Who We Are
Boone Trail Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist affiliated church located in Johnson City, Tennessee.
As a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in us by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Our congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ where each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Our two scriptural offices are that of pastor* and deacon.
Theology Driving our Mission
Our fundamental theology and statement of faith can be found in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. We believe Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), who loved the world (everyone) (John 3:16), and became “the true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9). As informed by the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), our mission and focus as a congregation is to Love. Connect. Serve.
Love. We are a community that is formed by God’s love for us. We are to Love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37), love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39), and love one another just as God loves us (John 13:34).
Connect. We have been united to Christ by grace alone through faith alone. This connection to our Savior joins us together, as we seek to obey Him on the Lord’s Day and throughout the week, building relationships, making disciples, and studying God’s word (John 15:1-17)
Serve. We are convinced the Gospel includes more than receiving grace from God. It means we use our gifts and talents to glorify God, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, seeking to spread the Gospel to our community and to the ends of the Earth (1 Peter 4:7-11, Hebrews 13:16).
Governance
In fulfilling our mission, our church operates as pastor-led, congregation-affirmed, and deacon-served. The pastor(s) lead the ministry of the church with the collaboration and affirmation of the congregational members. The congregational members are accountable for actively serving the church, participating in ministries, and using their skills to help run the day-to-day operations (church administration) of the church so that the pastor(s) can focus on leading the mission of the church. The congregational members vote to affirm the direction of the pastor(s) for decisions that are fundamental to who we are and how we operate (e.g., theology, operating budget, and committees/teams formed to support church administration). The pastor(s) is/are accountable to shepherd the congregation under the Lordship of Christ. The deacons serve at the request of the pastors and the congregational members.
The three (3) primary positions of responsibility in our church are:
Pastor/Elder/Overseer: A God-called, church-ordained, servant leader of the church. Christ is the head of the church, who came to serve and give his life for the church. (Matthew 20:28) The pastor serves under Christ; therefore, the pastor is the under shepherd and the servant leader of the local church. A pastor is a man who satisfies the qualifications for the office set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:6–9.
*Note: We have chosen to use the term pastor; however, several terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament related to the role of pastor. Those terms are elder (presbuteros), overseer (episkopos), and shepherd/pastor (poimen), each delineating the overarching responsibilities given to pastors.
Congregational Members: Baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in us by His Word; and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Deacon: A church-called, church-ordained servant of the church (Acts 6:3), who serves under the direction of the pastor(s) and congregational members in performing church ministries. A deacon is a man who satisfies the qualifications for the office set forth in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.
What we love about Boone Trail
Boone Trail is a unified body of believers bound by our common faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose members desire biblical teaching and desire to serve their church and community. We live out our faith with cross-generational teaching and discipleship. We emphasize biblical discipleship, relationships, and bearing each other’s burdens through:
Lord’s Day: Proclaiming the gospel through worship and preaching
Classes: Adult and youth Sunday School; and Wednesday night prayer/Bible study and AWANA
Home Groups: Where we live out our faith together in our homes
Small Groups: Small discipleship groups focusing on high-accountability and mentoring as we are “being sanctified” by the word. (Romans 6, Hebrews 10:14)
We worship collectively as the body of Christ to glorify God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit through scripture reading, prayer, theologically rich songs, and proclaiming of God’s Word each Sunday. We strive to be a body of believers who stand firm on the foundation of scripture, who covenant together to be the hands and feet of Jesus, working to spread the Gospel to our community and to the ends of the Earth.
Our battle-cry is to love, connect, and serve together daily in our walk with Christ.