Outsider Visits a Stunning Southern Baptist Church 

Architecture makes it look like it would be called St. John the Southern Baptist Church.

Matt, being a new believer can be a challenging, perplexing, and overwhelming process at times. But you and your videos have made that process easier, and you have no idea how much that means to me. This channel has been a huge comfort and aid to me, and to many of my Christian friends. I trust God more because of your channel, and I can't thank you enough. From the bottom of my heart, God bless you.

I served at FBC St. Joseph in the late 90's. It is an amazing Sanctuary and Church building. The Organ will move you literally and spiritually. It was a great place to serve. There is a secret door in the organ area that leads to the offices. Lots of great memories in this Church! Thanks for taking the time to do this excellent video.

I've never seen a Southern Baptist church in this style of architecture and interior design. On looks alone, I would have thought the church was Anglican/Episcopalian, or even Catholic. Interesting.

Brother David was my pastor for 7 years at a different church. He is an awesome guy. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to see his current church and how he is doing. It is so beautiful!

“If the whole Church become one of these, if anyone of these went away, something would be lost… all of these different expressions exist for a reason…” I loved listening to those words. That’s what we really need to understand to “become one”. One Church, differents and united. God bless you, man. Greetings from a peruvian roman catholic.

Growing up in the SBC, I can say that there is quite a variety of differences and opinions based on location, people, and pastors. But the one emphasis that remains the main thing which I’ve always admired was the emphasis on missions. It has deeply formed my own heart and care, even if I don’t identify with a lot of the other SBC related baggage. Nice to know that it is still the emphasis most hold forward.

Having grown up Baptist and having been a member of a Baptist church for much of my life, I would say that I agree with your surprise at the beautiful ornamentation in this church. Many Baptists have desired to differentiate themselves from what you term "high" churches. The building that I grew up attending church in in my youth looked from both the outside and inside to be almost indistinguishable from a small one-story office building. There has been at times strong currents in the Baptist church which felt like while salvation comes by Grace through Faith, that the Holy Spirit wouldn't allow you to remain in something with too much "tradition" which would pull one away from seeking what God says in His word about how to do things. I understand where those who think this way are coming from, but I find so much prompting to worship through beauty. Whenever I take a walk and see the glories of creation, I praise God for them. I feel the same way when I step into a beautiful church building built to the honor and glory of Jesus.

thank you for doing more of the church visit videos

You can find everything from gothic to modern architecture in Baptist and Methodist Churches. But the most special to me are the plain little wooden country churches built by the founders where the nearest creek served as their Baptismal pool. I remember as a child going to my Great Grandma Effie's church where her brother Great Uncle Clevie led the singing and everybody had a paper fan from the local funeral home to fan with because there was no ac.

Matt, I really appreciate your handling of these videos. Particularly that you don't assume too much and ask what some would consider obvious questions. I think it goes a long way to make this accessible to everyone.

The title grabbed me because “stunning” and “Southern Baptist” don’t obviously go together in my mind. I’ve seen lots of stunning Catholic churches and Presbyterian churches, but most southern baptist churches I’ve been to have been small, intimate maybe, and full of energy. It’s neat to see the diversity. Thanks!

St. Joseph, MO really is a treasure trove of historic churches. Glad you could visit one and I can’t wait for your formal Southern Baptist video! And thanks for continuing with the series. It’s been so helpful to get to learn about other traditions!

Love this tour! Shoutout to the pastor for rolling with this on basically no notice.

Glad to have grown up in this church ❤️

God Bless America. How blessed you are to claim this jewel of St. Joseph's as your own. A veritable Jerusalem.

Not directly related to the video (which was great!), but I love the new brands and the way you've organized everything! It's all very clear about what you're going for and I think it will serve you really well moving forward.

As a Catholic who was raised Protestant, this is stunning! What a wonderful, beautiful balance of skill, artistry, elegance, beauty, dignity, care -- and simplicity and humility as well.. Also (totally just my humble opinion) putting a big square video screen visually front-and-center like that in the middle of all that beauty.... is stupid.

That is truly a beautiful church

That was a very nice church! Loved the way the seating was arranged and the stained glass windows are beautiful.

As a Southern Baptist pastor, most of our members today would not know that the stained glass portrayed the gospel to the illiterate. They usually would look through options of stained glass when designing the worship center and pick what looks nice to them. There is not a lot of theological consideration to the building style. This is one critique I have for my own denomination and has been interesting to look at in your videos of other traditions. I think early baptists pre-1900s might have thought a little more about these things, but there is no tradition passed down to consider these things. It's more style and function over theological meaning.

This is so good. I grew up baptist, went to a Bible Church and got saved there in california, and yet still had an appreciation for art and aesthetics. I've now graduated and pastoring a Southern Baptist Church that's very minimal built in the 1990s. I think many Baptists don't want to break the second commandment, and are also very practical, and utilitarian. Those are not all good things. And I don't necessarily agree with the breaking the second commandment belief either. Of course we shouldn't break it, but having some art or having some fine woodworking or other things isn't breaking it is what I'm getting at. Love the channel Matt thanks again for changing in a little bit and being more focused in other ways. You're an inspiration to me as I have my own channel as well

Matt, if you haven't already, you should read the book "When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-Century America" by Jeanne Halgren Kilde. A lot of Protestant churches in the US built around the same time as the one in the video share a lot of architectural similarities, and this book gives the story as to why & how it came about. It was far more fascinating than one might expect for such a topic.

I remember from my youth, images and statues were not acceptable to Baptist. My friend was Roman Catholic and I traveled with him and his family on vacation and went to church. As I entered the Catholic Church, there were images and statues everywhere and prayed real hard to God that they were making me do this. We had oyster crackers and grape juice in individual very small containers for communion. I was denied baptism at six years of age, but my three brothers at 18, 16 and 14 were baptized. I was eventually baptized as a Roman Catholic at 32.

Hi Matt! Absolutely lovely sanctuary. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

I am from ST JOSEPH. The organ is great and tones pure.

Thank you for visiting our church. Thanks Pastor David for explaining our faith and about our church. We love our church and our pastor.

Have you ever visited a monastery? I think it would be great to see what you think of the daily offices, ascetic lifestyle, complete Psalm cycle etc.

Nice tour! I raised Southern Baptist. Never seen a church of this age that looks like this.

I don't know if you'll see this, but I really like your content. It's always great to see, in this world of polarization and dehumanization of our fellow man, someone who's willing to just sit down and have a polite conversation with someone who holds a different view of things. I like how you just genuinely want to know things and learn about the history of the wider church and the beliefs that people hold, and the way you're able to bring disparate people together. As Baptists go, I'm not one, but it's a tradition with which I'm deeply fascinated. If you wouldn't mind, I think it could be really cool to go further back into the roots of the Baptist movement and and explore the living Anabaptist denominations. Of course, Mennonites would be a lot easier to investigate since they don't tend to live apart from modern society like, say, the Amish do, but if, in your travels, you happen across an Amish community that's willing to open its doors and talk to you, that would be awesome. It would have a certain logistical overhead to it, and I understand if that's not in the cards anytime soon. I just think it would interesting to explore such a unique branch of the Christian family tree.

Love the church visits. Brings a better understanding of our differences and similarities. And some misconceptions as well. More of this please.

Matt, love your videos!! I'm catholic, it's nice of you in visiting the other churches of the various Christian traditions. I also love to read the Bible. One question, what kind of bible do you have open on your table looks like a study bible!! Thank you very much for sharing your videos. Keep up the good work!!

Very cool and beautiful building. Looks like a great place to worship.

Thanks Matt. Very interesting and beautiful church!!

Great video as always! Thank you and St Joseph Baptist for the tour!

Matt, will you ever visit a Messianic Jewish or an Amish church? How do they view other Christians? What expression of faith can they show and/or share with us? Thank you Matt for your videos!

I grew up in a very large Southern Bapist church in Jackson MS. It was built in the 19th century with elaborate traditional protestant design, and I remember the awe that the building inspired in me.

Gorgeous architecture! As a Baptist, I never knew that some Baptist churches had other requirements for communion. I've always felt that if you're a Christian, you have communion. This was interesting video tour! Thank you!

We just celebrated our 176th Anniversary here at Saint Joseph First Baptist Church. I’ve been a member for over 15 years now and I still look up in awwww but one former comment was true, it is just a building the body of the church is the people. And the meme bets of First Baptist Church of Joseph MO are Great People. But I am very Grateful for the Building that was made 176 years ago so I would be able to worship in her beauty. And I am a little prejudiced being one of her pianists 😉

Thank you Matt. These are amazing videos. Learning is wonderful ~Love Mom

I love you Matt. You make me laugh. And I love your passion to learn.

Thanks for sharing Matt.

It’s really amazing to see these beautiful building and even more to know more about the various branches of Christianity. I think only few people would do this on their own, though we can learn much from each other’s faith. I hope more stuff coming! In the meantime I like this rebranding and the podcast as well, keep moving! :) Greetings from a hungarian evangelical :)

🤓 Church nerd coming out. For being around 120 years, the entire building still looks fresh. It's AMAZING from outside, but inside - WOW. The wood quality combined with the red carpet is a stunning combination. Great observations with the stained glass windows, was thinking the same thing with the lack of pronounced Christian symbolism.

Look at the quality of that woodwork! Impressive!

My earliest memories of any kind of church in my life was an old First Baptist church in my hometown when I was 6 or 7 with my grandmother. It had seating in the round as well and I thought it was hilarious that, the few times that we went, there was one grumpy looking old farmer who would sit right behind one of the pillars on the far wing. Every time. All dressed up in a nice pearl snap and overalls and his hair all slicked over, just mean mugging a pillar two feet in front of his face.

Thank you Matt I love your vids.

What a beautiful church building. I love the woodwork. You should see our little country Missionary Baptist church here in Arkansas. We are a very simple and conservative body. But our little church building is trimmed all in knotty pine.

Beautiful building. I actually assumed at first the church was built by a more liturgical or High church tradition and the Baptist later acquired the building. It would be interesting to know the thoughts of the early congregation who built the church.

Another great video Matt!

Glad you found this building! Pastor David is a good dude. St Joseph is a very interesting town with cool places downtown.

Oh man! I’m from St. Louis! Excited to see which churches you paid a visit to!

Thanks for these

You should check out Veirs Mill Baptist Church in Maryland. Grew up in that church. It’s unique because there are 4 congregations that share the church and have joint services several times a year. Wonderful church.

My wife is from St. Joseph and her father is a pastor there (not at this church)! So cool that you swing by so close to where we are in KC :)

It’s a beautiful church

Mr Matt - Those are some sweet "On" shoes btw. Keep up the good work!

Just to say that I am Roman Catholic and my church, St Jude's Wigan, also features abstract stained glass and a 180 degree layout.

Very interesting.

You've got to check out the First Baptist Church in Montgomery AL. It's architecturally modeled after the Duomo in Florence Italy. I had the pleasure of visiting once but I'd love to see an depth interview with the leadership there about the history and explore the nooks and crannies in the way the you do!

FINALLY!!! SBC BABY!!!

Growing up Baptist, there is a cliche' that pretty well describes us. Ask two baptist their thoughts and you will get three different opinions. There is also a big difference within the SBC. Some churches are very high church, while others are very low church. Growing up in a suburb of Dallas, there is 1st Baptist Church of Dallas which covers multiple city blocks and its auditorium to me seems very grand, while churches like the ones I attended are small with a few families meeting together in a neighborhood. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the SBC is very diverse and still even with all the bickering that seems to go, they find a way to missionary together.

This reminds me of First Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. But this one is far more elaborate.

It would be awesome if you went to an Independent Baptist Church. Like the Temple Baptist Church down in Knoxville TN

You should visit The Jarvis Street Particular Baptist church in Toronto, Canada

A very beautiful church and quite a surprise that it is SBC that built in that style. I saw the Giant Organ, the baby grand piano and then the guitar & video screen (follow the bouncing ball to sing the hymns) and I wondered if they even bothered to play the organ for the services.. (then I read the comments)

Hi Matt, I'm EXTREMELY excited for your book a day podcast series! The only thing I'm bummed about is that I don't see a way to interact. Podcasts are just listening right? I would love to be able to ask questions! I've read the Bible in different versions 5 times since late 2020 and there is always some amazing new aspect! 2 helpful thing for me personally have been looking at a broader view by going fast, like you will be, to get a larger perspective and most of all to ask "what does this book say about God?" since the Bible is God's way of telling us about Himself!

That woodwork really is stunning. I love seeing buildings where the act of building it was itself an act of worship. Would love to see you visit a Catholic church that still does the Latin mass. We're somewhat of a minority among catholics and had a bit of bad press on the internet that seems to have influenced Pope Francis sadly, but we're a very faithful group who take our worship very seriously.

I love that I didn’t see any national symbols in this church. 👍

Can you revisit the SBC with the same multi-video interview format as you’ve done with other denominations?? Thank you for your content! I’m learning a lot from your videos!

You need to visit Louisville, check out Southern Seminary and visit some of the churches there (Ninth and O Baptist Church!!!)

I grew up in Baptist churches and traveled on a ministry team in college to hundreds of churches in the western half of the continental USA and maybe a dozen in the East. Videos like this take me back and are still so interesting. This church is physically more impressive than at least 95% of the churches I've seen. Just beautiful!

Come visit our small country church. Rondo Baptist Church in Flemington Mo. I'll show you our church that has been around since 1872.

So excited for January 2. Hard to switch into podcasts. Which version of the Bible? KJV. Read the Bible daily but structure. So much Bible so little time.

He was very modest about what the SBC does well with regarding missions. The SBC International Mission Board is the largest coalition of Christian churches sending missionaries in the history of Christianity throughout any millennia (number of missionaries sent per year).

If you ever in Shepherdsville, KY feel free to stop by our church, Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. Our church is not on the historical architectural scale of this one, but I'd love to show you around. I'm the youth minister at the church.

Matt. If you ever make it to Minneapolis. Two churches you should try and tour are St. Maron's Catholic church/Maronite Catholic. The other one is right across the street St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The seating design matches the ceiling. Might be the reason for that choice.

I live near Kansas City Missouri

This architectural style of church was fairly common in urban Baptist churches in the late 19th century. The Baptist church I grew up in used to look like this until it burned down in the 1970s.

You should make it back to St. Joe. There is plenty to see if you like history and architecture. Please go back and do more videos from St. Joe.

What??? I wish I knew that you were in St. Joe! I would have loved to say hi!

It's nice to see this. I've attended Southern Baptist churches that run the gamut from ugly repurposed grocery stores to typical modern Evangelical styles to simple and beautiful old churches in the traditional style. Personally, I far prefer the traditional style, but what's most important is the people who gather there to worship God.

You would love my church in conyers ga a lot of history at Conyers First United Methodist church

Wish I'd have known! I'd have tried to get you into where I work! It's a Minor Basilica done in the Beuronese style that's not very far from St. Joe.

Dude. I'm still working through the back catalog of TMBH's Matthew. Likewise, I'm working my way through the backlog of NDQ... There is only so much walking I can do per day. :D

Reminds me of Lutheran churches I've seen

Hey Matt, I don't know how you handle invitations from churches, but I would like for you to visit a Church of Christ congregation in the near future, if it's possible for you. Even better, if you could consider visiting the La Vista Church of Christ in La Vista, Nebraska, that would be great! We would love for you to come over and check us out.

As someone who was raised Baptist, the church building is just that. A building. The church is the members, not the building. The church building I grew up in had a rectangle layout. The windows wasn't stained, but I would not have an issue with it if they were. I think the building was beautiful.

Interesting that it sounds like it started out as a small Presbyterian church.

You should take a tour of the historic Tremont Temple in Boston. Beautiful and rich history and DL Moody preached there. Also SBC.

I've been attending/been a member of a Baptist church of one form or another since 2004. I was raised Lutheran but made a public declaration of my faith in Christ in college and got baptized (my father was not a fan lol). I'm a trustee in our current church. I married the daughter of a Baptist pastor. All that said: I heard for literally the first time two weeks ago that many Baptists do not consider themselves Protestant. Funny how that just like, never came up. I heard the argument and sure, I can see the point. But I had just never even considered that wasn't the case all these years into serving in this flavor of Christian worship.

Old time Baptists did not believe in Holy Images or even religious jewelry. I remember my Mom a member of the old Methodist Episcopal Church bought me a little gold cross necklass and you'd think he was smelling the fires of Smithfield England! Lol!

If you ever get an opportunity, check out a Free Methodist church. I attend one in Northwest Ohio and I think it would be so different than anything you've visited so far.

Beautiful video. Matt, are you short, or was he just that tall?? No offense. Just he seemed very tall in the video.

I’d be interested to learn more about Mormon and Jehovahs Witness churches. Have you visited them yet?

I love your church visits. This one really opened my eyes - - and my mind, I guess - - as I was surprised by the beauty of the sanctuary and the quiet dignity of the lovely minister. Perhaps he has his 'firebrand' moments... But I can't imagine it. Thank you!!

Kind of looks like the post vatican II Catholic Church I grew up in, though mine was a little smaller, and combined marble and wood, with all the Catholic niknaks all around.

This is probably the 10th church-visit video of yours that I've viewed. All are interesting and educational. With this one, it just occurred to me that you don't wear your hat inside. I wonder if that's out of respect.

Hey Matt, you do a lot of these can I make a request? Can you try to get in touch with the people at Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Huston Texas and do one where you talk with somebody from the Personal Ordinate of the Chair of Saint Peter? I’ve seen you do episodes with eastern orthodox and eastern Catholics; the personal ordinariate, like how the eastern Catholic Church is the eastern church in communion with Rome, is the Anglican church and communion with Rome. It’s the kind of church that I went to before I moved to an area without one, and I will be very appreciative if you did dialogue with a priest, or even the Bishop of the personal ordinariate.