WEST CRAIG BAPTIST CHURCH

Our Statement of Faith

We are a Southern Baptist congregation and hold to the basic beliefs of the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.

Below is a link to the Baptist Confession of Faith.

A Brief History About Our Church and Las Vegas
 written by Roy A. Worthley 

In September 1983 a group of people approached Pastor Roy A. Worthley, who was preparing to move from Las Vegas, about starting a new church. The group, some forty in number, felt there was a need for a doctrinally strong Southern Baptist Church on the Northwest side of the city. Their group was made up of government employees of the Nuclear Test Site, military attachments, and several local long time residents. Pastor Worthley challenged the group to pay a full-time pastor's salary. If they would agree, he would stay and lead them in organizing a new church. The group accepted the challenge and the church was incorporated and organized on October 2,1983, as the Charleston Heights Baptist Fellowship.

The new church was invited to hold its services in the social room of the Cal-Fed Bank building located on Decatur Blvd. and Meadows Lane. The amicable relationship with the bank lasted nine months during which the bank paid all utilities and even provided chairs and tables. A portable electric organ provided music for congregational singing. During that period the church met the financial challenge of paying the pastor's salary and accumulated an additional $18,000. A search was initiated for a suitable permanent site.

A member of the church, who owned a small pet cemetery on Lone Mountain Road outside the northwest limits of the city, offered to lease a lot to the church for a temporary building, if the church could secure a temporary permit. The church accepted the offer and was successful in securing a temporary permit and built a portable building on the site. The church moved into the new unit in August 1984. The church changed its name to the Lone Mountain Baptist Church, reflecting its new geographical location. 

By the end of the second year, the church had stabilized as a congregation of approximately sixty-five members. Members traveled as much as sixty-five miles to attend the church services. The church remained at its temporary location on Lone Mountain Road for four years. During that time, the city of Las Vegas entered a period of phenomenal growth which would eventually move the city limits north past the church's location.

In the spring of 1987 the church had to surrender the leased lot beside the cemetery and sold its portable building to a rural church in Indian Springs, Nevada. A building contractor helped the congregation purchase a three and one-half acre site on the corner of Craig Road and Valadez Streets. While waiting to start construction of a permanent building and needing a place to hold worship services the church approached the Nellis Baptist Church about uniting the two churches temporarily.

The Nellis church, which was pastoral less and declining in numbers, agreed. Joint worship services were initiated. The Lone Mountain church shared expenses and paid an additional five hundred dollars a month to the Nellis church .. During the time the two churches met together in joint services, the Lone Mountain church never declined in numbers or finances. As a good will gesture, the Lone Mountain church additionally paid for a complete exterior repainting of the Nellis church buildings. Both churches enjoyed the fellowship and were blessed with additional members during the eleven months they met together. 

In the Summer of 1988 the Nellis church had regained its spiritual strength and called a new pastor. The Lone Mountain Baptist Church then moved into the Municipal Golf Course's social hall on Washington and Decatur Boulevards. The church met in the social hall for almost two years. In December 1989 the church started construction of a building on the corner of Craig Road and Valadez Street. The new building provided 5,000 square feet of floor space.  

The construction of the new building was done primarily by volunteer labor. Construction took a year and two months to complete. Occupancy permits were finally received in the spring of 1991. Two years later the church was completely debt free having paid off all construction loans. Upon occupying the new building in 1991 the church changed its name to The West Craig Road Baptist Church. 

Presently, West Craig Road has been designated as a new thoroughfare on the northwest side of the city. New construction continues near and around the church site with a new Middle School having been built less than two blocks away. To meet the new challenges of community growth, the congregation felt it necessary to enlarge the staff and build additional facilities. A Music Minister was added to the staff and an Associate Pastor as well prior to him entering Bible College full-time in preparation for full time ministry. Plans were drafted for an educational/fellowship building and a building fund was started and continues. 

Over the years, the church congregation has never been larger than 75 to 125 active members. This is due to two reasons: (1) the transit nature of government and military people the church serves, as well as the transit nature of the growing population of Las Vegas; (2) the church cleanses its membership rolls annual of those who have moved away or ceased to attend the church regularly. However, the church usually receives as many new members as it loses during a church year. It is not unusual for new people to attend the church on recommendations of former members. Some government and military families have been members of the church several times over the years as their assignments have brought them back and forth to Las Vegas. 

One of the reasons many feel the church has been so successful over the years is its small membership as compared to larger congregations in the city. Smaller congregations (less than 150) fare better over the long term in Las Vegas than larger ones. Maintaining an active committed membership in a church requires local pastors to know and keep up with their congregations. Families and singles living in Las Vegas tend to have multiple personal problems, which have to be addressed on a continual basis. This requires a dedicated and committed pastoral leadership.

Another reason for the church's success has been its dedication to doctrinal soundness. To maintain doctrinal and spiritual integrity a church has to maintain strong doctrinal tenets and strict moral principles. There are few church traditions in Las Vegas and denominational loyalty is very weak. Biblical qualifications for the ministry are an important issue for most churches. Additionally, within the Baptist fellowship there are varieties of Bible training and worship programs. Most churches learn by trial and error what works best for them. 

Facts about Las Vegas in relation to our church's ministry ... 

Hosts of churches attempt to attract people using themes and promotions. However, Las Vegas is the epitome of "hype." Las Vegas is a wide-open city twenty-four hours a day. The lights never go out in "Sin City." Las Vegas Blvd. where the larger hotels and casinos are found, is called "the strip" and caters to both families and singles, people seeking the thrills and lusts of such a city. Although at one time it advertised itself as "family" oriented and sought to entice a broader base of tourists, the fact remained that the "engine" that drives Las Vegas is the gaming industry. The hotel-casino industry has grown phenomenally over the last 10 years with several new hotels being built every year. New resorts add thousands of hotel rooms to the market every year, but they fill up just as fast as their predecessors, at a rate of 90 percent in 2006*. The need for personnel to work in the hotels and culinary services has attracted thousands of immigrants from Mexico and Asia. However, the gaming industry is still the greatest contributor.