First Baptist Church (City) — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Dr. Jim Somerville (Senior Pastor)

Founded 1780

Denomination Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

Service Times Sundays 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.fbcrichmond.org

Pastor Credentials Ph.D.; CBF-affiliated pastor; progressive Baptist tradition

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Historic Baptist Trinitarian baseline presumed; specific doctrinal page not fetched.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Homepage does not foreground Scripture authority; 'bring heaven to earth' activism framing dominates.

WARNING!

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

No men's ministry listed; women's choir, youth, general adult groups only.

WARNING!

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

CBF stream retains broad evangelical framing but has moved progressive.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Women's Choir and deacon references on site; CBF stream ordains women. RED held.

Egalitarian — CBF affirms women in all ministry roles including senior pastor

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Jim Somerville (male senior pastor) confirmed; announcing retirement on 40th anniversary of ordination (Oct 26).

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not directly characterized on home page; CBF stream typically less expository than SBC-confessional.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Homepage directly reiterates CBF activist framing: 'Most churches are trying to get people to heaven. We're trying to bring heaven to earth... identifying anything that doesn't look like Heaven, and then roll up our sleeves and get to work' — social-justice-oriented mission over gospel-proclamation framing. RED confirmed.

WARNING!

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Activist social-justice framing confirmed on homepage.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

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

CBF per rubric = black-tier progressive Baptist body. BLACK held.

Disqualifier

Assessment

First Baptist Church (City) on Monument Avenue is one of Richmond's oldest and most historic Baptist congregations, founded in 1780. However, it is aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship — the progressive wing of Baptist life that rejected the SBC conservative resurgence. CBF churches typically reject strict inerrancy, affirm women's ordination at all levels, and increasingly affirm LGBTQ+ inclusion. While the history is remarkable, the current theological trajectory has moved significantly away from conservative evangelical convictions. Not recommended for those seeking inerrantist, complementarian Baptist worship.

#cbf#progressive-baptist#historic#richmond#monument-avenue#egalitarian

Sources & Evidence

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/20260115024717/https://fbcrichmond.org/
↳ Snapshot of fbcrichmond.org (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.