Who We Are

Our Purpose

Jesus First

Helping 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.

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
 
THE GREAT COMMISSION
Matthew 28:18-20
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

Our Strategy

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 Core Values

GENEROSITY MULTIPLIES CAPACITY
We believe that the greater our level of generosity, the greater our capacity to expand the kingdom of God. We recognize that by being generous with our resources, abilities, and time, we can make a greater impact in the world.
 
DEDICATED TO DOCTRINE
We are dedicated to faithfully studying, applying, and following all the teachings of the Bible, which is the ultimate source of revealed truth.
 
UNITY IS MIGHTY
We recognize that unity strengthens our ability to faithfully fulfill our purpose and mission. We strive to create and maintain unity amongst our congregation centered on the truth of God’s Word.
 
MULTIPLY NOT MAINTAIN
We are not content with remaining where we are in our gospel influence; rather, we seek to multiply the church by being disciples who make disciples.
 
HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE
We are serious about taking the good news of Jesus to our neighbors, our nation, and to the ends of the earth.
 
PRAYER IS A PRIORITY
Prayer is a fundamental part of our spiritual lives and should be a priority for individuals and the church. We should be intentional about setting aside time to pray and seek God’s will for our lives.
 
LOVE LIKE JESUS
We aspire to love others as Jesus did: sacrificially, in both word and deed, anchored in the truth.
 
GOD GETS THE GLORY
We recognize that all of our accomplishments are a result of God’s grace and mercy. We seek to give God the glory and remember to thank Him for all of His blessings.

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.

Who We Associate With

 SPRING RIVER BAPTIST ASSOCIATION
50 local churches that fellowship together and work together in the counties of Jasper and Newton.
 
MISSOURI BAPTIST CONVENTION
1,400 churches that cooperate together to evangelize our state.
 
SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
45,000+ churches that cooperate together to evangelize our world.
 
INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD
Serves as the largest missionary organization in the world
supporting over 3,500 missionaries in 155 countries.
 
NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD / SEND RELIEF
Serves as the largest church planting organization in North America and operates one of the largest disaster relief organizations in America.
 
SIX SEMINARIES
Trains more pastors and missionaries that any other organization or denomination.
  • The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary - Louisville, KY
  • Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - Fort Worth, TX
  • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - Kansas City, MO
  • New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary - New Orleans, LA
  • Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary - Wake Forest, NC
  • Gateway Seminary - Ontario, CA