First Baptist Church Vestavia Hills — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Dr. Gary Furr (Pastor Emeritus, retired Feb 2021)

Founded Unknown

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)

Service Times Sunday 10:00 AM

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.vhbc.com

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Classical evangelical Baptist tradition assumed but not verified from homepage; CBF orbit generally orthodox on Christology.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

CBF tradition does not require inerrancy; church does not publish explicit Chicago-Statement-level affirmation.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not verified.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Baptist evangelical; specific statement not fetched.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

CBF network and Baptist Women in Ministry presence; Gary Furr participated in CBF leadership; CBF has historically affirmed women in pastoral ministry. Church has hosted female ministers. Verify current pastoral staff.

Verify

WARNING!

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Staff page returned 404 on fetch; pastor Dr. Gary Furr now Pastor Emeritus (retired 2021); current senior pastor not confirmed from fetched pages.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Not verified from homepage.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Not verified; CBF churches typically emphasize social-justice-oriented missions.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

CBF orbit includes racial justice programming (CBF general assembly racial justice focus with Furr leading Lord's Supper); fits red per rubric for DEI/social-justice-centric framing.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

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

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) — per rubric, CBF is listed as black-tier liberal mainline-adjacent.

WARNING!

Assessment

Vestavia Hills Baptist Church (note: commonly known as VHBC, not 'First Baptist Vestavia Hills'). SBC church. Dr. Gary Furr serves as Senior Pastor. Services broadcast live Sundays at 10 AM. Located at 2600 Vestavia Dr (address differs from listing). Solid SBC congregation in a prominent Birmingham suburb.

#sbc#vestavia-hills#alabama#needs-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Downgrade from green to red — CBF affiliation per rubric is a disqualifier-tier concern. Batch entry incorrectly listed as SBC; in reality this is a CBF-orbit Alabama progressive Baptist church.

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 vhbc.com
[2] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20251005144342/https://cbf.net/who-we…
↳ Snapshot of cbf.net/who-we-are/governance/ (live link)
[3] Live source thealabamabaptist.org/vestavia-hills-baptist-churchs-gary…
[4] Live source samford.edu/departments/files/Center_for_Congregational_R…

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.