First Baptist Church Norfolk — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Rev. Jerry L. Holmes (20th pastor, installed February 2024)

Founded Unknown

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday services (check fbcnorfolk.org)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcnorfolk.org

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Verify — different church than record claims.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Verify.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not separately surfaced.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Verify.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Historic Bute-Street FBC Norfolk — under previous pastor Dr. Robert G. Murray, women have routinely served in pastoral/ministry roles per BGAV/Lott Carey tradition. Held red pending current statement.

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.

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Pastor Jerry L. Holmes confirmed as 20th pastor on /our-pastor/ page; previous pastor Dr. Robert G. Murray served president of Baptist General Convention of Virginia and Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Missionary Convention.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Verify.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Community pantry, summer camp, READY Academy Christian School, Renew Counseling Center.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Historic Black Baptist church — different cultural lane than BFM2000 SBC.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

fbcnorfolk.org redirects to firstbaptistnorfolk.org which is 418 East Bute Street — the historic 200+-year-old Black Baptist church. Past pastor led BGCVA and Lott Carey — these are progressive-Baptist / National-Baptist convention bodies, NOT SBC. Original record's '312 Kempsville Rd, SBC' is inconsistent with the website it points to.

WARNING!

Assessment

First Baptist Norfolk is an SBC church in Norfolk, VA. SBC affiliation confirmed.

#sbc#virginia#norfolk#hampton-roads#verified-2026#needs-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

2026-04-23 deep-dive: CRITICAL DATA MISMATCH. Record lists 312 Kempsville Rd + SBC, but fbcnorfolk.org 301-redirects to firstbaptistnorfolk.org which serves the historic Bute Street Black Baptist church (418 E Bute St, oldest Baptist church in Norfolk, 200+ years). Previous pastor Robert G. Murray was president of Baptist General Convention of Virginia (BGCVA — historically Black) and Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Missionary Convention. Current Pastor Jerry L. Holmes confirmed as 20th pastor. This is NOT the SBC megachurch on Kempsville Rd. FLIP yellow → red on gender, denominational, and overall — record needs to be split into two separate church entries OR reassigned. Recommend deduplication review. [2026-05-19] Phase 5b auto-merge: absorbed 1 dupe record (first-baptist-norfolk-va). Group key: "first baptist church norfolk @ 312 kempsville rd, norfolk, va 23502".

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 fbcnorfolk.org
[2] Live source firstbaptistnorfolk.org
[3] Live source firstbaptistnorfolk.org/leadership
[4] Live source firstbaptistnorfolk.org/our-pastor/
[5] Live source firstnorfolk.org/staff
[6] Live source sbcv.org/churches/first-baptist-church-norfolk/

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.