WBC 101: Orientation for New and New-ish folks

If you are new or new-ish, or just haven't been here in a while, we'd love for you to join us for this short, two-week series! We try to offer this series 3 or 4 times a year to help new folks get better acquainted with our community. Make sure to follow our e-news or social media to find out when the next one is coming up. And feel free to ask!

Time: Typically 2 consecutive Sundays (we get started shortly after worship ends, around 12:10pm!)

Location: The Fellowship Lounge (If you enter from the parking lot behind the church, enter in the west entrance, and turn immediately left. You can find a map of our church here.)

Session 1 (Church Tour) - We'll meet in the Fellowship Lounge at 12:10pm, introduce ourselves, and then depart shortly thereafter for a tour of the church buildings and grounds. This is a great opportunity to get to know our various spaces! Our church can seem a bit labyrinthine at times, but it sure is fun to explore! (If we have time, maybe we'll even sneak through the baptismal area...)

Session 2 (Q&A with Key Leaders) - We'll meet down the hall from the Fellowship Lounge in room W-105 for a relaxed and informal discussion with some of the key leaders from various areas of life of our church! Our hope is that this will give you a better idea of who we are, and how you might be able to engage in a deeper way as a part of this wonderful community of faith! We will also plan to talk about what it means to join Williamsburg Baptist Church as a "member" or "friend."

"There are a lot of things that impress me about WBC, but as a queer person--I have never felt so intentionally welcomed at a church. I already only attend LGBTQ affirming churches, but before WBC, I’d never heard a pastor give a speech about Pride and Stonewall from the pulpit. That’s next level, and that’s what made me come back." ~Lynne, a recent visitor

WBC 201: What does it mean to be Baptist?

Whether you are new or a long time member, we'd love for you to join us for this short series exploring what it means to be Baptist. Baptists seem to get a bad name at times (we often find ourselves saying, "We're not that kind of Baptist!") But we are proud of our Baptist identity and proud to call ourselves a Baptist church! Historically, Baptists have been progressively-minded and fierce advocates for issues of justice, religious tolerance, and freedom. In this series, we'll explore what makes Baptists distinct among the various Christian denominations, and why we are so darn diverse! We'd love to have you join the conversation.

Time: **We offered this in Winter 2023–24... stay tuned for the next time we offer it!**

Location: Room W-105 (If you enter from the parking lot behind the church, enter in the west entrance, and turn right down the hall. Walk all the way down the hall, and you'll see the room, close to our library. You can find a map of our church here.)

Reading Assignment: The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms, by Walter Shurden (available here on Amazon.com). The first week we will just do an introduction, but please get a copy of this book and plan to read the introduction and chapter 1 for our second class meeting! It is a quick read! (Note: We have several copies of this book at the church that we can let you borrow for the series! Just let us know in the church office in advance.)