About Eastway
What We Believe
God: We believe that there is one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Jesus: We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, was born of a virgin, was wholly God and wholly man, lived a sinless life, died in our place as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, was buried, arose bodily from the grave, and ascended into heaven.
Christ's Return: We believe that Jesus Christ will literally return to earth.
Holy Spirit: We believe that God the Holy Spirit is active in convincing unbelievers of their need for salvation, and is the Comforter and Guide who lives in every believer.
Bible: We believe that the Bible is the Word of God without any error, the sole authority for life and faith.
Man: We believe that man is a special creation of God, made in His image, but that through the sin of the first man, Adam, mankind fell so that all people are sinners and need salvation.
Salvation: We believe that salvation is a gift received through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.
Assurance: We believe that every person who is truly saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternity: We believe that those who die in their sins without Christ will spend eternity in hell and those who die with their sins forgiven through Christ spend eternity in Heaven.
Baptism: We believe that water baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Christ and is by immersion after salvation.
Church: We believe that the church is a local body of baptized believers with Jesus Christ as the head.
Prayer: We believe that each believer has direct access to God through Jesus Christ.
Government: We believe in the separation of church and state, but not in separation of God and government. Christians are salt and light in society.
We support the doctrinal statement, "The Baptist Faith and Message 2000" as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention.
History
On November 5, 1941, twenty-nine people met at the home of A.E. Yates on what is now Shamrock Drive to organize a new church. This group formed what was originally known as Emmanuel Baptist Church with Rev. T.P. Christmas as the church's first pastor.
In December of the same year, a lot was purchased on Eastway Drive, but it was not until 1948 that the church voted to change the name to Eastway Baptist Church.
In nearly seven decades, God has worked in the lives of those who have been part of this church family. Over the years, a number of our members have been called of God to serve as pastors, ministers and missionaries.
Previous pastors are (in chronological order): T.P. Christmas, John Medlin, R.B. Ostwalt, Wiliam Knight, J. Clyde Yates, Edgar Christy, Harold Smith, Steve Gouge, Bob Lowman, and Michael Owens who has served Eastway since 2001.
Associations
Eastway Baptist is an independent, autonomous fellowship, but we are in cooperation with the Metrolina Baptist Association, North Carolina Baptist State Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention.