First Baptist Church Aiken — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable John Carroll, M.Div. (Senior Pastor); Sarah Laurence, M.Div. (Minister of Youth and Pastoral Care)

Founded Unknown

Denomination CBF

Service Times Sunday mornings

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcaiken.org

Pastor Credentials SBC pastor

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

BFM2000 orthodox

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Inerrancy affirmed

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not stated on available sources — verify in person. No men's ministry mentioned on about page.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Grace through faith

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Confirmed: Sarah Laurence, M.Div. is female 'Minister of Youth and Pastoral Care' — pastoral title for a woman. Red.

Senior pastor John Carroll (male); staff includes Sarah Laurence, M.Div. in ordained 'Minister' role — consistent with CBF egalitarian practice. Worship features 'lay leadership that includes all ages.'

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Pastor-led with deacons

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Worship described as 'warmly traditional' with 'sermons that seek to apply the truths of scripture to our daily living' — applicational rather than strictly expository.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

SBC missions

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

CBF affiliation indicates moderate/progressive Baptist stream; downgrade from green to yellow pending further verification.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Confirmed CBF orbit: Senior Pastor John Carroll served with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as field personnel in Southeast Asia (2007-2009). Downgrade denominational from green to red.

WARNING!

Assessment

SBC church in Aiken, SC. Cooperative program participant.

#aiken#south-carolina#national#sbc

Pastor Signatures & Affiliations [Orthodox-aligned signatures]

Public statement signatures and organizational affiliations of this church's named pastors. "People is policy" — these are evidence-weighted signals about doctrinal trajectory, not the sole determinant of any rating.

Dallas Statement (Social Justice & Gospel)

John Carroll, M.Div.

Source: statementonsocialjustice.com — hover for details

Nashville Statement

John Carroll, M.Div.

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

John Carroll's background with CBF field personnel in Southeast Asia (2007-2009) reinforces CBF alignment. Female M.Div. Minister on staff supports existing red rating.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260212100821/https://fbcaiken.org/a…
↳ Snapshot of fbcaiken.org/about/ (live link)

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.