Our Identity
Traditional
FBC Mobile is committed to championing and modeling freedom of conscience among people of faith, while upholding the authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and practice. We look to the life and teaching of Jesus as a guide to biblical interpretation and Christian practice. We reject binding creeds or quasi-binding doctrinal statements of human origin.
FBC Mobile governs its own affairs under the lordship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit by means of congregational church governance in which important decisions concerning the church are made by the congregation as a whole through the democratic process. We reject authoritarian pastoral leadership, denominational connectionalism, and any attempt by persons outside our local congregation to exercise authority over the affairs of our church.
FBC Mobile continues to worship corporately in a style which is joyous and appropriately respectful of the solemnity and holiness of the occasion and does not substitute religious entertainment for divine worship. Although we reject worship as entertainment, we do not mean to suggest or imply that contemporary forms of worship are illegitimate or irreverent. We believe that there should be a church in Mobile for historic Baptists and other followers of Christ who enjoy worship in a more traditional style.
Progressive
Our love and respect for others as persons made in the image of God, compels us to reject manipulative forms of evangelism. The love of God for the lost is the principal motivating factor in our evangelistic efforts. FBC Mobile engages in social ministries which are understood to be ends in themselves, and not merely avenues for evangelism, because Jesus has commanded us to do good and not to neglect “the least of these.” We reject the philosophy that the only legitimate work of the church is the winning of souls. We affirm that we are called to minister to the whole person. FBC Mobile affirms without reservation the worth of all people in the church in recognition of the truth that God, who is no respecter of persons, loves all and is free to and does call whomever God wills to do whatever God desires. We reject discrimination in ministry or otherwise. For example, positions and roles within the church, lay and ministerial, are opened to all as called by God.
Unique
FBC Mobile freely partners with churches of like faith and practice, mission entities, churches of other denominations, parachurch organizations, and secular entities for the promotion of the common good. We are an ecumenical church willing to make common cause with others (regardless of the theological differences which separate us) for the good of the community, nation, and world. FBC Mobile provides opportunities for youth and adult Bible study which avoid indoctrination and allow for a free and open discussion of the theological and ethical issues presented by the biblical text. While we recognize that all religious education (for children, youth, and adults) is concerned with teaching God’s truths, we believe that older youth and adults should be free to engage the biblical text and their teachers with questions that test and challenge traditional understandings and interpretations. Those who call this church home are free, welcomed and encouraged to be and become who they are and will be as they hear God calling them. As a result, FBC Mobile is a diverse congregation in many facets. Above all else, though, we unite around Christ and our shared journey to become more like him as we have consciously determined to remain distinctly Baptist as evidenced in part by out commitment to the historic Baptist Freedoms (Soul Freedom, Bible Freedom, Church Freedom and Religious Freedom).