About Us:
Wake Forest Baptist Church is a moderate Baptist congregation located in the heart of downtown Wake Forest, NC. Our worship style is traditional and we offer two worship services on Sunday mornings. Our early service begins at 8:50 am and our regular worship service begins at 10:50 am. We have Bible study opportunities available for all ages on Sunday mornings starting at 9:45 am.

We also offer further fellowship, Bible study, and mission opportunities on Wednesday evenings from September through June. We start with a Family Fellowship Dinner at 5:30 pm. Reservations must be made by calling the church office at 556-5141 by 9:00 am on Mondays. The cost for the meal is $4.50 for adults and $2.50 for children. Following the meal, our pastor leads a Bible study for the adults and there are choir and mission programs for the children and our youth engage in mission opportunities in the community.

Statement of Beliefs:

As a moderate Baptist congregation, our beliefs are in accord with The 1963 Baptist Faith & Message statement.

We believe that the Church is the living Body of Christ in the world, consisting of persons brought together by faith in Jesus Christ and His divine grace. We joyfully covenant with each other that:

-We will worship God as a congregation, as families, and as individuals;
-We will pray faithfully that the Holy Spirit will guide us in knowing God’s perfect will in our lives and in congregational decisions;
-We will study the Bible and equip ourselves and one another for discipleship;
-We will live in Christlike love, forgiveness, humility, and concern in our families, our congregation, and our relations with all people;
-We will practice responsible stewardship of our time and possessions, and affirm the spiritual gifts of all;
-We will share the good news of God’s love through personal witness and missions throughout the world;
-We will respect and affirm our heritage of spiritual freedom, our belief in the priesthood of all believers, and the autonomy of this church;
-We will participate actively in the life and work which God has called us to do in this community and throughout the world.

History:
When the Baptists of North Carolina established the Wake Forest Institute (later called Wake Forest College) in 1834, the nearest Baptist Church was the Wake Union Church. The faculty and students worshipped at the school—and, upon occasion, at Wake Union. Many of these early students had come to Wake Forest from largely unchurched regions of the state and had only limited religious training.

In the fall of 1834 the first of several unscheduled revivals broke among the students. Some thirty-eight students made professions of faith and were baptized into membership of Wake Union Church.

On August 16, 1835, a group of students passed a resolution that a church be established on the campus of the Institute. The Wake Forest Baptist Church was born in the wake of another revival on August 30, 1835. The Reverend Samuel Wait, president of the Institute, was chosen as the first pastor.

In 1846, toward the close of his pastorate, Dr. Wait had the satisfaction of seeing Matthew T. Yates (a recent graduate of the college) and his wife, Eliza Moring Yates, set apart for foreign missionary service. The Yates spent four decades of service in Central China.

During the early years the church was a student church. Until the late 1880s the president of the college was the pastor. Later, as the town of Wake Forest grew up around the college, the whole community was welcomed.

The Church has had several meeting places. At first, services were held in college buildings: in the carriage house, in large classrooms, in the “Little Chapel” on the first floor of Wingate.

The first services were held in an old carriage house on the campus.

During the Civil War, while the campus was used as a hospital, the church met in the "African Chapel” located across North Avenue from the campus.

In 1913, after nearly eighty years of life, the church began construction of its own building. The present sanctuary was begun in that year and completed in 1915. A fellowship hall and office area were built in 1952 and an educational building in 1970. In the 1950s the church made a commitment to renovate its historic sanctuary. Begun in 1987, that renovation has proceeded in several stages and has been completed in 1994.

The completion of our renovation coincides with the onset of a Year of Celebration (1994-95) of the church’s 160th Anniversary. The renovation is indicative of a spiritual renewal in the life of the church. Currently in our 171st year, we look to the past with respect and gratitude and to the future with confidence in the faithfulness of God.