St. John’s Baptist Church

Worship | Sundays @ 10:30am

About St. John's

As St. John’s, we are committed to God, to each other and we are committed to you.

Who We Are

St. John’s offers a distinct church experience. It is one that draws on tradition but also embraces change and is open to new visions for our path as followers of Jesus. Indeed, since 1922, our historic church has grown and evolved as the city of Charlotte has grown and evolved around it.

Today, St. John’s is again responding to change as thousands move to the Charlotte area each month. We are committed to showing up for the residents of our city:

  • if you are in a period of transition and need the stability and familiarity of an established church,
  • if you have been hurt by a church in the past and need a safe place to recover and heal,
  • if you are looking for a community that will celebrate and share in life’s joys with you,
  • even if you never step foot in our building.
 

Our Mission & Values

We love, value, and celebrate everyone. We work hard to meet the social and spiritual needs we encounter inside our walls, in our neighborhood, and across our city. Our mission is to embrace and express God’s inclusive compassion and continue the ministry of Jesus.

As St. John’s, we are committed to God, to each other and we are committed to you.

Please use the links below to explore our website and learn more about our church life, our history, our people and how we live our faith!  However, the only way to truly learn about our church family is to join us for Sunday Worship at 10:30 or for another church event.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Our Leadership Team

Senior Minister
Minister for Congregational Care
Minister for Worship & Music
Minister for Children & Their Families
Church Administrator
Media Coordinator
Head Custodian
Weekday School Director
Organist
Children's Choir Director

More About Us

“We do now solemnly and joyfully covenant with each other …”

-St. John’s Baptist Church Covenant

In 1922, a group of Baptists in Charlotte decided to respond to the movement of progressive social action that was stirring throughout the nation. They had raised the requisite funds, acquired the land at Hawthorne Lane and Fifth Street, and erected the building within which to worship. However, even with all of this, they were not finished. They needed a mission statement – something that would set their course and define the purpose for which this Church was established. 

They desired that each member and guest, as well as others, would know they were walking in lockstep with the God they worshiped, that they would care for one another, assemble together, be responsible to and for each other, avoid worldly temptations, contribute to the Church from their assets and income and, in all things, to do God’s will as they lived their lives.

Therefore, St. John’s was birthed as “a servant church” and its members were intentional about writing language into what became the St. John’s Covenant, which enabled cooperation and collaboration through ecumenism and inclusiveness.

The St. John’s Covenant was written in March 1922 to address areas of their belief and concerns. They contracted to walk with God, in brotherly love, as well as admonish each other as the occasion required. They agreed to publicly worship together and to place God at the center of their respective family lives. They believed if they exercised these attributes that others would want to share their joy in Christian living. They further agreed to generously and joyfully give of their resources to the Church. Finally, they committed themselves to service to others, especially the poor.

This covenant carried the Christian believers known as St. John’s Baptist Church for fifty-one years. It was a solid commitment that survived a national economic depression, a world war, two foreign wars, and the growth of the largest city in the Carolinas. In June 1973, the Congregation decided the 1922 covenant needed an upgrade. By then, the language of the original covenant seemed too dated for a more modern world.

There were newer principles that needed to be included and the vernacular language of 1922 no longer was applicable. Jesus Christ as the son of God needed inclusion, personal Christian growth, and the concept of grace emphasized. More importantly the covenant not only needed to be made with each member, but that the covenant was a commitment to God as well. The revised covenant retained many of the principles of the 1922 covenant but extended the service to all others in need and not just the poor, and stressed that while differences between each other might occur, nothing would separate members from each other and the love of God. The revised covenant required the members to recognize that every person has value in the eyes of God.

Through the decades, whenever fundamentalism has sought to force Baptist congregations into uniformity of belief and practice, St. John’s has relied on these founding principles of the St. John’s Covenant. Still today, we are a servant church, committed to God as disciples of Jesus Christ. In these days of post-denominationalism, we continue our quest to be Christ’s Church, incarnating Christ’s mission of service through principles that are rooted in the Baptist soil of freedom: freedoms expressed as soul competence, congregational autonomy, religious freedom for all, and separation of church and state.

“Our differences will not separate us but rather increase our understanding and strengthen the bonds of Christian love.”

-St. John’s Baptist Church Covenant 

United in the faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, revealed in history, disclosed in the Scriptures, and experienced in human life, we do solemnly and joyfully make this Covenant together:

We will be faithful to the public worship of God, gathering with the family of the Church to celebrate his glory and remember his grace.

We will take seriously the responsibility and privilege of personal Christian growth, diligently seeking to establish and maintain a Christian atmosphere in our homes.

We will love and encourage each other in the family of the Church, and admonish each other as occasion may require. Our differences will not separate us but rather increase our understanding and strengthen the bonds of Christian love.

We will be faithful stewards, as God has prospered us, contributing our financial support for the Church and its ministries and offering ourselves for God’s work in the world.

We will, with God’s help, so live our lives that others, seeing the joy of Christian living, may seek to know Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will be a servant church, recognizing the infinite worth of every person and believing that Christ has called us to active involvement in behalf of human brotherhood.

In the spirit of this Covenant, we pray together:

Almighty God, Father of us all, witness this Covenant which we make with each other and with Thee. Guide us as we try to do that which pleases Thee, to the glory of Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adopted March 22,1922
Revised June 10,1973

Are you interested in becoming connected to the life of St. John’s?
In the life and ministry of St. John’s, we take church membership seriously. Our Membership Resource Team offers classes throughout the year to introduce you to the vision, ministries, heritage, etc. of the congregation. This group also hosts receptions during the year to become better acquainted with you and dialogue about your questions.

For us, church membership is not merely placing one’s name on the list of members. Church membership is a commitment to follow Jesus in ministry. For us, church membership is a personal commitment to God and to the other members of St. John’s that one chooses to follow the teachings and lifestyle principles of Jesus by being a ministering member of Christ’s Church through active faithfulness in the life and ministries of St. John’s. When you determine you are ready to become a ministering member of St. John’s, please know it is our philosophy that while we cannot be the church for everyone, we do strive to be a church for anyone. So, when you are ready to receive our commitment to you that we will walk the Christian journey of faith with you and when you are ready to make your commitment to God and to the other ministering members of St. John’s, here is how that happens.

Towards the end of the worship service, we sing a final hymn. During the singing of this hymn, we invite those who wish to join SJBC to come to the front and speak to our Senior Minister or another minister of the day.

We receive members in the following three ways:

  • Profession of faith in Jesus Christ (followed by baptism at a later time)
  • Transfer of membership from another church (no baptism required, no matter your prior church tradition)
  • Statement of previous church membership (no baptism required, no matter your prior church affiliation)

As you consider membership at SJBC, please read our church covenant.  It articulates the commitments we make to each other as a part of the faith community.  If you have additional questions, call the church office (704-333-5428, ext. 11) to speak with one of the ministers.

St. John’s is an autonomous congregation. This means we are free and accountable only to God and to one another as we determine our congregational decisions and directions. We are pleased to partner with several faith-based alliances and organizations. Yet, no decisions or actions of any of these groups have any control over our church’s life or ministry. Our collaborations with these groups allow us to participate in and support local and global mission efforts, attend conferences and workshops, and grow as a congregation and as individuals in Christian unity.
  •  Alliance of Baptists: Theological Home. Pursuit of God’s Justice. Partnership in Mission. These three core values guide the Alliance of Baptists. The Alliance of Baptists began in 1987 as a prophetic voice in Baptist life. Today, we have grown to be a justice movement and community of faith.  We are male and female laity and clergy, people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, theological beliefs, and ministry practices. We are about 4,500 individual members and roughly 140 congregations knit together by love for one another and God, combining progressive inquiry, contemplative prayer and prophetic action to bring about justice and healing in a changing world. Click here to learn more about the Alliance of Baptists.
  •  Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists (AWAB): As the only organization solely devoted to building the Welcoming and Affirming movement within the Baptist traditions, AWAB has a unique call to be The National Voice for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Allied Baptists in the US. Since 1993 AWAB has been supporting churches in being and becoming Welcoming and Affirming of all people regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.  We work as individuals, congregations, regional groupings and as a national body to advance the Radical Welcome and Love of God in Jesus Christ through being the Ministry of Reconciliation and building up the Beloved Community where all will be one. Click here to learn more about AWAB.
  •  Baptist World Alliance: The Baptist World Alliance is a global movement of Baptists sharing a common confession of faith in Jesus Christ bonded together by God’s love to support, encourage and strengthen one another while proclaiming and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit before a lost and hurting world. Click here to learn more about the Baptist World Alliance.
  •  Baptist Women in Ministry: At St. John’s we are advocates of women in ministry. Baptist Women in Ministry is a catalyst in Baptist life, drawing together women and men, in partnership with God, to illuminate, advocate, and nurture the gifts and graces of women. Click here to learn more about Baptist Women in Ministry.
  •  Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America: Scattered like salt across Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States, we are a movement of individuals and congregations from a wide variety of cultures and Baptist heritages, who share a common call to witness to God’s Peace—which is to say peace rooted in justice, this-worldly peace “on earth as it is in heaven.” Click here to learn more about the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
  •  Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina: We are a fellowship of Baptists in North Carolina sharing a commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in our midst, and a reverence for God’s Word. Click here to learn more about the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina.
  •  Cooperative Baptist Fellowship: The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a Christian network of individuals and churches working together to spread the hope of Christ. Our diverse community includes partners all over the globe, and our fellowship supports a wide range of missions and ministries that give people meaningful opportunities to put their faith into action. Click here to learn more about the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
  •  Elizabeth Communities of Faith: St. John’s is located in the heart of the historic Elizabeth neighborhood of Charlotte. Our association with the Elizabeth Communities of Faith (ECF) connects us with other communities of faith in the area: St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, Caldwell Presbyterian Church, Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church, and the chaplain’s offices of Novant Health Presbyterian Hospital and Mercy Hospital of Carolina’s Medical Center.  ECF congregations work together to create a series of services during the season of Lent, Vacation Bible School, and periodically on issues important to our city and our neighborhood. Click here to learn more.
  • The NC Council of Churches enables denominations, congregations, and people of faith to impact the state on issues such as economic justice and development, human well-being, equality, and compassion and peace, following the example and mission of Jesus Christ. Find out more here.

How do I find St. John’s Baptist Church?

Our campus is located at the corner of Hawthorne Lane and 5th Street, with our physical address being 300 Hawthorne Lane. There are two ways to enter our parking lots, one off Hawthorne Lane and one off 5th Street. Both parking lots connect, are marked with a sign with our name, and are open to anyone coming to our buildings for both church-sponsored and outside events and meetings.

If you are a regular member or work on our campus, please come to our main office on the second floor during the week to receive a parking sticker for your vehicle.

When I park, where do I go?

During the week, the best way to enter our building and find your destination is to come to our Main Entrance, ring the bell to the left of the doorway, speak to our office staff, and be admitted and directed to where you need to go.

On Sunday mornings, you may enter the building at the Main Entrance, Broach Hall, 5th Street Entrance, or the Sanctuary outer doors. At each location, one of our greeters will welcome you and help you find your way.