Mission — Beliefs — Covenant — Leadership — History

Mission

Auburndale Baptist Church is grounded in the principle that everything we do is for the glory of God and the joy of his people. Our vision can also be summarized in these four major points.

 Word. Community.
Missions. Commission.

WORD

The local church must be centered upon the preaching and teaching the Word of God for the church to have life.

COMMUNITY

The local church community must reflect a deep love, care and commitment to one another to accurately reflect the gospel. We provide and encourage our members to be part of the various ministries we have at Auburndale.

Missions

The local church must have a passion for the spread of the gospel to both their neighbors and the world through an individual and corporate involvement.

Commission

The local church must assume the full responsibility in the testing, training, affirming, and sending of pastors and missionaries from within the local congregation.

You can also find out about more about our church by reading about our 
history, leadership, beliefs, and covenant.

Beliefs

Below is our statement faith, which contains language from SBTS’s Abstract of Principles and the Baptist Faith and Message.

You can also read our church covenant that is required of all members of the church to sign.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

Article I:  The Scriptures

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain, infallible, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

Article II:  God

There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

Article III:  The Trinity

God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.

Article IV:  Providence

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any way to be author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

Article V:  Election

Election is God's eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life -- not because of foreseen merit in them, but of his mere mercy in Christ -- in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified.

Article VI:  The Fall of Man

God originally created man in his own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and his law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.

Article VII:  The Mediator

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the Law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to his Father, at whose hand he ever lives to make intercession for his people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe.

Article VIII:  Regeneration

Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who makes alive the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God's free and special grace alone.

Article IX:  Repentance

Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein a person being, by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbles himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrence, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please him in all things.

Article X:  Faith

Saving faith is the belief, on God's authority, of whatsoever is revealed in his Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness.

Article XI:  Justification

Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made; not for anything wrought in them or done by them; but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith.

Article XII:  Sanctification

Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified, by God's word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in cordial obedience to all Christ's commands.

Article XIII:  Perseverance of the Saints

Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by his Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Article XIV:  The Church

The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all his true disciples, and in him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to his commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each of these churches he has given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which he has appointed. The regular officers of a Church are Pastors (Elders or Overseers) and Deacons.

Article XV:  Baptism

Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. It is prerequisite to church membership, and to participation in the Lord's Supper.

Article XVI:  The Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by his churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate his death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with him, and of their church fellowship.

Article XVII:  The Lord's Day

The Lord's Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private.

Article XVIII:  Liberty of Conscience

God alone is Lord of the conscience; and he has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to his word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

Article XIX: Marriage

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and his church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

Article XX:  The Resurrection

The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God -- the righteous to rest with him; the wicked to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.

Article XXI:  The Judgment

God has appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when everyone shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life.

Covenant

Having, as we trust, been brought by Divine Grace to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to give up ourselves to Him, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.

We will endeavor to bring up such as may at any time be under our care, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and by a pure and loving example to seek the salvation of our family and friends.

We will seek, by Divine aid, to live carefully in the world, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and remembering that, as we have been voluntarily buried by baptism and raised again from the symbolic grave, so there is on us a special obligation now to lead a new and holy life.

We will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, nor neglect to pray for ourselves and others.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.

Leadership and Staff

Not Pictured: Tim Bausum - Music Ministry Coordinator

History

Founding
In the summer of 1938 Beechmont Baptist Church started a neighborhood Sunday School class on Bruce Avenue. The next year Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church hosted a revival in the Auburndale community and held a Sunday School class at Auburndale Elementary School. By 1943, the Sunday School class, along with the help of Carlisle Avenue Baptist purchased land on the corner of Bruce Avenue and Third Street Road just east of the elementary school to build an auditorium. The church was located below the southeast corner of Iroquois Park and was the southernmost neighborhood in Louisville at the time.

The growth in the Auburndale community coincided with growth in the south side’s manufacturing stations used during World War II, when Louisville became “the biggest, busiest industrial community” the south end had ever experienced. To ensure a pastor on location, a parsonage was erected in 1947. The church officially chartered in 1951, leaving behind the assistance of Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church. Its statement of faith was The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Abstract of Principles (1859).  In the latter half of the 1950’s the church campus expanded with the addition of its present buildings and three more parsonages.

Growth and Decline
The church peak in membership under its third pastor, Charles Mitchiner, in the 1970’s coincided with the peak of the city’s manufacturing jobs, which were forty-five percent of the city’s jobs in 1974. Local workers sought to find a local church in their neighborhood to gather for worship. Living original members still remember when the sanctuary was filled with over 600 members. Though Pastor Mitchiner served for twenty years, from 1952 to 1972, membership slowly declined after Mitchiner’s departure. 

The church painfully split in the mid-1980’s, resulting in the formation of New Heights Baptist Church half a mile down the street. That was the beginning of the end.  For the next twenty-five years, the average stay of a pastor was two to three years as Auburndale Baptist Church experienced a slow, but steady decline. At the church’s lowest moment, there remained only thirty elderly members in the summer of 2003 when Brian Croft was called as the next Senior Pastor.  Pastor Croft found the church to be in a very difficult financial position, fractured leadership, a neglected building, and a very present fear of the future by the few faithful members who remained. Most agreed that if nothing changed, the church would not survive.

A Renewed Vision
The early years of Pastor Brian Croft’s ministry saw some amazing highs and some terrible lows.  There were three different movements to remove him as pastor within the first five years. Paying the bills was a constant struggle.  New life, young gifted leaders, and encouraging numeric growth with multiple generations was also met with conflict, distrust, financial crisis, and the relational challenges that often accompany a church experiencing renewed growth for the first time in thirty years. (The video above is a 10-minute account from Pastor Croft of the first five years). 

By the seventh year of Pastor Croft’s ministry many of those early conflicts had been resolved and new patterns of health began to emerge.  Expository preaching through books of the Bible had become the regular steady diet from the pulpit. Our church had moved to a plurality of pastors and deacons in our leadership structure.  An intentional church membership process had been established and a church covenant had been adopted that created a meaningful standard for membership within the church. The church saw conversions from the community and baptisms to follow.  The church saw church members tested, trained, affirmed and sent out to the mission field, or into pastoral ministry for the first time in its history.

A New Day
Pastor Brian Croft served for 17 years as Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church.  He had one of the longest tenures of any Auburndale pastor, second only to Charles Mitchiner (1952 – 1972).  After his departure to serve full-time at Practical Shepherding, Brian was succeeded by Stephen Iden, a pastor who had been trained and mentored for more than five years by Brian. The current membership has multiple generations present and an ethnic and social economic diversity that did not exist two decades ago.  There remains only four living members of the thirty members from 2003—all in their eighties and nineties.  

In the last fifteen years, the church has sent out thirty-one former members who currently serve on the mission field or in pastoral ministry around the world.  The painful church split in the mid-1980’s that produced New Heights Baptist Church slowly dwindled and eventually dissolved as a church and merged with a vibrant multi-ethnic church plant in 2013—The Antioch Church.  To this day, Auburndale Baptist Church and Antioch Church are closely aligned and are working together to reach the Auburndale community.  

New Challenges
The south end of Louisville does not remotely resemble the predominantly white, thriving industrial-driven job market of the 1970’s.  Our church exists in one of the most diverse zip codes in the city. Thousands of international refugees with great needs move into the city and settle in our area every year.  Poverty, crime, and drug abuse also pose great challenges in our very dense, urban community. The need is great, but we are committed to stay and press on in this mission that God has given us to reach people with the gospel in our community as well as do our part to take that gospel to the nations for the glory of God. As Pastor Stephen often says, “We do not desire to just be a church that meets in the Auburndale community, but a church that makes every effort to meet the Auburndale community, that we might share the hope of Christ to the glory of God.”