First Baptist Church Jacksonville — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Heath Lambert (Senior Pastor)

Founded Unknown

Denomination SBC

Service Times Sunday worship (multiple services)

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcjax.com

Pastor Credentials PhD; former president of ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors); author of Theology of Biblical Counseling

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Lambert's published theology is Trinitarian orthodox, confessional.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Lambert is strict inerrantist; ACBC standard is Scripture-sufficient for life and counseling.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Directory flagged has_mens_ministry=true; program specifics not re-verified (site on firstbaptist.com returned 403 this pass).

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Reformed-leaning SBC soteriology — sola fide, substitutionary atonement, regeneration.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Complementarian; Lambert publicly defends male-only eldership and biblical complementarianism.

Heath Lambert is a published complementarian; male-only elders and pastors.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Elder-led + deacon structure; FBC Center for Ministry Training trains under Lambert's convictions.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Expository / verse-by-verse per Lambert's long-form published sermons.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

SBC Cooperative Program + FBC Center for Ministry Training.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Conservative cultural posture per Lambert's public teaching. | 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.

Strong

Accountability Structure

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

SBC — confessional accountability.

Strong

Assessment

First Baptist Church Jacksonville at Downtown Jacksonville, FL. 175+ year history. Heath Lambert serves as current senior pastor. SBC megachurch with ~2,100 members and ~3,000 weekly attendance. Also home to FBC Center for Ministry Training. A historic and influential SBC congregation. Lambert brings strong theological convictions. Evaluate men's ministry and discipleship depth.

#jacksonville#florida#national#sbc#nashville-statement-signer#nashville-statement-initial-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

Heath Lambert

Source: cbmw.org — hover for details

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Strong upgrade justified — Lambert's ACBC leadership and published writings make this a confessionally robust SBC church. Rating moves yellow → green.

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 fbcjax.com/about%20(redirects)
[2] Live source firstbaptist.com/about%20(403)

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.