Upcoming Events

Senior Salt Carol Sing at the Cove, December 11, $50

Purpose and Mission

The beautiful Tri-Cities area of East Tennessee is growing rapidly in retirement population which offers Central Baptist Church the opportunity to provide a wide variety of ministries, programs, recreational activities and travel for senior adults. We enthusiastically reach out to include all (aged fifty-five and above) who are looking for Christian fellowship, discipleship and ministry opportunities.

We senior adults experience blessings daily through using our abilities and resources to share God’s love in our church, community and elsewhere. Where we find needs and see God at work, we consider it our privilege to follow Him in ministry.

More specifically, we:

Design activities and programs to bring others into the Christian experience

Provide spiritual enrichment through seminars and studies which focus on Christian growth

Mobilize senior adults to minister through the church

Provide learning opportunities regarding wellness and safety issues

Offer recreational and travel opportunities with warm Christian fellowship, and

Serve as mentors by using our professional skills and spiritual gifts.

Our Mission:

To invest in relationships with God, One Another, and the World

Our mission statement lays it out, but let's break down even more what CBC is all about. We believe that the 5 purposes of the church are as follows:

Worship (Psalm 100:2)

Discipleship (2 Peter 3:18)

Evangelism (Romans 10:15)

Missions and Ministry (Galatians 5:13)

Fellowship (Acts 2:44)

Along with these, our church beliefs are as follows:

The Bible is the Sole Authority - We believe the Bible is the sole authority and guide for faith and practice (life). The Bible is God’s written word, telling us about God’s Word (Jesus). While there are different theories held by Southern Baptists on how to approach the Bible, from literal to symbolic, Southern Baptists look to the Bible, particularly the New Testament, as the guide on how to live and how to “do” church. This is one of the reasons that Southern Baptists have no “creed;” the Bible is our guide.

Regenerative Church Membership - We believe in a regenerate church membership – only Christians can be church members. This belief then leads to the practice of baptism of believers only. Baptism is a sacred symbol, both to us and to the world, of the beginning of our relationship with God. Therefore, only those who have come to a relationship with God, by confession of sins and through faith (trust) in Jesus, should be baptized. Immersion is the mode of baptism.

Autonomy of the Local Church - We believe in the autonomy of the local church. It is the local group of gathered believers that is the church. Inside the church, decisions are made by the entire church body (congregation) discovering God’s will together. No one, not even the pastor, is given more than one vote in decisions made by the church body. While there is no concept of a “church” outside the local body, Southern Baptists have a long history of banding together at the local, state, and national levels to cooperate with others for mutual support and cooperative efforts. The latter include such things as missions, at all levels, theological education, and educational publishing.

Priesthood of the Believer - We subscribe to the “priesthood of the believer” doctrine, which means several things. The most obvious is that no one must mediate between us and God – we do not need a priest, other than Jesus himself. Each Christian is called by God to minister to others as he/she is equipped by God. This does not diminish the professional clergy, but casts them primarily in the role of equipper and encourager of each Christian to be a minister (priest) to others.

Religious Liberty - We have historically held very strong to the concept of religious liberty. The civil authorities (“state”) have no business in deciding for individuals what beliefs (or churches) they should agree with or support. Additionally, the church is not to become the civil authority. While our relationship with God does fundamentally change us from the inside, we are not to impose our beliefs on others by means of any kind of coercion, blatant, or implicit. Christians are to be influencers (the salt) of society.

Missionary Minded - We are missionary-minded. This is one of the primary reasons that Baptists join together. We fund, train, and support missionaries to plant churches throughout the world.