One of the most intimidating of life’s experiences is visiting a new church.  Even if everyone you meet is relaxed and friendly, visiting a new weekly gathering of Christ Followers evokes strange feelings.  What do I do?  Where do I go?  When do I stand?  When do I sit?  How should I dress?  What if they ask me to read?  Will they care for my kids?  Will they act all crazy?  Most of us have been there, done that.  This page is designed to relieve your anxiety and give you a feel for what you can expect when you come to Forest Meadow Baptist Church.  We hope it helps.

Weekly Gatherings

At the center of our church life is the Weekly Gathering, also known as the “worship service.”  At Forest Meadow we have six different Weekend  Gatherings.  They are conducted in five different languages.  Each one reflects the uniqueness of a specific culture. Together, they reflect the incredible ethnic diversity of our great city.  Our gatherings are scheduled out from Saturday morning through Sunday night.

FMBC’s Weekly Gathering in English is at 10:50 each Sunday morning. We hold Bible study classes for children, youth and adults from 9:30-10:30, and all activities are wrapped up by 12:15 pm.

We are located at  9150 Church Rd, Dallas, TX 75231, west of Lake Highlands High School between Skillman St. and Abrams Rd.

What Do I Do When I Arrive?

Walk in through the double doors of the main entrance into the foyer. You will meet one of our Greeters whose job it is to make you feel comfortable.  If it is your first visit with us, they will offer you a  bulletin and a “Contact Information Card.” You may fill that out at any time before or during the service.  When the offering is received, you may place your completed card into the offering plate. We promise not to use any information you share to harass you, and certainly will not share it with anyone else. We may give you a friendly follow-up phone call, or send you some additional information about our church through email or snail mail.If you prefer to remain anonymous, that’s okay, too.

Once inside the auditorium, take a seat of your choosing, sit down and relax.  We typically stand up for singing and sit down for everything else. The service starts promptly at 10:50. Feel free to worship in any way that makes you feel comfortable.  Because we have a number of different cultures in our Weekly Gatherings, there is a variety of expressions of worship.  Some raise their hands in praise as they sing.  Others keep their hands at their sides.  All are free to express their love for God in whatever way they feel comfortable.

Following the sermon is an altar call, during which people may come forward for personal prayer, make a public faith commitment to Jesus Christ, or renew a commitment made at some other time.  The offering is received just prior to the benediction.  While we gladly receive offerings from all who desire to give, no one is ever pressured to do so. Give as the Lord leads you.

What Do I Do With My Kids?

FMBC provides a well-equipped, well-supervised nursery.  All of our nursery workers are background checked, and we always have a minimum of two adults in each class.  The nursery is open to all children four years of age and under. Children five years of age or older are encouraged to be in the Main Auditorium for the entire worship service.  We have found that there is enough activity, including an age-appropriate children’s message, that the kids get something out of every service.

What Do You Believe?

Forest Meadow Baptist Church is a part of the Baptist tradition, and as such we have no authoritative creed or confession apart from the Holy Bible.  We believe that the Bible clearly teaches:

• A Sovereign God Who is simultaneously and eternally existent as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• the Lordship of Jesus Christ
• the Bible as the sole written authority for faith and practice
• soul competency– that is, that every human being has both the capacity and the responsibility to know and relate to God without human mediation
• salvation from sin and eternal death to forgiveness and eternal life only by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior who is the grace gift of God
• the priesthood of each believer and of all believers in Christ– each believer individually and all believers together have both the privilege and the responsibility to represent the needs of people to God, and to represent the will of God to people.
• believer’s baptism by immersion, which the word in its basic meaning signifies
• baptism and the Lord’s Supper as wonderfully symbolic and expected of all believers, but not essential for salvation
• church membership composed only of persons who have been born again
• freedom of conscience for the individual, freedom of religion for all, and the necessary corollary, the separation of church and state

Additional beliefs of our church may be summarized in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

Can I Become a Member of Forest Meadow Church?

You may become a member of FMBC in any one of three ways:

• By making a first time profession of personal faith in Jesus Christ, followed by believer’s baptism by immersion.
• By transferring your existing membership in a Baptist Church to Forest Meadow Baptist Church.
• If coming from a non-Baptist tradition, you may join by affirming your previous profession of personal faith in Christ, and observance of believer’s baptism by immersion.

What Are The Worship Services Like?

• The English language gathering of Forest Meadow Baptist Church is a multiethnic, multigenerational worship service.  We follow a pretty standard order of worship that includes contemporary praise music, traditional hymns, an occasional short film clip or testimony, prayer, a children’s message, and biblical message for the adults .
• The weekly sermon is usually brought by Pastor Tim Ahlen, and it concludes each week with an altar call.  Our gatherings are informal, and we never put anyone on the spot!  Our goal in every gathering is to lift up each person present into an encounter with God.  The sermons are biblical and geared towards helping people deal with the big issues of life.

What Is the Best Way.to Get Connected?

• The best way to get connected to FMBC is through the Weekly Gathering.  Because we are a small church, you will not get lost in the crowd of a large church worship service.  But once you have been introduced to the church and you are ready to deepen your connection, you will want to get involved with one of our several small groups.  At FMBC, we have Bible study groups on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, as well as on Sundays.  Our Worship Team rehearses on Wednesday nights for our Weekly Gatherings. Most of the church’s ministries are directed by small groups of church members and friends that are open to new members.