History
Fredericksburg Bible Church was established in September 1977 by several families who felt that their spiritual needs were not being met elsewhere.
The first service of the new church was held at the Agriculture Building on October 2, 1977. In 1979, the church moved its meeting place to the Seventh Day Adventist Building. In 1983, the church moved to the Historical Society Building.
Finally, early in 1988, the building the Bible Church occupies was purchased from First Baptist Church, who remained in the building under a lease until just before Christmas. The first service of the Bible Church in their new home was Christmas morning of 1988.
Our Building
The sanctuary was constructed in 1889, and was the home of Bethany Lutheran Church until 1954 when First Baptist Church purchased the building. During their ownership, many additions, including classrooms, offices and a fellowship hall, were built along with a renovation of the sanctuary.
In 1988, Fredericksburg Bible Church purchased the facility as their permanent home. In 2000, a major renovation of the sanctuary was completed. The sanctuary is capable of holding approximately 250 people.
Associations
Fredericksburg Bible Church is an independent Bible church. Although we are not governed by the doctrine or rules of any denomination, we are not insular, but are part of an informal group of churches and seminaries with similar doctrinal beliefs.
Church Organization
Fredericksburg Bible Church is governed by its Council of Elders, consisting of a group of men, including our Pastor, who meet the qualifications of an elder described in I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. A Board of Deacons assists the Elder Council in certain areas of service to the church, consisting of men who meet the qualifications of a deacon described in 1 Timothy 3:8-12.
Church Ministries
Fredericksburg Bible Church has several regular ministries intended to evangelize the lost, and edify believers, not only within its local community, but as far as we can reach others. The primary focus of our ministries is faithfully teaching the Bible. To this end, we have three teaching services – two on Sunday morning and one on Wednesday evening. For those who live outside our community or who are unable to attend a service, we livestream our services over the Internet, and lessons are archived online and available to all who want to access them. An indispensable component of all of our ministries is prayer. We have an effective prayer ministry with various methods of disseminating requests while offering different times for corporate prayer as well as encouraging and facilitating personal prayer. Additionally, we have an emergency prayer request line for urgent prayer requests. We have an annual Vacation Bible School, usually in June of each year – a ministry intended to reach out to local children and their families with the gospel and the Word of God.
Evangelism
Since Fredericksburg is a small community where most everyone knows everyone, a majority of community evangelism is done through one-on-one contact that is enhanced through social events sponsored by the church. We encourage and expect each member of our congregation to be intentional about proclaiming the gospel – to make and take advantage of every opportunity to clearly and accurately present the gospel. The gospel is regularly presented each month in connection with our monthly communion service, as well as during the course of our teaching services.
Missions
Fredericksburg Bible Church is missions-oriented with an approved slate of missionaries supported through prayer, gifts, and short-term mission trips that often include some of our congregation. These short-term participants are announced in the church prior to their trip and prayed for before and during their trip. Upon returning from their mission trip they share their experiences with the congregation.
In an effort to keep missions in front of our congregation we publish a ``missionary of the month`` in our weekly church bulletin and encourage prayer for all our missionaries. We also invite our missionaries to come and speak whenever possible.
Fellowship
It is hard to get to know each other if all we do is say “hi” before and after a teaching service. One of the best ways to fellowship is to participate in other church activities. We have several regular opportunities to get together outside our teaching services and build relationships with each other. A Family Fellowship get together is held monthly on the last Friday of the month, and a Sunday “Pot Luck” lunch happens every two months. There is a monthly “widows lunch”, as well as a quarterly women’s ministry get together. Church “workdays” are scheduled quarterly to work on some of the maintenance needs of the church building, as well as to put up and take down Christmas decorations. These “workdays” are excellent times to get to know each other. Another great time together is our annual baptismal service, where new believers are baptized and the event is celebrated with food and fellowship. Historically, the baptism service has been held “in the wild” at a ranch outside town, and is quite a fun time for all who attend.