Woodmont Baptist Church sits on a hill at 2100 Woodmont Boulevard, on the corner of Hillsboro Pike in Nashville's Green Hills neighborhood, just north of the former Green Hills Mall. Founded in 1941 and now in its ninth decade, the church is known around Nashville for a Sunday morning worship broadcast that has aired on WUXP-MYTV30 (and Comcast channel 14) for more than forty-five years, for a weekday preschool that has nurtured generations of Green Hills children, and for a broad slate of local and international mission work that ranges from a Tuesday morning food pantry to scholarship programs in West Africa.
A Congregation Built in Three Moves
Woodmont's story is told in three architectural chapters. The church was founded in 1941, and the first congregation met at Hillsboro High School while plans for a permanent home took shape. In September 1944, members gathered for the first time in what is still called the Chapel on the current property. On November 11, 1956, the church moved into its newly built sanctuary, which remains the heart of Sunday morning worship today. A 400-page history book titled From This Corner: A History of Woodmont Baptist Church 1941-2017, featuring more than 300 photographs, documents those years and is available through the church office.
The pastoral history is similarly compact. Nathan Parker, the church's fourth Senior Pastor, was called in January 2017. He grew up in the Nashville area, earned a religion degree from Belmont University, completed his Master of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, and received his Doctor of Ministry from Lipscomb University in 2019. He and his wife Morgan have three children: Jude, Mae, and Isaiah.
Sunday Morning in English, Then in Swahili
The rhythm of a typical Sunday at Woodmont begins at 9:15 a.m. with parallel Life Groups and children's and youth classes running across the building. Most Life Groups meet in classrooms throughout the church and are designed as small communities of eight to twenty-five people who pray for one another, study the Bible together, and find ways to serve. The current lineup includes Gospel-centered college study in Room B308, the Catalyst class for recent graduates and graduate students in Room B307, Launch for young adults in their twenties and thirties in Room B309, Veritas for parents of young children in Room B236, Family Matters for parents with kids from preschool through high school in Room B306, and a range of other classes organized by age and stage, including Logos, S.A.L.T., The Firm, DFW, Good News, Senior Fellowship, and Koinonia.
At 10:30 a.m., the congregation gathers in the sanctuary for an hour of blended worship that includes congregational singing led by the worship band, choral music from the worship choir, and expository preaching from the Senior Pastor. The service is broadcast live on WUXP-MYTV30 and Comcast channel 14, streamed through BoxCast, and simulcast on Facebook. Past services are archived on Vimeo and YouTube.
At noon, the same building hosts a second worship service: the Swahili Baptist Church of Woodmont. The partnership began in early 2012 when Memba Mwene and his family, newly arrived in Nashville, visited Woodmont and were introduced to Carlos and Myrtice Owens, longtime missionaries to Africa and members of the church. The two families greeted each other in Swahili, and a Swahili-speaking congregation took root. Today the Swahili Baptist Church holds its own Sunday worship in the sanctuary following the English service.
Wednesday Nights Around the Table
Woodmont's Midweek programming is built around a shared meal. At 5:30 p.m. the fellowship hall opens for a fellowship meal priced at $10 per adult, $5 per child, free for two and under, free for college students, and capped at $30 per family. After dinner, the building fills with activity: a brief time of prayer in the fellowship hall at 6:15, adult Bible studies and adult choir rehearsal from 6:30 to 7:30, and children's and youth programs running simultaneously. The schedule runs in two long semesters each year, with breaks for Spring Break and Holy Week.
The Music Ministry is central to the Wednesday rhythm. Aaron Duncan, Executive Pastor of Music and Administration, oversees both the Worship Choir, which rehearses on Wednesday evenings and sings from the loft most Sundays, and the Worship Band, made up of vocals, guitars, drums, bass, piano, organ, strings, and winds. The band rehearses individually during the week and gathers before each service. All are welcome to join either ensemble.
The Woodmont Weekday Preschool
Long before the public schools let out, the Woodmont Baptist Weekday Preschool is already humming. School hours run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the preschool serves roughly 75 children from infancy through pre-kindergarten. Windy Robbins, who joined Woodmont in 1985 and became director in August 2005, leads a staff that emphasizes low child-to-teacher ratios, developmentally appropriate curriculum, and Christian principles taught through practice and example. The preschool has its own phone line (615-297-2810) and fax (615-297-8969), as well as a separate email address, and operates as a ministry of the church.
Children, Youth, and College
Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings are structured so that families can be in the same building at the same time. Birth through pre-kindergartners have Sunday classes from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. and a staffed nursery from 10:20 to 11:30 a.m. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade have their own Bible classes at the same Sunday hour and again on Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. Rachel Gregory, Minister of Preschool and Children, oversees the program. A Samford graduate with a master's degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and former IMB journeyman in Madagascar, she sees her role as helping parents be the primary disciple makers of their children. The children's ministry runs family trips, retreats, an Easter egg hunt, Vacation Bible School, CentriKid summer camp, and Parents Night Out.
Students in sixth through twelfth grade meet in the youth area on the third floor. Sunday morning Life Groups run from 9:15 to 10:20 a.m., and Wednesday night CONNECT runs from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. with fellowship, games, worship, and Bible study. Beth Howe, Minister of Students and Discipleship, oversees both the youth ministry and the college ministry. The youth ministry also runs an annual retreat and a summer camp at Crossings at Jonathan's Creek in Kentucky. The college ministry gathers on Sunday mornings in Room B308 at 9:30 a.m. for small group Bible study, meets every second Sunday at 5:00 p.m. for food and fellowship during the school year, and serves together in the community throughout the year.
Life Together: Life Groups, D-Groups, and More
The pastoral team at Woodmont describes Christianity as a team sport, and the church's small-group infrastructure reflects that conviction. Beyond the Sunday morning Life Groups, members are encouraged to form D-Groups, or Discipleship Groups: intentional gatherings of three or more people who meet for mutual encouragement, accountability, and Bible study. D-Groups can meet in homes, at the church, or on Zoom, and they are designed to run at least three months at a time. Members are equipped with study guides and connected through the church office.
Other adult ministries gather in the spaces between Sundays. JustMen meets at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesdays in the Chapel Classroom for an hour of Bible study, prayer, and conversation, and a men's breakfast convenes at 8:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month for $6 per adult. Women's Ministry hosts seasonal Bible studies, including a verse-by-verse study of Revelation on Sunday afternoons. Frontrunners, the senior adult ministry directed by Lil Cook, gathers on the first Monday of each month for lunch outings and on the third Thursday for a devotional and luncheon, and pairs each at-home member with a church member who prays for, visits, and remembers them on their birthday.
The Jan Regen Food Pantry
Every Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to noon, the North Portico of the church becomes a drive-through distribution point for the Jan Regen Food Pantry, named for a longtime Woodmont member who helped shape the ministry. The pantry serves an average of thirty to thirty-five households each week, and a household may visit once per month for food and diapers (with a limit of fifty diapers per child per month). Gaye Eichler established the first dedicated food pantry room in the fall of 2010, with the S.A.L.T. Sunday School class stocking it for a year. The pantry now partners with the Nashville Diaper Connection, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and Midwest Food Bank.
Guests who request prayer are paired with a volunteer who sits and prays with them. Volunteers fill slots each month through online sign-up sheets, and Elaine Bright and Sarah Tarr coordinate the ministry. A current needs list posted by the pantry includes canned beans, cereal, canned chicken, chili, canned fruit, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, pasta, soup, tuna, and gift cards for perishable items.
Burro Bags and Room In The Inn
Two weekly mission efforts fill the rest of Woodmont's outreach calendar. Since 2012, the Burro Bags Ministry has delivered weekend food bags to students at Hillsboro High School who receive free lunches during the week but have nothing for Saturday and Sunday. The ministry, which began as a partnership with Calvary Methodist Church, has now delivered more than 1,800 bags. Volunteers bag sixteen bags each week and deliver them on Friday mornings, and donations can be made through an Amazon wishlist or dropped in the bin in the north entry lobby.
From November through March, Woodmont hosts Room In The Inn, welcoming nine to twelve men experiencing homelessness on Saturday nights. Life Groups provide meals and laundry, and individual volunteers sign up to stay overnight, help with dinner and breakfast, prepare sack lunches, or assist with cleanup. The church also collects men's clothing, small backpacks, shoes, socks, underwear, and toiletries, and funds for mattress covers, linens, and towels. Markus Voehler coordinates the program.
Around the World: Puerto Rico, Sierra Leone, and Beyond
Woodmont's mission footprint extends far beyond Nashville. Each year the church organizes a Puerto Rico Mission Trip in partnership with Send Relief; participants must be twelve or older and no passport is required. The Sierra Leone Children's Fund provides $100 scholarships for more than 250 primary and secondary school students through the Jim Kearley Sierra Leone Children's Fund, with donors able to sponsor an individual child. Past mission teams have served in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic (including a 2015 trip that delivered medical, dental, and vision care to more than 1,500 patients in Juan Tomas), and Dominica, where a 2018 construction team helped rebuild after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Habitat for Humanity Unity Build brings Woodmont volunteers together with other faith communities each year to construct a home and interfaith relationships in Nashville.
Celebrate Recovery on Monday Nights
On Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m., the third-floor youth room hosts Woodmont's Celebrate Recovery group, a Christ-centered twelve-step program for anyone struggling with hurts, hang-ups, or habits. The group is led by Eddie Chisholm and Ron Frost and is open to anyone seeking support through the recovery process.
Becoming a Christian and Becoming a Member
Woodmont teaches a clear plan of salvation grounded in Scripture: acknowledging God as Creator, recognizing personal sin, trusting that Christ died as a substitute, repenting, and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. The church practices believer's baptism by immersion and offers a printable baptism and salvation resource. Those wishing to join the church may do so by profession of faith and baptism, by baptism, by transfer of letter from another Baptist church, by statement from another denomination whose baptism matches Woodmont's practice, or by watchcare for students living temporarily in Nashville.
The Media Library Since 1947
Since April 1947, Woodmont has maintained a church library. What began as 250 donated books has grown into a multi-media facility of more than 20,000 items, including Christian study aids, biographies, fiction and nonfiction, large-print titles, children's literature, devotionals, audio books, magazines, CDs, and DVDs. The library is open on Sundays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to noon, and on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Giving, the 2100 Foundation, and Getting Connected
Woodmont accepts gifts in several ways: in the offering plate during the 10:30 service, at a debit and credit kiosk in the office foyer, by text to (615) 505-4320, by mail to P.O. Box 150093, Nashville, TN 37215, or online. The 2100 Foundation is a separate vehicle for planned estate gifts and other donations above regular tithing, and supports the church's future ministries. New visitors are encouraged to fill out a Connect card so the staff can follow up, and a welcome video introduces the church to those considering a first visit.
What to Know Before You Visit
Church offices are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The main phone number is 615-297-5303, with a separate WBC information service at 615-298-3100. From north or south on I-65, drivers take I-440 west to the Hillsboro Pike exit and turn into the church parking lot before reaching Woodmont Boulevard. A building map is available to help locate specific Life Group rooms, the youth area on the third floor, and the North Portico where the food pantry operates on Tuesday mornings.