Our History and Beliefs

In the beginning...

River Oaks Baptist Church began as a vision engendered in the hearts of a group of Christian people to further the cause of Christ in the community. On May 22, 1950, this group met in a private residence to discuss the need for a Baptist church in the River Oaks and adjacent areas. By June 6, 1950, the first worship service was held in the River Oaks Garden Center and Forum of Civics with 58 members in attendance.

Meeting in various locations for the next 3 years, the new congregation worked hard and prayed much more before moving into permanent buildings at our present day location on December 13, 1953.

The mission-minded membership has demonstrated genuine interest in all the outreaching causes of Christ.  Over the years, ROBC has supported numerous missionaries as they spread the word of Christ.  Also, some of the current Baptist churches around Houston began as missions of ROBC.  Under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are dedicated to the task of becoming effective Christian disciples in Houston, America and around the world.

From our early years of meeting in multiple locations, to our current home at 2300 Willowick Rd., ROBC has been a Christ-centered community for generations of families in Houston.  Please come visit and meet our family!

Who are we?

We are a community of believers excited about Christ…
We are a center for spiritual development and salvation…
We are a place where you can belong…

And we wish you were here!

River Oaks Baptist Church is the community of our members, our missions and our staff. And as a community, we are dedicated to the physical and spiritual growth of our church. To lead us in Christ's path, we have set out some guiding principles to direct us in our work…

Our Mission…to be Christ-centered

We exist to impact our community for Christ by developing devoted followers of Jesus Christ through facilitating inward spiritual growth which demonstrates itself in loving, outward ministry to others.

Our Vision…to be transformed through Christ

River Oaks Baptist family is a dynamic community of believers being transformed to wholeness and joy and seeking others who, like us, need God's transforming power through Jesus Christ.

Our Values…to be guided in our ministries

We go about serving God and our community through ministry, with these values as our guide:

    We Value Revelation… God reveals his purpose to us and calls us to salvation and service. We give ourselves fully to the plans revealed by God through the living Word, Jesus Christ, and through his inspired Word, the scriptures, and made contemporary by the work of the Holy Spirit.

    We Value Worship… Faith grows by giving worth to God. Personal disciplines that nurture faith - worship, study, devotional life, prayer and stewardship - are essential to our own spiritual development. We encourage our community to be devoted followers of Christ, by living in a personal, love relationship with Christ. We encourage our community to grow in Christ by committing to a life of personal and corporate worship.

    We Value All People… All people are created in the image of God, and we accept people as they are, recognizing that change comes by the redemptive work of God's grace. We hope that River Oaks Baptist Church is a safe place to grow, where individuals are nurtured and loved in the faith.

    We Value Belonging… We believe the work of God is best done through community. To have a love relationship with God means we are brought into a love relationship with one another. We strive to build our community by sharing life's experiences, giving each other mutual support and responding to one another by "speaking the truth in love."

    We Value Integrity… To be a part of the family of God is to be a devoted follower of Christ. We will not claim to be other than what the grace of God has made us.

    We Value Excellence… To glorify Christ, we will give our very best to the calling of God. We set high standards in everything we do. We make our standards explicit so we can evaluate our progress.

    We Value Kingdom Work… With intention and clarity we define ourselves doctrinally and establish moral and ethical boundaries for our life in Christ. Yet we understand that God's work is far bigger than our own fellowship and that Christ's body is inclusive of all that follow Him. In that light, we value cooperative efforts with other Christian groups to accomplish our mission on a global scale.