Who We Are

 

Our Purpose

Jesus First: Our purpose is to help people put Jesus First in their lives.


 

Our Mission

Our mission is to prioritize Jesus First by following the Great Commandment and fulfilling the Great Commission.


 

Our Vision

Our vision is to help people lead lives where Jesus comes first. To make Jesus First, one must know, grow, show, and go.

Know Jesus: We desire for people to know Jesus intimately.

Grow in Jesus: We want to help people grow in their relationship with Jesus continually.

Show others Jesus: We want to encourage people to Show Jesus to others daily.

Go share Jesus with the World: We want to equip people to Go share His gospel with the world enthusiastically.



 

Our Beliefs

God is bigger and better and closer than we can imagine.

The Bible is God's perfect guidebook for living.

Jesus is God showing Himself to us.

Through His Holy Spirit, God lives in and through us now.

Nothing in creation "just happened." God made it all.

Grace is the only way to have a relationship with God.

Faith is the only way to grow in our relationship with God.

God has allowed evil to provide us with a choice. God can bring good even out of evil events, and God promises victory over evil to those who choose Him.

Heaven and hell are real places. Death is a beginning, not the end.

The church is to serve people like Jesus served people.

Generous giving shows that God is first place in our lives.

Jesus is coming again.

We believe that minor doctrinal differences have divided Christians for too long. We don't have to agree on every point to love each other and serve God together.

If you have questions about these or other beliefs, email one of our pastors.


 

Our Core Values

Evangelism: Lost people matter to God, so they matter to us

Grace: We love people when they least expect it

Sacrifice: We give up what we love for what we love even more

Simplicity: We do less so we can accomplish more

Excellence: Doing our best honors God

Innovation: The gospel never changes, but our strategy for sharing it with our culture does

Unity: We don’t have to agree on every point to love each other and serve God together


 

Our History

In 1846, God moved in the hearts of 23 frontier farmers to start a church. We built a small log cabin for worship on Shoal Creek and elected William Farmer to be the first pastor. During the Civil War era, the church building burned down–twice! In 1884, God led us to move to Joplin where we purchased land on Range Line across from what is today the North Park Mall. We changed our name from the Shoal Creek Baptist Church to Forest Park.

In 1948, we relocated to 7th and Range Line. The church experienced great growth under the leadership of Thurman Kelly, who was our pastor for more than 30 years. After a church split in the late 1970s, our members voted to abolish committees and be a staff-led church. Free from politics and bureaucracy, Forest Park flourished and had a much greater impact on our community and world.

John Swadley came on as Lead Pastor in 1996 and during his tenure Forest Park has spread into the surrounding communities through the multisite approach. Forest Park Carthage launched in August 2007 as a way for our members living in that area to better reach out to their neighbors. Forest Park North launched in September of 2009 as an outreach to the Carl Junction, Webb City and north Joplin areas.

After 27 years of serving as Lead Pastor, John Swadley retired and the church body called Brian Jump to be the 33rd pastor for Forest Park Church. Forest Park is excited for the future as God continues to use the church to spread the gospel in the local communities, the nation, and to the ends of the Earth.