The "First Baptist Statement on Biblical Sexuality" detailing the church’s support for binary gender roles as well as the belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman was originally ...

The new congregation, which will continue to be known as Coastal Community Church, now holds its services on the campus of First Baptist, at the corner of 86th Street and U.S. 1 in Wabasso.

First Baptist Church persists today and is integral to the life of the community. Pastor Rodney Croom leads the church these days and recalled its history, “The original congregation in the 1940 ...

The church, whose main campus is in the old Lakeland Mall on Memorial Boulevard, said the name change was necessary because it now has three campuses. It hinted there might be more in the future.

The pending closure of First Baptist Church, which has been in existence for 126 years, follows decades of steady decline in the size of the congregation, according to Rev. Randle Mixon, the ...