First Baptist Church Ashland — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Rev. Dr. Joshua (Josh) Hayden (Senior Pastor); Pastor of Missions and Discipleship Strategies Tom Lynch; Pastor of Worship Ross Wright; Pastor of Senior Adults Laura Ross (female); Youth Pastor Bethany Smith-Mullins (female); Children's Director Lily Gray; Director of Administrative Operations Lisa Reckley

Founded Unknown

Denomination SBC

Service Times Sunday mornings (check website for times)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcava.org

Pastor Credentials Josh Hayden: D.Min. Duke Divinity School; M.Div. John Leland Center for Theological Studies; author of 'Sacred Hope'

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Not stated on available homepage — verify.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Not stated on available homepage — verify.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not mentioned on homepage.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Not stated on available homepage — verify.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Leadership page lists Laura Ross as 'Pastor of Senior Adults' and Bethany Smith-Mullins as 'Youth Pastor' — two female pastors hold the pastoral title. Egalitarian — red per rubric.

Egalitarian — Laura Ross (Pastor of Senior Adults) and Bethany Smith-Mullins (Youth Pastor) are female pastors; Josh Hayden trained at Duke Divinity

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Senior Pastor Josh Hayden (D.Min. Duke Divinity — a progressive-leaning divinity school; M.Div. John Leland Center — CBF-aligned seminary). Staff includes two female pastors. Egalitarian polity — red.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

'Prayer, songs, reflection, celebration stories, hopeful messages' — generational-inclusion framing; expository-vs-topical not specified.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Welcoming to all; Internationals Ministry of Ashland.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Inclusive framing without overt DEI/CRT vocabulary.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

BGAV confirmed (moderate Baptist state convention with widespread CBF dual-alignment). Combined with egalitarian staff, denominational signal is red.

WARNING!

Assessment

First Baptist Church Ashland in Ashland, VA. Needs evaluation.

#richmond#sbc

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Two female pastors on staff (Ross, Smith-Mullins) combined with BGAV affiliation and Duke Divinity/John Leland Center training of the senior pastor drives overall rating from yellow to red.

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/20251016101203/https://fbcava.org/
↳ Snapshot of fbcava.org (live link)
[2] Live source fbcava.org/leadership

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.