First Baptist Church Winchester — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Rev. Dr. Kristin Adkins Whitesides (Senior Pastor since May 2017)

Founded Unknown

Denomination SBC

Service Times Sunday mornings; office hours Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website fbcwinc.org

Pastor Credentials M.Div., Duke Divinity School; B.A., University of Richmond

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Mainline Baptist Trinitarian framing typical; specifics not surfaced.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

BGAV/CBF hermeneutic typically treats Scripture as authoritative without Chicago-Statement inerrancy; site tagline 'All Are Welcome Here' is the only surfaced framing.

WARNING!

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Not surfaced.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Not surfaced — moderate-Baptist framing expected.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Rev. Dr. Kristin Adkins Whitesides became the first female senior pastor of FBC Winchester on May 1, 2017 (Winchester Star). Ordained at Starling Avenue Baptist Church June 19, 2005. Duke Divinity M.Div.

First female senior pastor in the congregation's history; installed May 1, 2017

Disqualifier

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Female senior pastor; staff structure built around her office.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Published on Day1.org (the CBF preaching platform) — moderate mainline exposition.

WARNING!

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

CBF/BGAV missions framing — social-justice-adjacent rather than traditional Great Commission.

WARNING!

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Listed in BGAV church directory; Day1 platform is a CBF-aligned progressive-moderate preaching ministry.

WARNING!

Accountability Structure

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

Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) — moderate-to-progressive Baptist body that parted ways with the SBC in the 1990s and permits women in pastoral roles. Entry previously labeled 'SBC' is wrong.

Disqualifier

Assessment

First Baptist Winchester has a female senior pastor (Rev. Dr. Kristin Adkins Whitesides), which places it in the egalitarian camp on gender/leadership. Affiliated with BGAV (Baptist General Association of Virginia) rather than SBC — more moderate/progressive Baptist association. Not aligned with complementarian or patriarchal convictions on male headship in the church.

#winchester#shenandoah#baptist

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

MAJOR MIS-CATEGORIZATION: Listed as SBC but is actually BGAV with female senior pastor. Rating downgraded yellow → black (mainline-progressive Baptist with female senior pastor is the textbook black-tier denominational + gender combination).

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/20260307085923/https://fbcwinc.org/
↳ Snapshot of fbcwinc.org (live link)
[2] Live source bgav.org/church-directory/first-baptist-church-of-winchester
[3] Live source firstbcw.wordpress.com/about/staff/kristin-adkins-whitesi…
[4] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20220926124936/https://day1.org/organ…
↳ Snapshot of day1.org/organizations/5d9b820ef71918cdf2004322/view (live link)

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.