New Members Class - Session 3 - Introducing MBC

Introduction

Today we are going to talk about Metropolitan Baptist Church itself. We will talk about our history, our purpose statement, our ministries, and our partners.

Our History[1]

In 1652, the Dutch community of New Utrecht was founded on this very property where we meet. The cemetery next door received its first inhabitant in 1654, and a Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1657.  When the center of New Utrecht was moved from 84th Street to 18th Avenue in 1828, the stones from the old Dutch Reformed Church were removed and used to build a new place of worship at 18th and 84th.

According to the cornerstone on the bell tower, the present building was erected in 1897 to house a German Lutheran congregation.  It remained St. John’s Lutheran until 1974, when the building was purchased by Metropolitan Independent Baptist Church

The first members of Metropolitan had broken away from 66th Street First Evangelical Free Church.  The first meeting took place on June 16, 1974, on 4th Avenue.  On September 8th of that same year, Metropolitan held its first meeting in the Fellowship Hall of this site.  During the next twenty years, the church went through many changes, physical, ministry wise, and theological.  It began as an Independent Fundamentalist congregation but shifted into a Reformed Baptist church in the early 1980s.

Before Pastor Corbin Henderson came, the church had six senior pastors and several associates. The first pastor, Pastor Magnussen, started a bus ministry with hundreds of kids.  He served four years before being asked to leave.  Pastor Fore followed, also served four years.  He initiated Metropolitan Baptist Academy, which ran until June of 2005, hosting as many as one hundred and thirty students.  Pastor Dockery came next, as the church transitioned from an independent fundamentalist Baptist church to a Reformed Baptist church in theology.  He left after two years.  The church then hired Dr. Charles Zimmerman as a teaching pastor.  Dr. Zimmerman commuted from Pennsylvania on weekends.  During his six-year ministry, the church began small groups overseen by several different shepherding pastors.  The shepherding pastors took care of the weekday ministries.  Pastor Blanc pastored just three months before resigning to go to the mission field in Poland. In November of 1994, Pastor Chris started his ministry and he served until December of 2024, a total of 30 years.. Pastor Corbin Henderson became the pastor March 6th 2025 moving from Southwest Missouri to New York following God’s call. He was previously an associate pastor in Missouri. Before that he was a student ministry pastor for several years. He was ordained at Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield Missouri.

In 2005 a major leadership change occurred when former lifetime elders left the Church resulting in a new era for MBC. With that change in leadership, Metropolitan embarked on a new approach to ministry.  Through a complete evaluation of the church’s ministries and from community research, the new leadership turned our direction to church planting and regular evaluation, while updating our internal ministries and outreach.  In 2007, the Lighthouse Baptist Church became the first church plant here at Metropolitan in an effort to reach the Chinese community.  In 2018 Lighthouse moved to another facility. Metropolitan New Revival Church (MNRC) started in 2009 as an outreach to the South Asian peoples of South Brooklyn.  MNRC, is out on their own as of August 31, 2023. Since December 2022, MBC is co-sponsoring a Spanish-language congregation with Canaan Baptist Church of Queens called Iglesia Bautista Metropolitana Genesis.  Our newest church plant, which began Easter 2023, is a Hindi-language congregation, the Metropolitan Bible Fellowship-Hindi.

Our Purpose Statement

“Metropolitan Baptist Church exists to create a passionate pursuit of God’s glory that leads to active worship, profound fellowship, hungering discipleship, purposeful ministry, and enthusiastic spreading of the good news.”

All that we do here at MBC is anchored in a desire to glorify God. Metropolitan Baptist Church is structured around beholding and glorifying God in everything we do. Our purpose statement highlights five expressions of what it looks like to seek to glorify God as a Church.

·      Worship

·      Fellowship (Community, Unity, and One Another Ministry)

·      Discipleship (spiritual formation)

·      Ministry

·      Evangelism and Teaching

When we prioritize God’s glory these are the results and when we do these things the result is God being glorified. It is a two-way street.

The Bible teaches us that everything we do is to be for the glory of God.

            1 Corinthians 10:31

            [31] So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (ESV)

            Colossians 3:16–17

            [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (ESV)

            Romans 11:36

            [36] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.       Amen. (ESV)

In everything we do we aim for the glory of God.  I think Keach’s Baptist Catechism puts it well, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”[2] As a Church we want to glorify and enjoy God in everything we do. God’s glory drives us as we do ministry and carry out the Great Commission together.

Our Ministries

Now, let’s shift and talk about the ministries of our Church. We have a lot of ministries that help us accomplish our goal of glorifying God. We want more people to join our Church and hop into these ministries by serving and participating. One requirement that we have for new members is that you be a member for three months before you serve.

Equip/Sunday School

First up, Equip. Equip is our teaching seminar that happens on Sunday Mornings starting at 9:30 AM. In the past during equip we have taught through the Apostles Creed and the ten commandments.  It is a way to be taught, equipped, and discipled in a more in-depth way. It consists of both teaching and group discussion and the topics covered range from books of the Bible to Church history, and even systematic theology and apologetics. The goal of this class is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry as Paul says the teachers of the Church are to do in Ephesians 4:12. The goal is discipleship and being equipped to do the work of the ministry.

D-Groups

Discipleship groups are groups of 3-6 believers who together read through the Bible, meet to discuss what was read, and to pray together. This is a practical way to grow in community, basic Christian disciplines like Bible reading, and grow as a disciple of Christ alongside a few other believers. Our D-Groups will be launching on November 17th, and you can sign up back there.

Prayer Meeting

In the last session we discussed that being a Church member means praying. This is one of the most practical ways that you can pray with your fellow MBC members. We meet every Wednesday night at 7 PM downstairs for prayer meeting. We do a short reflection on Sunday and then spend the rest of the time lifting up all kinds of prayers to the Lord together.

Youth Challenge

Youth Challenge is our outreach for teenagers that meets every other week at 7:30 PM on Friday night. It is led by Thomas and Jackie Norcera. They play games, eat food, and do a short Bible study. If you have teenagers they would love to see them, come out one evening.

Student Small Groups

We have a student ministry small group for teens between 6th and 12th grade that meets downstairs at 9:30 AM every Sunday. This is led by Johnathan Barahona and Thomas Nocera and involves Bible study and discipleship. This begins on November 2nd.

Men’s Ministry

Every other Friday night alternating with YC is the men’s Bible study muscles and Mustaches. Men’s study meets at 6:30 PM and is open to members and visitors. Additionally, every quarter the men get together for a men’s breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Women’s Bible Study and Breakfast

Our women’s ministry has a once-a-month Bible study on Saturday mornings at 11 AM. The women work through different topics, books, or studies together during this time. We also have a women’s breakfast that happens Saturday mornings throughout the year.

Nursery and Children’s Ministry

Metropolitan Baptist Church has a nursey and children’s ministry during Sunday service. Our workers are required to go through a child safety training and receive a background check. This ensures the safety of our children. In the children’s ministry the kids learn the Bible and do many fun activities.

OCC

Our Church is very involved with Operation Christmas Child. We distribute and pack boxes. We collect materials for boxes and have a yearly packing party. This is one of the best ways to get involved with missions here at our Church.

Mission Commission

The mission commission is a team that is responsible for keeping in touch with our missionaries, planters, and partners, and that plans mission trips both local and international. They also give updates on our mission partners once a month during service and put on an annual mission conference.

Woven Hearts

Woven hearts is a group of women who meet once a month on Saturdays to knit, weave, and stitch items to be given to missions and charitable causes such as the Pregnancy Care Center. Talk to Barbara Latesta for more information.

Impact the City

We categorize our local ministry into two categories. We have “impact the city” and “reach the city.”  Impact the City is ministry that aims to minister to needs and to do “least of these” (Matt 25:40) ministry. This includes Coats in the City and serving at the Bowery Mission in Manhattan.

Reach the City

Reach the City focuses on evangelism specifically and often will include meeting people’s needs. This includes street witnessing, canvasing, and our annual block party. We also do yearly workshops to help equip you to better share your faith with others.

Worship and AV

Last, we have worship and AV. We have a great team of volunteers who help lead worship, run the sound board and slides, and manage our live stream. We are always needing volunteers for AV and childcare.

Associations and Partners

Let’s talk about our associations and partners. We are a part of several associations and networks that are like minded in mission and doctrine, and we want you to be familiar with these as well as members or potential members of our Church.

Southern Baptist Convention (+ NAMB and IMB)

First, we have the Southern Baptist Convention. The largest Baptist denomination in the United States. The SBC was founded in 1845 and focuses on fulfilling the Great Commission and the importance of local Church autonomy. Within the SBC are two more of our partners who we love the IMB (International Mission Board) and NAMB (North American Mission Board and Send Network). The IMB is the largest international mission’s agency. They fully fund over 3000 missionaries across the world. NAMB is specifically a missions effort aimed at North America, and within that is the Send Network which is a Church planting network. We support these partners through prayer, association, and giving. Specifically, we give to the Cooperative program, Annie Armstrong (NAMB), and Lottie Moon (100% of funds go to IMB missionaries).

See more here: https://www.sbc.net/

Pillar Network

Next, we are part of the Pillar Network. The Pillar Network is a Network of SBC Churches that are committed to building healthy Churches (Expository preaching, plurality of Elders, etc.) and reformed Baptist theology.  Additionally, the network focuses on missions, Church planting, pastoral training, and Church revitalization.

See More: https://thepillarnetwork.com/

Metropolitan New York Baptist Association

We are also part of the MNYBA (Metropolitan New York Baptist Association) which focuses on resourcing like-minded Churches for evangelism, outreach, and Church planting. They also provide resources and helps for pastors and their wives and connect Churches here in the city with mission teams.

See More: https://www.mnyba.org/about/

Baptist Convention of New York

We are also part of the Baptist Convention of New York which is our state level Southern Baptist association. They connect and resource Southern Baptist Churches in the state of New York. We give each year to their disaster relief program.

See More: https://www.mnyba.org/about/

9Marks

Finally, we are registered as a 9Marks Church, which means our Church has agreed to 9Mark’s statement on what a healthy Church is and we appear on their associated Church map. 9Marks is a ministry that focuses on Church health through sound ecclesiology, polity, and Church government. They are largely reformed Baptist and stress the importance of being led by a plurality of elders, Church Membership, and congregationalism.

See More: https://www.9marks.org/  

Missionary and Planting Partners

Now if you were here last week, you already got to learn a lot about our missionary and planting partners but let’s take some time to go over these again. We want to know our mission, those we support, and to support them by praying for them and being intentional about connecting with them, so we really stress intentionality and awareness of our partners.

Metropolitan Bible Fellowship

First we have our Hindi Speaking Church plant led by Pastor Maxwell George in association with the NAMB. They meet Sunday nights at 5PM in addition to weekly Bible studies and outreaches trying to reach the Hindi speaking community here in Brooklyn.

Iglesia Bautista Metropolitana Genesis

Next, we have our Spanish speaking plant led by Pastor Manuel Tasambay. They meet Saturday and Sunday nights here at 7 PM. These plants are autonomous Church plants that we work together with and that our lead pastor oversees and advises.

On the Rock Community Church (Gammones)

Next is Rocco and Kimberly Gammone. They are NAMB planters who were sent out from our Church. They planted On the Rock Community Church in New London Connecticut. The Church is newly planted and they are already seeing a lot of growth, Baptisms, and new members.

See More: https://www.ontherockcommunitychurch.com/

The Bowery

We also proudly support the Bowery Mission. We support them financially but also by going and serving regularly. The Bowery has been fighting homelessness since the 1870s. They provide three meals a day, help people get jobs, and counsel those in need.

https://www.bowery.org/

Pregnancy Care Center of Staten Island

The Pregnancy Care Center of Staten Island is another ministry we love and support. They are. A pro-life ministry aimed at helping women and resourcing them through pregnancy. We give to them but you can also volunteer to work the front desk for them and do phone counseling with women.

See More: https://pccofny.org/

Nadine Haire

Nadine Haire serves with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) and ministers to children through good news clubs. She specifically partners with Chinese Churches to help them teach children’s programs here in the United States.

The Sims

Next we have Daniel and Marian Sims who served as missionaries in Romania and China and now serve by providing pastoral care to missionaries.

The O’Donnell’s

Brian and Carol O’Donnell’s are our IMB missionaries, currently they are back in Richmond Virginia serving at the IMB headquarters by helping missionaries in Central Asia.

Let My People Go Ministries

Let my people go ministries is a Christian ministry that aims to bring an end to sex trafficking. They work with local Churches to equip them to respond and aid those hurt by sex trafficking.

Faithe Dugan (CEF)

Faithe Dugan was once. A member here at Metropolitan Baptist Church and now serves in Missouri with CEF. She teaches an on-campus children’s ministry institute. She primarily works to train new teachers for the ministry.

Get Involved!

Here is my closing encouragement to you. As you are thinking through and praying about joining our Church take some time over the next three weeks to attend, participate, and ask questions about our ministries. Try and see everything to help inform your decision.

[1] Adapted from the original 101 course, Dr. Chris Gardner.

[2] Keach’s Catechism 1693, Q and A 1.