First Baptist Church St Petersburg — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Ben Winder (Senior Pastor); previously Dr. Glen Money

Founded Unknown

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday Worship 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcstpete.org

Pastor Credentials Unknown — verify

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Not stated on homepage — verify; CBF churches typically Trinitarian but pluralist trajectory — yellow.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

CBF de-emphasizes inerrancy — yellow/red.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not mentioned on homepage — verify.

WARNING!

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

CBF permits theological pluralism — yellow.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

CBF affirms women in ministry/pastoral roles — likely red. Verify specific staff roster.

RED — CBF affirms women in all ministry roles including pastor. Egalitarian denomination.

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Congregational Baptist polity — not verified.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not verified — CBF tradition often topical.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

'Help people experience God's gift of life in Jesus' — generic.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

CBF progressive trajectory — yellow/red.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

CBF (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship) — black per rubric (liberal mainline Baptist split).

Disqualifier

Assessment

IMPORTANT: First Baptist Church St. Petersburg is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), NOT the traditional Southern Baptist Convention as listed in the batch data. CBF is the moderate/progressive wing that separated from the SBC in the 1990s. CBF churches generally affirm women pastors, do not hold to strict inerrancy, and align with progressive social positions. This is a significant denomination mismatch from the batch data. Not recommended for conservative complementarian believers.

#cbf#progressive-baptist#denomination-mismatch#st-petersburg#florida#needs-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

CBF-affiliated per their own missions list; participates in CBF Thriving Congregations program.

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] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260306174827/https://fbcstpete.org/
↳ Snapshot of fbcstpete.org (live link)
[2] Live source cbf.net/first-baptist-church-st-petersburg-excels-with-th…
[3] Live source floridacbf.org/all-churches/2016/2/16/first-baptist-church

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.