Pillar Church of Stafford — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Pastor Michael (Mike) Garlem

Founded Unknown (church plant from Stafford Baptist)

Denomination SBC

Service Times Sundays 10:30 AM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website pillarstafford.com

Pastor Credentials Washington Bible College graduate

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Affirms historic orthodoxy.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Bible-centered teaching.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Men's community groups (MCG). | Verify men's ministry depth — Praetorian Project markets itself to military men, but adversarial reviewers note that some plants in this network are paper-strong / engagement-thin.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Gospel-centered.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

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

Male elder leadership. Complementarian — male leadership affirmed but not explicitly patriarchal.

Male pastor and male elder board.

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Pastor with elders (Elder Hutch for Care).

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Washington Bible College trained pastor.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Specifically targets military community at Quantico.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Intentional ministry to Quantico Marine Corps Base — military-friendly.

Strong

Accountability Structure

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

SBCV church plant from Stafford Baptist. | YELLOW: Network parent is the Praetorian Project (NAMB-funded, with McLean Bible church-planting-network leadership ties). McLean Bible's post-2017 trajectory is the relevant concern. Visit to verify Pillar Stafford's independence from McLean Bible cultural-drift markers.

Strong

Assessment

Pillar Church of Stafford is part of the Praetorian Project — a NAMB-funded military-community church-planting network with direct leadership ties to McLean Bible Church's post-2016 church-planting infrastructure. Founding Pillar pastor Clint Clifton is the senior director of resource and research strategy at NAMB AND a Praetorian Project board member; Dale Sutherland (formerly McLean Bible) is listed as president of MBC's church-planting network. Strategically located near Quantico Marine Corps Base. PRIOR ASSESSMENT INCORRECTLY CHARACTERIZED THIS AS A STAFFORD BAPTIST PLANT — that was wrong; it is a Praetorian / NAMB / McLean-Bible-network plant. MOOP (Adam Johns) attended an event here and notes the McLean-Bible-network ties as a meaningful concern: McLean Bible has had significant post-2017 leadership controversy, multiple lawsuits, and post-2020 cultural turn. Adam's broader critique: "some church plants are just attempts to make a church look good on paper — they can't grow a church so they spread out." Pillar may be doing genuine military-community ministry, but the network parentage warrants visit-level discernment.

#sbc#baptist#stafford#church-plant#military#quantico#elder-led#moop-attended-event#praetorian-project#mclean-bible-network-ties#namb-funded

MOOP Engagement Tracker

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

✓ Visited the facility in person

✓ Attended a worship service

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Pillar Network churches are generally SBC/Praetorian Project affiliated; no red flags observed. [2026-05-16 visited by Adam: Adam visited (likely the Dumfries-area Pillar campus; same Pillar Network)]

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/20260221053525/https://pillarstafford…
↳ Snapshot of pillarstafford.com (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.