Our Pastor
Hi, I am Sam Bodo, pastor of Pilgrim’s Rest Baptist Church. Both my wife, Kelsey, and I are teachers (Kelsey teaches kindergarten, I teach high school). I have been with the church since March, 2023. I believe fully in the Gospel of Christ, that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. I hold a BA in Ministry from The Baptist College of Florida and am currently pursuing a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. If you have any questions or need any prayer, please call or text me at 904-392-1309. God bless!
Our members
Our church family consists of longtime residents of the area and relative newcomers. Several of our members are retired military. Others are nurses, farmers, teachers, first responders, and businesspeople. Our members include teenagers, people in their eighties, and all ages in between. People from all walks of life and of all ages are welcome at Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church.
Our services
We offer traditional worship services on Sunday mornings. Our services are designed to help you connect with God, understand the Bible, and grow in faith. We sing mostly traditional hymns. We also host Sunday school lessons before Sunday worship services and Prayer Meetings three Wednesday nights each month. One Wednesday night each month is reserved for business meetings.
Our mission
Our mission is to be a dynamic church empowered by the Holy Spirit to share Christ with as many people as possible in our church, our community, our nation, and our world. We also seek to experience an awareness of God and to respond in obedience to His leadership. We encourage our members to experience an increasingly meaningful fellowship with God and fellow believers. Ultimately, we aim to minister unselfishly to the people of our community and to be Christ-like in our daily living.
Our history
Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church was established in 1878 and has been a cornerstone of our community for nearly 150 years. Every Pilgrim needs a rest - a haven from this crazy world - and our name was inspired by Hebrews 11:13-16:
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Our beliefs
At Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church, we believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God and as the basis for our beliefs. We subscribe to the doctrinal statement of "The Baptist Faith and Message" as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in the year 2000.