of our worship than the form of our worship. All forms of worship, including music, share the same focus, a life surrendered to Jesus as a living sacrifice.
The Spotswood Biblical Counseling Center
The Spotswood Biblical Counseling Center (SBCC) operates as a ministry of the church, offering counsel for individuals, couples, and families in the Fredericksburg region. The center is led by Director of Counseling Meagan Hill, a Licensed Professional Counselor with a master's degree in Counseling Ministries from Clarks Summit University and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). Pastoral Counselor Gene Willis, who has served on the SBC staff since 2001 and was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1976, also counsels and is board-certified with the AACC.
The team includes Licensed Professional Counselor Julie Broadway, Resident in Counseling Nikki Spencer, and Biblical Counselor Randy Simpson, who also helps lead the Re-engage marriage ministry and is certified in SYMBIS and Prepare and Enrich pre-marital counseling. Marisol Santamaria counsels in Spanish, and Kim Elkins serves as the center's administrative assistant.
Counseling is available for marriage, parenting, addictions, fear, anger, grief, anxiety, stress, depression, life purpose, and pre-marital preparation using the Prepare and Enrich curriculum. There is no set fee, though the center suggests a donation of $30 per session. The SBCC office is at 4107 Lafayette Blvd, Suite 2, with a separate phone line at 540-940-2940. The church's stated purpose is to renew the body of believers' faith in the Bible as the answer to all their emotional and psychological needs and to point people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Reaching FXBG: LoveFXBG and the Love Pantry
Local outreach at Spotswood runs under the umbrella title LoveFXBG, an effort the church describes as the way it mobilizes its people toward a lifestyle of serving. Partnerships reach across the city: Lee Hill, Hugh Mercer, Wilderness, and Spotswood Elementary schools, where volunteers serve coffee and breakfast, fill supply closets, and provide for low-income families during the school year and at Christmas. The church also helps run Good News Club, an after-school program that brings Bible stories, songs, and truth to children in the community.
The Spotswood Love Pantry, located in Mobile Unit M12, distributes food on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 9:15 to 11:00 a.m. Volunteers provide food, counsel, and warm smiles to families in the area.
Beyond these church-run efforts, Spotswood points its people toward a list of community partners where they can serve. Micah Ecumenical Ministries provides meals, shelter, and pathways to stability for neighbors experiencing homelessness. The Brisben Center, the region's largest full-service, year-round residential emergency homeless center, can house up to 80 women, children, and men at a time and serves many veterans. The Fredericksburg Christian Health Center delivers high-quality healthcare to the poor, the broken, and the outcast. IMGN Life supports a local pregnancy center, providing medical services, fatherhood mentorship, and parenting classes for abortion-vulnerable clients. The Zoe Freedom Center works with individuals seeking to break free from addiction, offering programs that focus on renewing the mind in Christ, fostering healthy relationships, and developing personal aspirations. Good News Club volunteers bring the hope of the gospel to children in the community through a Bible-centered after-school program.
Going Global: Mission Partnerships That Last
Spotswood's global mission philosophy is built on long-term partnership rather than short trips: 'We don't do mission trips. We value partnerships that last years or even decades.' Two primary offerings fund this work. The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO), the Southern Baptist Convention's primary avenue for supporting North American missions, sends 100% of its gifts to missionaries across the United States and Canada. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, administered by the International Mission Board, supports missionaries around the world. The 2026 Lottie Moon goal at Spotswood was to keep four missionary families on the field, a total of $240,000.
Three named partnerships anchor the global work. In Newfoundland, Canada, the church works with Mile One Mission, a church-planting network led by Steve Bray, and four church planters - Matthew Lahey, Adam Diamond, John Lewis, and Kurtis Rodgers. The network's goal is 800 churches partnering at $200 per month to fund 17 church plants across the province. In Guinea, West Africa, Brian and Emily Shores serve with their family. In Sapporo, Japan, Carlton and Cornelia Walker share the gospel in one of the world's most secular cities. Each partnership includes a prayer guide and an interest meeting for anyone who wants to join the team.
One Church, One Story, One Journey Through Scripture
A distinctive feature of Spotswood's life together is the church-wide adoption of The Gospel Project, a chronological, Christ-centered Bible study from Lifeway. Preschoolers, students, and adults all study the same passage in the same week, so a family can read the same Scripture on Sunday morning and talk about it around the dinner table that night. The launch was framed around three prayers: that the church would grow in biblical literacy, understanding the people, places, events, and storyline of Scripture; that the church would grow in biblical fluency, seeing how the whole Bible fits together and points to Jesus; and that families would become stronger as they read Scripture together.
Spotswood Milestones extend that vision into a child's life, marking key moments in spiritual growth from infancy through senior year. The downloadable Milestone Playbook is the central resource for parents, and the ministry treats parent discipleship as a long-term partnership rather than a Sunday morning program.
What Spotswood Believes
Spotswood's confession of faith follows the historic Baptist tradition. The Bible is the inerrant, divinely inspired Word of God, the supreme standard for Christian faith and life. There is one true God, infinite in holiness and all other perfections, who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind, was raised from the dead, ascended to the right hand of God, and will return in power and glory. The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, convicts of sin, regenerates the believer, indwells every Christian, and empowers the church for worship, evangelism, and service.
Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and involves regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. The church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing baptism and the Lord's Supper, and governed by its members under the Lordship of Christ. Christian baptism is by immersion of a believer, symbolizing faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior; the Lord's Supper is a symbolic memorial of the Redeemer's death. The family is the foundational institution of human society, defined as the union of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime, with children honored as a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
The church holds to the cooperation of churches for missions, education, and benevolence, affirms religious liberty, and calls Christians to live as salt and light in the world while opposing racism, greed, selfishness, vice, and sexual immorality in all its forms. The full confession, with all scriptural references, is available on the church's What We Believe page.
Prayer, Membership, and the Life of the Church
Prayer is woven into the weekly and monthly rhythms. The Spotswood Prayer Center is open on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with a rotating weekly focus: marriages and relationships on the first Sunday, specific physical, emotional, and spiritual needs on the second, prodigals and the lost on the third, and anxiety and depression on the fourth. The Kingdom Prayer Group meets Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. in the Prayer Center for intercessory prayer. A First Sunday Night of Prayer gathers the church at 6:00 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month for prayer over specific ministries and partners, with a different theme each month.
Membership at Spotswood is open to anyone who has professed faith in Jesus and been baptized by immersion. Prospective members visit the Next Steps Station in the lobby at the end of a service and meet with a pastor to share their story and complete membership records. Children in fifth grade and under meet with the Kids Pastor before a baptism, and the church baptizes new believers the first and third Sundays of the month in its heated baptismal pool behind the choir.
Deacons serve three-year terms and follow the pattern of Acts 6, meeting the material and practical needs of the church so the pastoral team can focus on spiritual needs. The Deacon body oversees the Lord's Supper, the Deacon Prayer Chain, the Pastor's Prayer Partners, holiday flower delivery, and a steady ministry of encouragement to the staff and congregation.
RightNow Media is provided free to members, giving the church a Netflix-style library of Bible studies, teaching videos, and family content accessible on phones, tablets, and TVs. Giving is available online through PushPay, with recurring giving options and annual giving statements. Office hours run Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the church office can be reached at 540-898-0757 or [email protected].
A Place to Belong and a Place to Serve
Spotswood's leaders are quick to point out that the members of the church are burdened with four things: worship, small groups, community, and missions. Worship on a Sunday is only the start. The body that fills the auditorium on Lafayette Boulevard feeds into a network of Connect Groups, Growth Groups, Accountability Groups, midweek Bible studies, Wednesday night programs, weekend hikes, monthly dinners, retreats, and outreach efforts across the city and around the world. There is a place to belong, and a place to serve, and the church's prayer is that every person who walks through the lobby on a Sunday morning will find both.