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About

Christ Centered and Community Focused

Worship & Music

Multigenerational gatherings that engage the hearts of worshipers

Discipleship Groups

Fellowship, Service & Bible Study through groups for all ages

Missions

Reaching around the world for Christ through service and generosity

recreation

Building community through relationships, health, fitness and fun

mission, vision & values

Central Bearden exists to help people know Jesus Christ, grow as His disciples, and share God’s love with others. That mission is the foundation for Central Bearden’s vision to be a church that seeks to follow the ways of Jesus and pattern our lives and his church after him.

Here are a few of the VALUES that shape who we are as a unique Christian community:

*We will engage in authentic worship gatherings to provide an environment for all ages to encounter our living and loving God.

*Every person is encouraged to be involved in a small group Bible study to grow in faith and in relationships with Jesus and others. A big church becomes personal through small groups, and these groups are the place where people not only develop Christian faith and spirituality, but also where they take care of one another. Living and growing in joy-filled Christian unity encourages people to feel welcome, regardless of background, life stage, ethnicity, or any other characteristic.

*Serving local and global communities will be at the heart of who Central Bearden is. We gladly provide opportunities for people to serve our incredible city of Knoxville and the people of the world in the name and spirit of Jesus. Every person should have a place to serve others through skills, talents, calling and giftedness.

Pastors & Staff

Our staff works to build the church body, educate, and support our congregation in all that we do. We welcome you to meet our team members that work diligently for Christ.

What We Believe

Based upon the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message

Affiliation & Partners

As a community of faith, we are committed to the historic Baptist principles of Bible Freedom, Soul Freedom, Church Freedom, and Religious Freedom. Our mission partners include the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), Tennessee Baptist Mission Board (TBMB), Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (TCBF), and Knox County Association of Baptists (KCAB), the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).

Encountering


Central Bearden worships God individually and corporately. In and through worship, our community encounters the living Christ as Savior and Lord and is transformed by grace
The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

God the Son is Christ, the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts” by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fulness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Empowering

Central Bearden empowers its members to develop a deepening, authentic relationship with God.

Through its disciple-making culture and activities, our relationships with God lead to a natural and intentional expression of Christ's command to go and make disciples.

Engaging


Central Bearden lives out and shares faith in Jesus Christ by connecting with non-believers where they are, both within the church body and throughout the community. Recognizing that evangelism is personal to each member and unique to each setting and opportunity, all members learn how to engage their faith in everyday living.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of Gods grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

Justification is Gods gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

B. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to Gods purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate persons life.

C. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

Energizing

Central Bearden exists to help build a great city for all people through a movement of the gospel that brings personal conversion, community formation, social justice, and cultural renewal to Knoxville, Tennessee, and the world. This is best accomplished by working together as a church and with the larger body of Christ here and around the world.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation members are equally responsible. Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.

Constitution & By-Laws

History

Central Baptist Church of Bearden began in 1894 with the first pastor riding a horse from Carson-Newman College. For over 125 years the gospel has been proclaimed at and through this group of believers. 125 years of consistent worship. 125 years of mission support. 125 years of growing disciples. 125 years of loving and educating children. 125 years of loving and serving our community. 125 years of asking "how can we be a part of what God is doing in the world?" 125 years of celebrating Christ. That means thousands of people have heard the gospel because of this church's faithfulness. That means hundreds and hundreds of missionaries have received support and thousands of prayers have been offered on their behalf.

EMPLOYMENT

Find open employment positions with Central Bearden!

6300 Deane Hill Drive | 865-588-0586 | Contact Us