First Baptist Spartanburg — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Mike Harder

Founded 1839

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday: Celebration 9:00 AM, Contemporary 9:00 AM, Classic 10:30 AM, Contemporary 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.fbs.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 not listed among the homepage ministries visible (Adults/Students/Kids/Missions/Worship/Care/Recreation) — yellow holds pending ministries-page deep-fetch.

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?

Senior Pastor 'Pastor Mike' (Dr. Mike Harder, existing record) — male. SBC complementarian.

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?

Homepage references Leadership page at /about-us/leadership/; male senior pastor confirmed.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Pastor Mike hosts ALIGHT YouTube channel (teaching-focused).

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Confirmed 2026-04: homepage mission statement 'Saturating Spartanburg, the Carolinas, and the World with the Gospel of Jesus Christ' — Great Commission focus. Green validated.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

No progressive/social justice language detected on homepage. Yellow holds pending deeper review. | SCANDAL FLAG (added 2026-04-29 via SBC megachurch audit): 2023+ MinistryWatch reported investigation into use of church funds during Don Wilton transition. Recommend scandal_flag verification.

Strong

Accountability Structure

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

SBC affiliated (existing record); SBC affiliation not explicit on homepage.

Strong

Assessment

First Baptist Spartanburg is a historic SBC church (est. 1839) in Spartanburg, SC led by Dr. Mike Harder since 2023. Four weekend worship services. SBC affiliation confirmed.

#historic#sbc#south-carolina#spartanburg#spartanburg-sc#verified-2026#scandal-flag-2026-04-29#needs-rating-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

--- Merged from first-baptist-spartanburg-sc: No red flags observed, but no explicit SBC statement captured.

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 fbs.org/im-new/about-our-pastor/
[2] Live source fbs.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.