J Magazine Winter 2018

“My desire is that we would be fruitful
participants and good neighbors, helping
Downtown be beautiful and vibrant and
safe,” Lambert said. “We want to work
with the city and business owners. We’re
looking for opportunities for partnership.
How can the city be better because of First
Baptist Church?”
First Baptist is a member of Downtown
Vision Inc. Executive pastor John Blount
attends the meetings.
The church also supports the ministry
of Trinity Rescue Mission on Union Street
with funding and volunteers and wants to
increase its involvement. The church also
has a food pantry and clothes closet that
are available when someone comes to the
church for help.
“We need to do a better job Downtown
whether it’s actively caring for the
homeless or reaching out to a millennial
looking for a condo,” Lambert said.
Lambert said he has no ideas for how
redevelopment should proceed in the
Church District. The church will maintain
the 11 blocks the church owns, he said, but
no major changes are envisioned.
The property “represents a stewardship
we need to think through carefully,”
Lambert said. “People made an
investment in the future that we need to
make good on.”
FIRST BAPTIST
Improvements
First Baptist Academy is expected to
grow. The church added ninth and 10th
grades this year and plans to add 11th
grade next year and 12th in 2020. The 361
students come from all over the city, but
Lambert expects that as more people move
Downtown, the Academy will have kids
from the neighborhood.
“We have space for short-term growth,
and we’re talking about what do we do
when we exceed our capacity,” Lambert
said. “But we have no hard-and-fast plans.”
Renovating the administration building
on Ashley also is on the to-do list. “It’s just
old,” Lambert said. “It was an insurance
building, and no real work has been done
on it. It’s going to need a lot of work in the
next five to 10 years. We’re in the early
stages of figuring out what to do.”
The Lindsay Memorial Auditorium,
on Hogan Street, which was mainly a
“My desire
is that we
would be
fruitful
participants
and good
neighbors,
helping
Downtown
be beautiful
and vibrant
and safe.”
HEATH Lambert
PASTOR OF
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
sanctuary in the 1970s and 1980s, has
undergone a $3 million renovation. Next
door is the Hobson Auditorium, the
original sanctuary, with seating for 700. It is
used for weddings and meetings and is the
sanctuary for the International Ministry.
The church recently completed a
multi-million renovation of the preschool
building with new décor and equipment
for infants and toddlers.
“We would love to add green space that
would become a common space,” Lambert
said.
For Lambert, the issue isn’t the church’s
size or influence. It’s about its faithfulness
to the gospel and Jesus’ command to share
its message.
After the shooting at The Jacksonville
Landing in August, the church canceled its
Wednesday night service and convened a
prayer vigil at the riverfront courtyard to
show its solidarity with the victims and the
city.
The church also is calling for 1,000
members to share the gospel with one
person every week by the end of the year
— 52,000 people. It calls it the One in a
Thousand campaign, and it is keeping
track. As of the end of September, they had
reached about 8,500 — a long way from the
goal but for Lambert a sign of faithfulness.
“We really want to communicate that
the reason First Baptist is here is to love the
city. We want to love the city well,” Lambert
said. “But nobody should be shocked when
Christians at First Baptist Church act like
Christians.
“For First Baptist, it’s not about being
against things. It’s a horrifying blasphemy
against the love of God to communicate
and portray hate. Our mission is to
communicate the love of God,” Lambert
said. “We have work to communicate that,
and I’m eager to do that.”
Lilla Ross was as a reporter and editor at The Florida
Times-Union for 35 years. She lives in San Marco.
TIMES-UNION
A one-ton, 38-foot cross began its journey 10 stories
skyward in the heart of downtown Jacksonville in
November 1974 during construction of the First
Baptist Church in Downtown.
WINTER 2018-19 | J MAGAZINE 71