Seattle First Baptist Church

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Here, you are loved.

Visit us.

There is no one right way to show up at SFBC, no perfect path of participation. Get in touch and get to know us in the way and at the time that feels most comfortable to you. →

frequently  asked  questions

When you arrive, enter through one of the doors on Harvard Avenue. An accessible entrance with elevator access is through the sliding doors at ground level. The stone steps on Harvard Avenue will also lead you into a foyer where you will be welcomed by one of our greeters. They will give you a bulletin and you will enter the sanctuary and find a seat where you are comfortable. If you arrive before the service begins, one of the pastors or a member might come and chat with you. Towards the beginning of each service, we invite folks to pass the peace of Christ to one another. If you are an introvert and aren’t ready to interact with a bunch of folks on your first visit, arrive about 7 minutes after 11am or “go to the bathroom” at the end of the prelude. Feel free to let us know you are visiting and appreciate your space–we understand! Our services typically last around an hour. After the service, all are welcome to join us for coffee hour downstairs in our fellowship hall. This is a great time to meet folks and get to know more about Seattle First Baptist. If you do go to coffee hour, be sure and stop by the Welcome Table. One of our members will be there and will be delighted to talk to you and answer any questions you might have.

Worship services are at 11am in our sanctuary. You can access the sanctuary by walking up the stairs and entering through the main doors on Harvard Avenue. You will be welcomed by our greeters and given a bulletin. If you need a wheel-chair accessible entrance, you can enter through the sliding double doors on Harvard. Immediately to your right when you enter is the elevator. Go to the second floor, exit, take a right, and another right. You can follow the signs in the hallway to the sanctuary entrance.

We are located at 1111 Harvard Avenue, on the corner of Harvard and Seneca streets. You can drive to visit us, though parking can be limited in the neighborhood. Public transit is a great option both for the environment and to not worry about parking. There is a bus stop for the #2 line right next to the church. The Capitol Hill Link station is about a half-mile walk from the church. There is also a street-car stop a block away. If you prefer to visit virtually, we livestream our services here on our website and on our Facebook page.

Street parking is available around the church, and on Sundays it is free. There are a few handicap spots on the street right outside our accessible entrance on Harvard Avenue. We also rent out the surface lot at the corner of Spring and Boylston streets on Sundays. Parking in that lot is free until 2pm. We encourage folks who are able and comfortable to utilize public transportation. The #2 bus line Seneca/Boylston stop is right outside the church. The Rapid Ride “G” line and the First Hill streetcar stops are also within two blocks of the church. There are several pay lots within 2 blocks of the church.

Parking near the church can also be found through bestparking.com.

We want folks to feel comfortable and at home. So, wear whatever makes you feel most comfortable and most yourself. You’ll see folks dressed in sport coats and khakis, shorts and flip-flops, and everything in between! Come as you are.

You’ll frequently hear this phrase around SFBC: “…any child of God whether they be young of age or young at heart.” All of God’s children, particularly the small ones and young of age, are welcome in our sanctuary for worship. We are proud to regularly include all ages in worship leadership. During the service we have a “Time with Children” where folks “young in age and young at heart” are invited to come forward for a special moment to listen to and share with the pastors.

At SFBC we embrace the sounds and wiggles of the youngest worshippers, but we also know alternative spaces may be helpful. Some folks like to worship in our “Wiggle Room” on the north side of the sanctuary, a room perfect for viewing and hearing the sanctuary while having space to relax and move around. Comfortable seating, books, activities, and arts and crafts are provided. The sanctuary sound is projected into the space and there is a big window so our friends who choose to worship in there can still fully participate. Children must be supervised by an accompanying adult while in the room.

On our Fellowship Hall level there is a fully-equipped nursery for the youngest among us (birth through age 3). Currently we do not offer a professionally-staffed nursery. The worship service sound can be projected into this room for any families who would like to worship there. This room includes changing tables and a child-sized single-use restroom. Thank you for your grace as we work towards providing a professionally-staffed nursery space.

The church is accessible, and we are in the process of becoming more accessible. We believe it is important for people of all abilities and bodies to be able to fully participate in the life of our church. This is why we recently renovated our sanctuary to lower the chancel and build a ramp so that folks of all abilities can lead in worship services. We have an accessible entrance with an elevator at the sliding double doors on Harvard Avenue, where you can access the sanctuary. In the coming years, we plan to build a new elevator with direct access from Harvard Avenue to our sanctuary and fellowship hall.

We have a state-of-the-art hearing assistance system in our sanctuary for hearing-impaired folks. You can ask one of the greeters when you arrive about this, and they will get you set up so you can hear or utilize closed captions on your mobile device for the worship service.

We have three all-gender restrooms. One is located at the back of the sanctuary, one on the floor below in the Harvard street foyer outside the Fellowship Hall, and one near the Women’s Restroom on the Seneca street side of the Fellowship Hall.

On a regular Sunday morning we typically have about 100 people in worship, and about 20 folks who worship via our livestream. We have a couple hundred official members, and there are many folks who consider us their church home. We believe in the “gathered and scattered” church, with some of us worshiping in Seattle and some across the country, and even across the world! Whether that seems large or small to you, there is a place for you at Seattle First Baptist.

The most accurate description of our worship style is “traditional.” We sing hymns with an organ, read scripture together, pray, and hear wonderful sermons together. We value our music ministry, and have an excellent choir. While our music is more traditional and our pastors sometimes wear robes, we do try to incorporate more modern elements into our services. It’s not uncommon for there to be special music with a guitar or banjo—you might hear a song from Willie Nelson, Carole King, Mumford and Sons, Bob Dylan, or other artists. One of the pastors might quote Beyoncé or read a poem from Mary Oliver or Wendell Berry. You never know what you might experience on any given Sunday! The most important thing to us in our worship is that it is true and faithful worship to God, equipping us to go back out into the community to follow Jesus. If you would like to experience a past service, you can watch previous services here on our website.

Yes—just as Christ welcomed everyone to the table, so do we. Communion is open to anyone who wishes to partake.
As a Baptist congregation we hold to the four Baptist freedoms: soul freedom, bible freedom, religious freedom, and church freedom. Soul freedom means that an individual has their own relationship and connection to God, no one else mediates that for you. Bible freedom means that we believe we have freedom to interpret the Bible. We do this together in community and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Baptists historically have been committed to religious freedom. We believe anyone should have the freedom to practice their religion or to not practice religion at all. SFBC is committed to advocating for religious freedom in the public sphere. Baptist churches are governed by the congregation. Pastors are called to lead the congregation, but only by congregational approval. The congregation votes or comes to consensus on all decisions. SFBC decides how it is uniquely called to be a church, no governing body dictates that. We call this “church freedom.” Seattle First Baptist aligns itself with the American Baptist Churches USA, the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.

Seattle First Baptist aligns itself with the American Baptist Churches USA, associating locally with the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches. American Baptist Churches offer a wide tent of welcome to moderate-to-progressive churches that hold to the principles of soul freedom, Bible freedom, local autonomy, and religious liberty for all. The American Baptist Churches USA are the most ethnically and racially diverse denomination in the United States, and our local Evergreen region reflects that diversity. American Baptists (historically called the Northern Baptists) split with the Southern Baptists in the 1850s over the enslavement of human beings. American Baptists affirm women in ministry, and a growing number of region are affirming of the ordination and pastoral leadership of LGBTQIA+ people (thanks to the great work of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, of which this congregation is a founding member). Being part of ABC-USA provides community and shared resources flowing from common values, as well as regional, national, and global witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ that calls for love, justice, and dignity for all persons.

The short answer is anyone can be baptized at Seattle First Baptist Church. We welcome and fully affirm people of all genders, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. Here at Seattle First Baptist, we believe that there is “one God, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). So, if you were baptized in another church we do not require baptism in this church for membership. As Baptists, we practice believer’s baptism by immersion. This means that we do not baptize infants, but wait to baptize people until they are ready to commit themselves to following the way of Jesus and understand what they are committing to. To be baptized at Seattle First Baptist, you must be a regular committed attendee. This is because baptism is both an individual and communal act. If you would like to be baptized here, we encourage you to get to know us and see if this is a community you would like to baptize you. You can discern if you would like to be part of, grow with, and follow Jesus with the community at Seattle First Baptist. If you want to learn more about baptism or becoming a member, please reach out to our pastors.

Seattle First Baptist has been marrying all couples for almost 50 years. We welcome and fully affirm people of all genders, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. Anyone can get married at SFBC, regardless of if they are a member or not. All weddings at SFBC are primarily a Christian worship service. The pastors will work to ensure the services celebrate the love of God and the love of the couple. To learn more about weddings at SFBC, email contact@seattlefirstbaptist.org.

There are many ways to get involved at Seattle First Baptist. You can worship with us on Sunday mornings or join the choir or one of small groups. We also have an active outreach ministry and have regular opportunities to show up for our neighbors in the community. If you would like to get involved, you can reach out to our pastors or stop by the Welcome Table during coffee hour on a Sunday.