As we draw closer to the 40th anniversary celebration of our church, I simply wanted to give you a brief history of our origins. Where we came from, who we are, and pieces of the church’s DNA. 

As most churches do, South Run Baptist began not as a physical building or even a people but as an idea. A belief among a group of people in a Sunday School class at Westwood Baptist Church was that there was a need for a church to meet the needs of families in the South Run area of Springfield. The beginnings of South Run Baptist Church came not out of animosity, division, or disunity but out of a sense of divine calling and purpose. This calling grew in the hearts of a Sunday School class that planted a church, faithfully cared for it, and shepherded into what we see today.

What we see today was built with tremendous effort, determination, and intentionality. But more importantly yet, it was built through God’s working in and blessing upon this community.

The church’s first pastor, Tom McMillan, was a missionary at heart. Prior to coming to South Run Baptist Church, Tom had been a seminary president in Tanzania, and he brought that missionary spirit to this church. From its beginnings, SRBC has been a missional church seeking to reach our community, the nation, and the world for Christ. When the congregation made its way into the building we now enjoy, it always understood that we are a literal “Church on the hill.” And just as Jesus says, we are to be a light and a city on a hill shining throughout Springfield and beyond. 

From its origins, the church has always been centered around families and family life. Youth group and kid’s ministry has been a vital part of South Run Baptist for years and has contributed to the vibrancy and life of this church. A desire to serve parents and children alike has made South Run a wonderful place for families to raise kids. 

There is a servant’s heart that beats heavily in this church and has since the earliest days of the congregation when the church met, not in the serenity of our sanctuary, but in the cafeteria and rooms of Newington Forest Elementary School. Every Sunday morning the congregation would show up early and leave late, with everyone contributing to massive effort that was required to simply set up and tear down church. This servant’s heart has continued throughout the decades of the church as every ministry is operated by a volunteer within the church body. The congregation has always believed that it is the congregation and the body of the church that are meant to do the work of the church.

Finally, because of our location near Washington D.C. and the transitory life of those who live here, this church is a church who brings in many disciples and often must send them out into the world. It is a “sending church” that has had an outsized impact not only in Springfield, VA, but in the nation and even the world. The number of missionaries and disciples sent from this church to do kingdom work in the world is a true testament to our church’s history.