We’re Saving a Seat for You
Visiting a new church can be a little scary and overwhelming. We invite you to explore the options below to make your visit something to look forward to.
New Zion Baptist Church is an assembly of imperfect people that are being conformed to the image of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, the transforming grace of God, and the love of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to know Him and to make Him known first and foremost in our neighborhoods, our communities, our region, and ultimately foreign lands.
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Our corporate aim is to see Christ exalted as Lord of our public and private lives, His claims clearly presented to the masses, and every member of the Body of Christ fulfilling his or her purpose. In light of God’s gifts to us, we strive to set the standard for excellence in Christ-centered ministry by doing our creative best in every facet of service and by training others to do likewise.
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Worship services at 10 am every Sunday. Bible Study Tuesday night at 6 pm and Wednesday and 12 noon.
Who We Are
Our Core Values
Gift-oriented Ministry
1 Peter 4:10
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Teamwork
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
“Two are better than one, because the have a good return for their work.“
Relationship Building
Romans 12:16-18
“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Accountability
Hebrews 10:24-25
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Creativity and Excellence in Ministry
Colossians 3:23-24
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Family Enrichment
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Kingdom consciousness and community engagement
Jerermiah 29:7
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
What to Expect
Walking into a church for the first time can be intimidating, so we want you to help you know what to expect when you visit.
We promise not to embarrass you or point you out. If you wish you can fill out a connection card and we’ll follow up with you later. You can come knowing you are in the midst of a group of broken people, whom all need God’s grace.
What to Wear
We have a diversity of people attend our services and are thankful for a congregation with a variety of dress. You'll find anything from very casual jeans and t-shirts to polos and slacks to suits. We encourage you to come as you are.
Children
We are thankful to have a congregation with many children. We encourage all parents to train their children to worship as part of the church. We provide nursery for children up to age 2 for the entire worship service and dismiss children ages 3-8 for children’s church before the sermon. Some children remain in the service the entire time, and we welcome their presence.
Sunday School
On Sunday morning at 9:00 am, we come together for Sunday School for all ages, where we learn topically about God’s Word and its application to all areas of life. Following Sunday School, we have about a 20-minute break with light refreshments and good conversation before our morning worship service begins at 10:00 am.
Service Format
Our service is intentional, in that it follows a deliberate order of worship, but it’s not formal in style. We sing several songs, offer congregational and pastoral prayers to God, hear Scripture read, and give our offerings and tithes. We close each morning worship service with a benediction, with the typical service finishing around 12:15 pm. An hour later, you might still find folks talking over the sermon and events of the past week.
Sermon
Preaching at is generally expositional, meaning that it seeks to systematically work through passages of Scripture, declaring the point of a particular Biblical passage, with practical application rooted in the redemptive story of Scripture. Sermons usually last around 45 minutes and are packed with material for reflection. Our sermon series regularly alternate between the Old and New Testaments. All preaching is driven by the Gospel, the Bible’s main message of God saving sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Music
​​We sing a blend of lyrically rich songs both recent and historic. Those of us who are comfortable with music from one particular era have discovered that we come to enjoy other songs we had not previously encountered.
We strongly prefer congregational singing, which emphasizes the gathered body enthusiastically singing praise to God with one voice. Some Sundays we sing with piano, guitar, and drums, and others we sing with just piano accompaniment.
Our Leadership & Staff
Dr. K. Edward Copeland
Lead Pastor
Pastor Copeland is a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who has been blessed with many talents and skills. He is a musician, composer, preacher, lecturer, author and attorney. He is most widely known for his God-given gift to teach the Bible with supernatural clarity and simplicity. He is the author of Riding in the Second Chariot, a guide for ministers and church leaders and a contributing author to Entrusted with the Gospel by Crossway. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.A. 1984), University of California-Berkeley (J.D. 1987), Golden Gate Theological Seminary (M.Div. 1992), and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (D.Min. 2017). His lives with his bride of 32 years, Starla, and they have three children Jibri, Abeni, and Titus.
Email Pastor Copeland
Deacons
Jamie Allen
James Leslie
Melvin Stubblefield
Jefferson Darby
Kenneth McClain
Carlton Vines
Gene Houston
LeGarrett Reed
Staff
Rev. Wyland Parks
Pastoral Care Director
Kim Thomas
Administrator
Titus Starks
Director of Worship
Davita McWilliams
Office Staff
What We Believe
Word-centered and Gospel-driven
The Word of God is crucial! This is why you will note that our website's domain name is wordcentered.org. The ministry of New Zion Baptist Church will, we hope, always keep God's Word central. Why? The Bible is God's written Word—how He's chosen to communicate to us Who He is, what He has been doing, and what He expects of us. The Bible alone holds the ultimate, most trustworthy, most authoritative answers to the questions of life and eternity. Thus, rather than magnifying the ideas of men and women, we look instead to God, trusting that He inspired and preserved His Word for His glory and our good. We believe that the written Word is a reflection of the Living Word, Jesus Christ, and that its contents are our reliable, sufficient rule of faith and practice. When a moral question is raised, or when we face a difficult circumstance, we choose to resort to the Bible for guidance, correction or comfort rather than falling back on our own experiences and opinions.
Traditional in Our Message
We hold to historical Baptist and fundamental distinctives. Specifically, we are fond of The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. We gladly accept broken, unaccomplished, needy sinners like ourselves—but we are not seeker-driven. We do not believe that "doing church" is what God requires of men and women, and we do not believe that it is the local church's responsibility to water down nor add to the gospel of Christ in order to make it a more "comfortable" place to be. Do we want that gospel [good news] to be understandable? Yes. Do we ourselves want to be compassionate and inclusive? Yes. We want the broken people. People, like us, who know their sinfulness. We are here for those who know they need something more than what this life has to offer. We seek not to offer more of the same, but to offer something different. The person and work of Jesus Christ is enough for us. We invite you to come see why.
Relevant in Our Vision
We maintain that the Bible is more than a collection of ancient writings, but rather it contains everything we need to face the problems of life in today's culture. Consequently, our teaching and preaching will include practical application to help us live as we ought. We are not an elite group of "the arrived," and we are committed to continual change. We rest on and submit to the absolute, unchanging truth of the Bible, and it in turn changes us. We hear and meditate on God's Word—and while we do that, we try to be doers of that Word, and not hearers only. We have found that the unchanging truths of the Bible affect our everyday lives, and we pray that we will become more and more like Jesus Christ as we submit to and obey His Word.