Our church had been without a Senior Pastor for almost two years when Dennis and Cindy Wiles joined us in ministry in August of 2001. Dr. Wiles arrived with a true desire to lead First Baptist Church of Arlington into its next era of ministry.
God has truly blessed the partnership between our Pastor and our church! There is no way to simply quantify it, but there are some metrics that express the beauty of this union. For example:
- Worship attendance at First Baptist Church of Arlington has increased over 60%
- We have started a Center for Counseling and Enrichment that now has 11 therapists providing Christian counseling for our community
- We have purchased property and increased our “footprint” to 6 ½ blocks of property in downtown Arlington
- We have entered into land agreements with the City of Arlington and the University of Texas at Arlington that have served to revitalize the downtown area
- We now are training and sending our own cross-cultural workers to live among the unreached peoples of the world.
- We have launched a church-based network of churches called Restore Hope that now assists churches in sending workers to live across the world as well as sponsoring humanitarian aid efforts that affects the lives of thousands of people in challenging places like Sierra Leone and Ethiopia
- We have developed a new “vocabulary” as a church that now includes The Sacramental Journey, Blessed People Bless People and Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way!
- We have established a web of dynamic ministries that allows our church to provide ministry for hundreds of thousands of people in over 160 countries annually
Dr. Wiles has brought his mix of humor, scholarship, pastoral care, personal attention, call to mission, love for Jesus, joy in explaining the Bible and love for the Church to First Baptist Church of Arlington. We love him and he loves us!
Pastoral Care
The Pastoral Ministries of First Baptist Church is designed to meet the needs of our growing congregation and our local community. Through various support groups, pastoral and professional counseling, weddings, funerals and hospital visits our church desires to minister to the ever-changing needs of its members and our growing community.
Pastor's Perspective on Ministry
The staff at FBCA has been working on creating and sharing their ministries purpose as well as how those purposes connect to the grandeur purpose of our church. These three video sessions include Dr. Wiles's Philosophy of Ministry as the pastor of First Baptist Church. They include pastoral considerations, core theology and rationale for ministry.
The Sacramental Journey
Dr. Wiles has provided a resource website to assist you on your faith journey. Find sermon plans, daily Bible readings, monthly prayer focus and action plans as well as book recommendations and a direct link to Dr. Wiles's blog where he shares his own personal thoughts on current events.
