Senior Pastor
Meet John Hayden, the Senior Pastor of Access Church. He is married to his beautiful wife Michelle, and is the proud father of three children, Molly (12), Samuel (9), and Eli (6). He enjoys distance running, hiking, and serving the Lord. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Religion (a ministry degree) from Liberty University, a Master of Arts in Religion with an emphasis on Church Planting and Evangelism from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and is completing his Master of Divinity work at LBTS. He is known as an approachable, down to earth guy that loves to meet people and get to know them.
Praise and Worship Team Leader – Ginny Disong
Setup Team Leader – Doug King
Children and Nursery Team Leader – Michelle Hayden
First Impressions Team Leader, Karen Neil
OUR START
Our first small group meeting was September 1st, 2010 at Hardee’s on 9th street. From the beginning we have desired to be known as a church that serves the community and lifts up Jesus. We continued to grow and began our first weekly celebration services at Stonewall Jackson Middle School. We later moved to the Garden City Rec Center, then a few years ago, Access Church merged with 17th Street Baptist Church, which is where we are now permanently meeting. We have small group Bible study on Wednesday night and Adult Sunday School prior to Worship Service on Sunday mornings.
BELIEFS
ABOUT GOD
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed as one God with three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal, but submissive in duties, seperate in persons, and are one God.
Genesis 1:1,26-27; 3:22, Psalm 90:2, Matthew 28:19, 1 Peter 1:2, 2 Corinthians 13:14,
John 1:1-3,14
ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1-5, 14:10-30, Hebrews 4:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Romans 1:3-4, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Timothy 6:14-15, Titus 2:13
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ, and to restrain the work of Satan. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of Salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians we are to seek to live under His control daily.
2 Corinthians 3:17; John 16:7-13; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16;
Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:7
ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:105, 160; Psalm 12:6;
Proverbs 30:5
ABOUT SALVATION
Salvation is God’s free gift to us but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith. We can feel secure based on this once in a lifetime commitment, as it is based on Christ’s act of mercy and grace and has paid for all sins before and after conversion.
Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12, 14:6 ; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1.
John 10:28-29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10,14; 1 Peter 1:3-5; I John 2:19
VISION
We are a church seeking to provide access to God through a Christ centered community. We will achieve this through three primary components: access to growing closer to Christ and others through small groups, access to God through worship, and access to bringing Christ’s community to others through servant evangelism. This vision and its focus on community was given through two primary passages:
Acts 2:42-47 (HCSB):
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers. Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and had everything in common. So they sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. And every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.”
John 13:35 (HCSB):
“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
DENOMINATION AFFILIATION
Access Church is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV).
SPONSOR CHURCHES
Access 17th Street Church 
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