First Baptist Church Durham — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Andy Davis

Founded Unknown

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday School 9:00 AM, Worship 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcdurham.org

Pastor Credentials BS MIT; MDiv Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; PhD Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Church History -- Calvin dissertation); Chairman, Board of The Gospel Coalition

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Orthodox Trinitarian -- Reformed Baptist.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Inerrancy strongly affirmed. Verse-by-verse expository preaching. BFM 2000+.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Active church with strong discipleship culture.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Reformed soteriology -- Calvinistic Baptist. Faith alone.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

GREEN: Davis called congregation to repent for electing a female deacon in 2001. Strong complementarian. Male elder-only governance.

GREEN: Strong complementarian. Davis called church to repent over female deacon. Male elder-only.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Plurality of elders with multiple pastors and elders listed.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Verse-by-verse expository preaching confirmed (Acts series).

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Strong missions emphasis. Two Journeys -- internal and external journeys of a Christian.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

GREEN: No progressive drift. Counter-cultural in progressive Durham. | GREEN signal: Pastor Andy Davis is a public signatory of "The Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality" (CBMW, 2017-08-25, cbmw.org/nashville-statement). The Nashville Statement is the post-2017 evangelical line on biblical anthropology, marriage, and sexual ethics — affirming creation order, one-man-one-woman marriage, and biblical sexuality. Signing places the pastor on the orthodox / non-affirming side of the 2017 evangelical fault line.

Strong

Accountability Structure

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

SBC. Davis is Chairman of The Gospel Coalition Board.

Strong

Assessment

First Baptist Durham under Andy Davis is one of the strongest Reformed Baptist churches in the South. Davis (MIT grad, SBTS PhD on Calvin) has led a 25+ year reformation of this historic church. He preaches verse-by-verse expository sermons and holds the line on complementarianism -- he called the church to repent when they elected a female deacon. Chairman of The Gospel Coalition Board. Two Journeys Ministry provides extensive teaching resources. STRONG recommendation for men seeking doctrinally robust, expository preaching in a reformed SBC context.

#sbc#reformed#expository#tgc#andy-davis#complementarian#durham-nc#nashville-statement-signer#reviewed-2026-04-27

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.

Nashville Statement

Andy Davis

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Andy Davis is a widely recognized conservative SBC expositor; SBC tag solid.

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] Live source fbcdurham.org

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.