OUR STORY
A Rich Legacy of Community & Diversity
Marshall Road Church began in May of 1962 as a church plant driven by about 40 faithful families. While those early years brought their share of challenges, the church’s strategic location on Marshall Road in Jacksonville, Arkansas—just down the street from the Little Rock Air Force Base—soon opened doors for a remarkable move of God. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the church began drawing not just neighbors from around the corner, but military families from all over the world, weaving a beautiful, diverse, and multigenerational tapestry.
Over the decades, this church has been given several good pastors who served faithfully, preached, and led—men like Rev. A.W. Upchurch, Rev Robert Griffin, Pastor Binion G. Fleming, and Pastor Cliff Hutchins. Alongside them, families, teachers, deacons, volunteers, friends, and countless others have prayed, served, given, loved their neighbors, raised their children, and carried the life of this church from one generation to the next.
Each has played a part in the story God continues to write here. We are grateful for those who came before us, and we stand today not simply on their legacy, but on the faithfulness of God they trusted and passed on.
From the very beginning, our congregation made a distinct choice to be a true church of the community. Often referred to affectionately as the "Church of Jacksonville" or simply "Marshall Road Church," our congregation stood out and made headlines for its early commitment to racial unity by ordaining its first non-all-white leadership. Among them were Lee Bush and his wife, Dr. Freda Bush. Lee, an African American airman stationed at the base, recalls attending in the spring of 1969. He noted that while the congregation was predominantly white at the time, they actively and warmly welcomed people of color, step-by-step integrating the church through genuine Christian love.
A Heart for the Community
For over five decades, that heart for our city has never wavered. Today, that legacy lives on through our WE 🖤 JACKSONVILLE and WE 🖤 THE COMMUNITY initiatives. We actively love our city by serving local elementary school teachers, supporting seniors at the Jacksonville Towers and community center, and hosting our signature Community Jam events—bringing local families, city leaders, and state organizations together.
Today, our vision is to be a church that thrives on a healthy plurality of leaders. We focus heavily on biblical goals—actively raising up, equipping, and empowering both men and women to step into their God-given callings to lead the church forward. This is beautifully reflected in our leadership teams, where our Deacons and their wives serve hand-in-hand to care for the practical and spiritual needs of our people.
Looking Forward:
Our Next Chapter
In August of 2023, Pastor Roy Ryder, along with his wife Kristi and their three daughters, came to lead Marshall Road. Captivated by the church’s rich history and profound community impact, Pastor Roy carries a deep pastoral heart to shepherd our people through faithful, expository Bible teaching with practical everyday application. Pastor Roy thoroughly enjoys serving alongside Assistant Pastor Christopher Hart. Together, they share a unified heart to love, counsel, guide, and listen to our church family.
Under their leadership, we officially embraced the conversational name Marshall Road Church—not to turn away from our proud roots as a Southern Baptist Church, but to maximize our impact and remove barriers for everyone in our changing culture. Many of our cherished "old-timers" and founding generation still affectionately refer to us as Marshall Road Baptist Church, and we love that! It stands as a beautiful reminder of our solid theological foundation and decades of faithfulness.
We readily admit that Marshall Road is not a perfect church. But we know that because of the radical love of Jesus, we cannot stay the way we are. We are called to help others change, too, by gathering together, supporting one another, and pointing everyone we meet directly to Jesus.
About US
Our Mission:
to help people take their next steps with God and others.
Our Vision:
We believe the local church is God's plan for equipping and sending everyday witnesses into our communities to represent JESUS in every corner of life.
Everyone is welcome, and no one remains unchanged after encountering God’s incredible, life-transforming love.
We believe that a life-changing relationship with Jesus is built upon historical, biblical truth. Below is the full scriptural foundation of the core doctrines we teach, believe, and practice every week at Marshall Road Church.
Whether you're just exploring faith or looking for a deep theological home, we want you to know exactly where we stand. Here is the foundation of what we teach and practice every week.
Our
Beliefs
-
We believe in one God eternally existing as one essence and three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each of whom is fully God, yet there is one God.
God The Father
As to the person of God the Father, we believe He is an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love; that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of mankind; that He hears and answers prayers, and that He saves from sin and death all those who come to Him through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, God the Son.
Deuteronomy 33:27, Psalm 90:2, 102:27, John 4:24, 1 Timothy 1:17, Titus 1:3
God The Son - Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is at the center of everything. We believe Jesus is the only one who can reconcile us to God. He lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life. We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back again as He promised.
Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2, Matthew 1:18, 20, 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 1:31-35, 3:22, John 1:1, 3:16-18, 34-36, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 1:2, Revelation 1:8
God The Holy Spirit
As to the person of God the Holy Spirit, we believe He came forth from God the Father and God the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; to regenerate, sanctify, and empower for ministry, including the biblical exercise of His spiritual gifting, all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 3:18, John 16:8-11 ,Romans 15:13-16, Hebrews 9:14, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 4:11
We believe in the present ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer in Jesus Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher, and guide through whom the Word of God is revealed.
John 14:16-17, 16:8-11
-
The Bible was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs about living. Because the Bible is inspired by God, it is truth without error.
2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Psalm 119:105, 160, 12:6, Proverbs 30:5, Isaiah 55:11
-
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
-
We believe in one Church community, the living spiritual body of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the head, and all who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are ‘members’.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Ephesians 4:15-16
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: (1) Water Baptism byfull immersion, as a testimony of conversion, and (2) the Communion Ceremony to remember His atoning sacrifice for us all. We also believe in the laying on of hands for empowerment by God the Holy Spirit; for healing of the sick; for the ordination of Pastors and Elders; and for the appointment of Deacons.
Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Acts 6:6, 8:17, 1 Timothy 4:14
We believe in what is termed “The Apostle’s Creed” as embodying the fundamental facts of the Christian Faith. [ELLC 1988]
-
We believe that the human race was created as genetic male/man, and genetic female/woman, by direct acts of God; that marriage has been established by God; therefore, marriage is a sacred covenantal union between one man and one woman, for life. We also believe that legitimate sexual relations are to be exercised solely within marriage, according to God’s Word. Hence, sexual activities such as, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, incest, polygamy, homosexuality, transgender, bisexuality, cross-dressing, pedophilia and bestiality are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible and the Church. Further, lascivious behavior, the creation, viewing and/or distribution of pornography, and efforts to alter one’s gender, are not compatible with a truly biblical worldview.
Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:9, 6:18-20, 7:1-3, 7:8-9, Romans 1:18-32
We believe that the solemnizing of a marriage is a sacred and profound event that shall be entered into, only where the proposed covenantal union is in compliance with the Word of God; we also believe that the solemnizing of a marriage between men or women of the same gender is contrary to the Word of God and is considered a sin by God.
Genesis 2:18-24, Leviticus 20:13
-
We believe that all people are sinners by nature, and therefore are under condemnation. We believe that the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation. We believe that God regenerates and saves those who respond in faith and repentance to the biblical gospel, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord. We also believe in the preservation of the genuine believer’s place in Christ, by God the Holy Spirit.
Romans 3:10, 1 John 1:8, Romans 3:23, John 3:18, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8,
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 -
We believe in the Rapture of the Church, where all believers will meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air, then be taken out of this world prior to the Great Tribulation judgments that will come upon the Earth.
Matthew. 24:29-31, Luke 21:36, Romans 1:18, 5:9, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52,
1 Thessalonians. 1:10, 4:13-17, 5:9, 2 Peter 2:7-9, Revelation 5:7-10, 7:13-14
We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is His personal, visible return to Earth and the establishment of His Millennial Kingdom.
Matthew 24:27, 29-31, 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Hebrews 9:28, Revelation 1:7, 19:11-13, 20:4-6, Daniel 2:44, Isaiah 9:6-7, Hebrews 1:8
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost to final judgment; where those that are saved unto the resurrection of eternal life with God in a literal Heaven, and where those that are lost unto the resurrection of eternal suffering without God in a literal Hell.
Daniel 12:2, Matthew 25:31-46, Romans14:10-12 ,2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:11-15, 1 Peter 1:3, Revelation 3:5 ,Matthew 7:22, 13:40-42,
2 Thessalonians 1:7 -
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
-
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18; Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4,19-21; 19:21; 23:23; 25:14-29; Luke 12:16-21,42; 16:1-13; Acts 2:44-47; 5:1-11; 17:24-25; 20:35; Romans 6:6-22; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2; 6:19-20; 12; 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; 12:15; Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19.
-
-
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places