River City Baptist Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Chad Scruggs (Lead Pastor)

Founded 2014

Denomination SBCV

Service Times Sundays 10:00 AM

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website rivercityrichmond.org

Pastor Credentials M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary; former staff at Perimeter Church (PCA)

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

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

Self-described 'gospel-centered' — Trinitarian orthodox expected.

Caution

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

BFM2000 expected via SBCV.

Caution

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Cannot verify — entity confusion.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Faith alone via SBCV/BFM2000.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

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

BFM2000 complementarian expected.

PCA complementarian — male-only ordination to teaching/ruling elder and deacon

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Pastor name not on homepage; Matt Smethurst historically associated with this plant. Verify current lead pastor.

Caution

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Mission: 'magnify Jesus Christ by making disciples in Richmond and beyond' — gospel-centered framing suggests expository.

Caution

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Disciple-making focus stated.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Cannot verify — entity confusion.

Caution

Accountability Structure

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

Confirmed SBCV (sbcv.org/churches/river-city-baptist-church) — Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, the conservative SBC convention.

Caution

Assessment

River City Church is a PCA church plant in the heart of Richmond's Museum District area. As a PCA congregation, it holds to the Westminster Standards, inerrancy, complementarian gender roles, and Reformed soteriology. Pastor Chad Scruggs brings RTS training and PCA pedigree. The church emphasizes gospel-centered community engagement in an urban Richmond context. Strong candidate for theological alignment with a missional urban posture.

#sbcv#southern-baptist#church-plant#richmond#brook-road#needs-review#denomination-corrected-2026-04-30

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Identity resolved: NOT PCA, not on Monument Ave. River City BAPTIST Church is at 3406 Brook Rd (SBCV plant, gospel-centered). Original record's Chad Scruggs/PCA/5000 Monument data was a confusion with City Church of Richmond (PCA, 1627 Monument). Hold yellow pending pastor name + statement of faith verification. | [2026-04-30 denomination correction: Presbyterian (PCA) -> Southern Baptist (SBC); reason: River City BAPTIST (SBCV), NOT PCA — identity resolved]

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.

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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.