First Baptist Church Houston — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Gregg Matte

Founded 1841

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Multiple campus services (check houstonsfirst.org)

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website houstonsfirst.org

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

SBC church — affirms orthodox Christology (Nicene, Chalcedonian).

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

SBC — Baptist Faith & Message 2000 affirms inerrancy and authority of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Men's ministry confirmed on website.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

SBC — salvation by grace through faith. BF&M 2000 framework.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Complementarian — SBC standard; male senior pastor Gregg Matte confirmed; no female senior-pastor evidence on homepage.

Male senior pastor confirmed. Complementarian per SBC BF&M 2000 (CBMW halfway position; MOOP holds patriarchal headship as the biblical standard); verify whether headship convictions are robust or drifting toward functional egalitarianism.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Male senior pastor. Elder/deacon structure assumed per SBC polity.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Verify — check sermon archives for expository vs topical.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

SBC churches give through Cooperative Program; Great Commission emphasis standard.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

2026-04-23 audit: homepage shows no DEI/CRT/affirming language; 'Relevant, Biblical Community' framing. Flip to green.

Strong

Accountability Structure

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

Southern Baptist Convention — cooperative accountability through state conventions and associations.

Strong

Assessment

See Houston's First Baptist Church entry. This is the same church. Founded 1841. SBC affiliation confirmed.

#sbc#texas#houston#historic#verified-2026

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

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

Gregg Matte

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Houston's First is historically SBC. Clean tag.

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 houstonsfirst.org/about

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.