MINISTRIES
Nursery
Our Nursery Ministry seeks to provide a safe and nurturing time for our littlest attendees while also giving mom and dad an opportunity to focus on the morning message. The nursery is located on the 1st floor of the two story Education Building behind the Auditorium. We welcome children from babies to 3 years. Parents are invited to escort their babies back to the nursery after our time of musical worship. We will help you check your child in and you are welcome to inspect our play area. Nursing mothers are also welcome to drop in at any time. As with every area of ministry with minors at our church all adult volunteers must submit to and be cleared by a criminal background check.
WeGoKids
The foundational element of any church is the family, and with that in mind, our church takes particular care in the area of children’s ministry. Our desire is for children to enjoy their church experience as they grow in their Christian walk, and we offer weekly and special event activities in order to achieve this goal. Our Children’s Church program happens just after our musical time of worship on Sunday morning. Our kids are dismissed and are led to the second floor of our education building where they engage in age appropriate bible stories and crafts designed to strengthen their understanding of God and his offer of salvation. As with every area of ministry with minors at our church all adult volunteers must submit to and be cleared by a criminal background check.
Abide Student Ministry
Our Abide Student Ministry is geared toward students from finishing 6th grade to finishing 12th. This ministry has been a major focus in our church for a number of years. We seek to equip students by drilling down into doctrine with practical application. This group has fun but understanding why we believe what we believe is far more sustaining than just a fun time with other teenagers. We want students to be prepared with knowing what questions to ask and having answers that lead them to and sustain their faith into the future. This group has traveled around the region to camps and mission sites from North Carolina to Texas and from Northern Kentucky to South Florida. All adult volunteers who work with our students must submit and be cleared through a criminal background check.
Collegiate / Young Adult Ministry
For close to two decades our church has been involved in supporting the local collegiate ministry of the New Orleans area BCM as our pastor has served on the advisory council and we have provided food for special events including hosting the annual crawfish boil. But recently we have expanded that ministry in our own church setting. We now have a growing number of Loyola, Tulane and Leavell College students who have made our church their spiritual home during this time of their lives. At the same time we have young adults who have already launched into the world who can connect with this ministry This ministry focuses on deepening discipleship and encouraging connectivity with the larger body through service and fellowship. These young adults are active participants in our regular service and have their own weekly small group time facilitated for fellowship and growth.
Small Group Discipleship
Small groups discipleship is where the church truly lives out what it means to be the church. It is in small gatherings when families get to know one another and learn about one another’s lives and needs. We love doctrine and seek to be a theologically sound and intellectually growing group of believers but we must see fellowship and unity as a key element through which those noble spiritual-growth goals may be reached. Over the years we have had numerous small group structures such as Sunday Schools, home bible studies, special homogeneous or topic driven small groups. Wednesday evening small groups, Saturday morning small groups and other discipleship gatherings have been utilized for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.
Missions
FBC Westwego is active in local, regional and international mission work and church planting. From the Philippines to Peru from the Orient to Ogden, UT our church has been involved in numerous areas of missions and ministry including, evangelism, church planting, music missions, leadership training, pastoral seminars, orphan care, and family camps just to name a few. Members of our church have served overseas including individuals, small groups and even a large family mission trip which included an age range from 7 to 70. We have planted a number of local churches and are currently hosting a new Hispanic church plant here at our Westwego campus. Finally, we are blessed to be a partner locally in the Send New Orleans effort led by our North American Mission Board.
Hospitality + Care
Care for the body and compassion for the world is an important motivator of our Hospitality and Care ministry. FBC Westwego seeks to welcome visitors to our church through providing informatoin and a warm greeting at our Welcome Center. We typically have water, coffee and snacks available and we seek to make everyone feel welcome to worship freely and openly with the focus of encouraging a listening ear to the exegetical message from our Pastor. We also provide benevolence care for our members by providing meals when needed including during sickness and for those who are bereaved. We also participate in special event care including global feeding ministries and disaster relief efforts.
Music
Our music team is a group of talented musicians, ranging from professionals to hobbiests who love music and who’s hearts are geared toward excellence in service and a deep desire for doctrinally-sound musical worship. Those who help provide vocal and instrumental accompaniment on Sunday mornings range in age from early high school through adulthood. Piano, bass, drums, keyboards, guitars and sometimes horns are incorporated into the ensemble. Participation is by invitation only after significant evidence of interest in and participation with our church. We are inclined to substantive lyrics with rich theology but with contemporary arrangements. Our team will often incorporate some of their own original songs into our time of Worship.
Men’s and Women’s Events
Although we do not emphasis a division among the sexes we to take opportunity from time to time for special events related to specific needs we have as those created male and female. We utilize gender specific Bible study groups as well as special fellowship gatherings for encouragement and unity building. We also participate in local and regional special events hosted by entities such as local sister churches or our friends at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.