About
Our Pastor
Rev. Rex D. Gilley
A native of Manchester, Tennessee, Rex is the oldest of three siblings born to Randall and Linda Gilley. Living in Virginia Beach since 1992, his life is greatly blessed by his wife Angela and daughter Jessica.
Holding a Master’s degree in Structural Civil Engineering, he spent the last thirty years as a Structural Engineer for WSP, formerly Parsons Brickerhoff, functioning as a designer and project manager on transportation related projects.
Raised in a Christian home, Rex did not surrender his life to Christ until the age of twenty-three. Several years later after being baptized and joining a church, he felt called of God to preach, starting a process that resulted in a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. in 2009.
Rex has served as pastor of Carrow Baptist Church since March 2010, partnered with the congregation to be all it can be in Christ through service to Him, one another and our global community. He has served Barnabas Global Link, founded in 2016 and a 501c3, as Vice President since 2010, which raises funds to train men in India to plant house churches.
As a member of Bethel Baptist Church in Chesapeake from 1996-2010, he served in several ministries including teaching preschool through adult Sunday School deacon ministry, long-range planning and building committees, evangelism training and short-term missions in the U.S. and India.
vision
KNOW
GOD
We exist to help people know God through life-giving weekend services from His Word.
FINDING Fellowship
We believe life change happens in the context of relationships.
realizing purpose
We desire that everyone know God and the purpose He has for their life.
making a difference
We are responsible to tell others about Jesus Christ both through our words and service to our community and the world.
deacons
Nicole Wallace
Active Deacon
JT Ramsey
Active Deacon
what we believe
ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES
We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible, authoritative, and relevant in all matters of faith and practice.
ABOUT GOD
We believe in one true God, who exists eternally in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Each of whom is fully and equally God; possessing all of the Divine nature and attributes, and is worthy of our worship and service.
ABOUT HUMANITY
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God but, through sin, was alienated from God, thus incurring both physical and spiritual death. Man is now totally unable to save themselves from God’s wrath, except by way of God’s mercy through Jesus Christ.
ABOUT SALVATION
We believe that Jesus Christ became flesh to reveal God to man, and through his perfect life and sacrificial death, atoned for the sins of humanity, alone, for salvation. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to those who place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as a sufficient payment for their sin.
ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe that all Christians should live for Christ and not for themselves. By obedience to the Word of God and daily submitting to the Holy Spirit, every believer should mature and be conformed to the image of Jesus and His Lordship in their life.
ABOUT THE CHURCH
We believe that the church is the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the head. The members of the church are those who have trusted by faith the finished work of Jesus. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving him and by making him known to the lost world.
Have Any Questions?
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our history
Where we come from
Carrow Baptist Church is located in the communities of Arrowhead and Carolanne Farms and our name is in honor of those communities. Our church was founded in 1963 by members of Campostella Heights Baptist Church which is now known as Woodland Heights Baptist Church. What began as a mission had its first organized meeting in the new building on May 12, 1963. Meetings were continued each Sunday at Easton Elementary School on Curlew Drive with Rev. Paul Moore, Pastor of Campostella Heights Baptist leading morning worship 9 am each week. Evening service soon began with Rev. Thompson to be its full time pastor. God blessed Carrow and the Mission grew. In December 1964 services were moved to Arrowhead Elementary School. The Mission broke formal ties with Campostella Heights and was constituted as Carrow Baptist Church with 131 charter members. Purchase of the present property of 2.8 acres was begun in May 1964. The cost was $22,500.00 and in August1965 that debt was paid. In February 1966 ground was broken for the present building which was completed in November 1966. The back wing was added in October 1967.
In 2013, Carrow Baptist Church celebrated 50 years of ministry and serving the community. Beginning in 2013 with the anniversary, renovations began taking place throughout the facility in preparation for the next 50 years.
Partnerships
Starting in 2004, Chinese-American Family Bible Church began utilizing Carrow’s facility. Since then, Family Bible Church has held their Sunday School and Worship services in conjunction with Carrow Baptist Church. In recent years we have also partnered with Ministerio Cristo Te Ama to share the building Sunday and Thursday evenings and Connection Church on Friday evenings for their Worship service. These partnerships help us to bless others with the space God has given us.