Living Word Baptist Church

What Living Word Baptist Church does

Living Word Baptist Church (LWBC) is a Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated nonprofit religious organization headquartered at 4130 Waterlick Road in Forest, Virginia. The church operates a multi-generational ministry program anchored by two Sunday morning worship services at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM, supplemented by a parallel American Sign Language Deaf Church service led by Pastor John Wyble, age-segregated programming for nursery through high school students, men's and women's ministries, Life Groups for small-group fellowship, and pastoral care services. The organization is staffed by approximately 31 employees under a governance structure led by Senior Pastor Gary Yates and Executive Pastor Scott Phillips, supported by six lay elders and a Children's, Youth, Nursery, Worship, and Office Management director layer.

The church's product portfolio extends beyond worship to include the Under the Son Academy (UTSA), a homeschool educational cooperative ministry established in 2001 that serves preschool through 12th-grade students in the greater Lynchburg area on Mondays and Wednesdays from mid-August through mid-May. LWBC also runs the annual One Night In Bethlehem live walk-through Nativity experience (entering its fourth year in 2025), maintains a livestream of worship services, and distributes sermon media globally through YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Online giving, Life Group enrollment, event registration, and Connect card submissions are operated through the third-party ChurchCenter.com platform; the church does not maintain a public API or proprietary technology stack beyond a standard WordPress-based website.

Living Word Baptist Church is donation-funded; all spiritual services and programs are provided free of charge, with revenue derived from voluntary tithes, offerings collected online, in-person, and by mail, and contributions to the SBC Cooperative Program for missions. The church operates community-outreach partnerships with the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center, The Salvation Army (Lynchburg), Kairos Prison Ministry, and supports individual missionaries in cross-cultural ministry. As a single-campus SBC affiliate, its operating geography is concentrated in Forest, VA and the Greater Lynchburg Area, though sermon media extends its content distribution globally.

Name

Living Word Baptist Church

Legal name

Living Word Baptist Church

Website

https://lwbc.net

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Living Word Baptist Church is a Southern Baptist-affiliated nonprofit church in Forest, Virginia, providing Sunday worship, age-segregated ministries, an ASL Deaf Church, and the Under the Son Academy homeschool cooperative to its congregation and the greater Lynchburg community through donation-funded programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG)

Keywords

• Church worship services
• Religious education
• Youth ministry
• Community outreach
• Biblical teaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Forest

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Living Word Baptist Church provides regular Sunday worship services, biblical preaching and teaching, and a network of ministries for all age groups (children, students, adults, men, women, nursery, and the deaf/ASL community). It also operates a UTSA homeschool cooperative, Life Groups for small-group fellowship, sermon media, online giving, and outreach/missions programs serving the Forest, Virginia community.

Product overview

Living Word Baptist Church offers a unified set of church ministry programs centered on its core worship services. The portfolio includes Sunday worship gatherings (9:00 AM and 10:30 AM) as the primary product, supplemented by Life Groups (small group fellowship), Discovering Church Membership classes, and various demographic-specific ministries (Children's Ministry, Student Ministries, Deaf Ministries/Deaf Church, Women's Ministry, Men's Ministry, Nursery, Adult Ministries). The church also operates Under the Son Academy (UTSA), a homeschool cooperative for preschool through 12th grade, and hosts the annual One Night In Bethlehem live Nativity event. Digital products include sermon media (video/audio on-demand), online giving via ChurchCenter.com, and sermon podcast distribution through YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. The church does not offer a public API.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sunday Worship Services Weekly corporate worship services featuring biblical preaching, music, and congregational gathering for members and visitors of all ages.
• Life Groups Small-group Bible study and fellowship ministries designed to foster community, accountability, and spiritual growth among congregants.
• Children's Ministry Age-appropriate biblical teaching, activities, and programming for children of the congregation.
• Student Ministry Ministry programs tailored for middle and high school students, focused on biblical teaching, fellowship, and discipleship.
• Adult Ministry Programs and Bible study offerings designed for adult congregants.
• Men's Ministry Programs supporting the spiritual growth, fellowship, and accountability of men in the church.
• Women's Ministry Programs supporting the spiritual growth, fellowship, and discipleship of women in the church.
• Nursery Childcare service provided during church services and programs for infants and young children.
• Deaf Ministry (ASL Services) Worship services and ministry programming interpreted in American Sign Language for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
• UTSA Homeschool Cooperative A homeschool cooperative program offering supplemental academic and enrichment classes for homeschooling families associated with the church.
• Sermon Media Audio and video recordings of sermons distributed online for on-demand listening and viewing.
• Online Giving Online platform enabling congregants to submit tithes, offerings, and donations electronically.

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Blue Ridge Pregnancy CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Word partners with the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center to help expecting mothers with life skill classes. Volunteers mentor young mothers and participate in a baby shower at the end of the class. This partnership supports the church's mission to serve the community and demonstrate Christian love through practical support.
• The Salvation Army - Lynchburg VAminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Word volunteers serve alongside The Salvation Army on Wednesdays at 4:00 PM, feeding the hungry and helping with cleanup. Volunteers can serve on a rotating schedule or every week. This partnership enables the church to serve those in need in the local community.
• Kairos Prison MinistryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKairos Prison Ministry serves the incarcerated in Central Virginia. Living Word volunteers receive training and then go into prisons to evangelize to inmates. This partnership extends the church's mission to serve those who are incarcerated and share the gospel.
• SBC Cooperative ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Word Baptist Church supports the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program, which funds missions and ministry efforts nationwide and worldwide. The church is committed to missions and world evangelism, supporting individual missionaries as well as the SBC Cooperative Program.
• Individual MissionariesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiving Word supports individual missionaries engaged in cross-cultural ministries in other countries. The church has seen members from their own fellowship called to serve in cross-cultural ministries internationally, demonstrating their commitment to world evangelism.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• McLean Bible Church: Large SBC-affiliated church in Northern Virginia offering dedicated children's, student, deaf, men's, women's, and small-group ministries — a closely comparable ministry portfolio to LWBC, scaled to a much larger suburban congregation.
• Boonsboro Baptist Church: SBC-affiliated church in the greater Lynchburg, VA area offering traditional Sunday worship, discipleship groups, and family ministries. Direct regional peer sharing the same Forest/Lynchburg catchment area as LWBC.
• North Point Community Church: Non-denominational but operationally similar church known for strong digital content, sermon podcasting, and small-group-centric discipleship. Comparable in leveraging multi-platform digital distribution to extend reach beyond the physical campus — a model benchmark for LWBC's podcast/YouTube strategy.
• Heritage Baptist Church: SBC church located in or near Forest, VA offering Sunday worship, discipleship groups, and family ministries. Direct local competitor operating in the same geographic and denominational niche as LWBC.
• The Summit Church: Large SBC-affiliated church with multi-generational ministry programming, robust digital/sermon distribution, and Life Group-based discipleship — comparable operating model and doctrinal alignment, scaled to a multi-site footprint in Durham, NC.
• Rivermont Baptist Church: SBC church in the Lynchburg, VA area with a comparable Sunday worship, small-group, and family-ministry programming structure. Direct regional peer competing for Forest/Lynchburg congregants.
• Thomas Road Baptist Church: Historic SBC-affiliated church in Lynchburg, VA — the same metro as Living Word Baptist Church's Forest campus — and the most prominent Southern Baptist congregation in the immediate region. Comparable in doctrinal position (SBC, conservative Baptist) and competing for the same Forest/Lynchburg congregants and tithers.
• Timberlake Baptist Church: SBC-affiliated church in the Lynchburg/Forest, VA region offering Sunday worship, small groups, children's and student ministries, and adult discipleship — a directly comparable local competitor for the same demographic of Forest-area families.

Others

• Subsplash: Church-focused digital platform provider for giving, apps, and media distribution used by many similarly-sized SBC churches. Adjacent ecosystem vendor relevant to LWBC's digital engagement strategy and a potential peer for partnership rather than competition.
• Planning Center (Church Center): Third-party church management software platform that LWBC explicitly relies on for online giving and Life Group enrollment. Ecosystem enabler rather than competitor — represents the vendor layer supporting LWBC's digital ministry operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@livingwordbapt
• Facebookfacebook.com/LWDeafChurch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/living-word-baptist-church

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Living Word Baptist Church