First Baptist Church Jacksonville — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Dr. Heath Lambert (Senior Pastor since September 2017)

Founded 1838

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM; 5:30 PM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcjax.com

Pastor Credentials Ph.D.; former executive director of ACBC

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.

Caution

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

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.

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

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

Caution

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?

Verify — check for DEI/CRT language or social justice emphasis. | GREEN signal: *** INITIAL SIGNER (one of the founding 153) *** Pastor Heath Lambert 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.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

fbcjax.com redirects to firstbaptist.com; both URLs returned 403 on this audit. Heath Lambert (ACBC executive director, nouthetic/biblical counseling) remains the strongest complementarian/orthodox signal. Held yellow pending direct site access.

Strong

Assessment

First Baptist Jacksonville is a historic SBC megachurch (est. 1838) in downtown Jacksonville, FL. Led by Dr. Heath Lambert since 2017. Lambert is known for biblical counseling emphasis (former ACBC executive director). Multiple campuses including Downtown and Nocatee. SBC affiliation confirmed.

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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

Dr. Heath Lambert, Heath Lambert

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

[2026-05-19] Phase 7 signatory cross-reference: +1 new ledger entry (Nashville Statement 2017). Final aggregate: green.

No URL sources recorded for this church. Rating based on denominational defaults and/or directory-level metadata.

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.