ABOUT

At Hagerstown Christian Church we gather around God’s Word, as God’s people, on God’s mission.  We are a group of people passionate about Jesus Christ, striving to grow deeper in our relationship with Him, and focused on raising up the next generations to walk according to His Word.

Our Leadership

Adrian Black (Elder, Lead Pastor)

On September 10, 2023, Pastor Brad Nigh completed his 13 years as Lead Pastor of our church and Adrian stepped into that role.  While no longer Lead Pastor, the goal is for Brad to continue to minister in a different capacity at HCC in 2024.

For the past two decades it has been the desire of Adrian to use his gifts, talents, and skills to teach adults, teens, and children about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Adrian came on board in the spring of 2016 to oversee the youth and children’s ministries here at Hagerstown Christian Church. In 2019, Adrian took on the role of Associate Pastor contributing to preaching and organizing select Sunday morning services.  He now serves as Lead Pastor.  Previously, Adrian worked at The Hope Center for 24 years, specifically with Wildside Youth Ministries.  This is where Adrian met his wife Stephanie.  Adrian and Stephanie have been married since 2018 and welcomed a daughter in early 2022.

Elders

Adrian Black
Keith Hartman
Greg Long
Brad Nigh

Deacons

Phil Bennett
Tray Faith
Nick Harbaugh
Jeff Latta
Adam Long
Jeff White
Tony Williams

What We Believe

*We believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God.  We believe it is the revelation of God to man, and is the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

*We believe God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent “I AM”, the creator of everything and the redeemer of mankind.  He has further revealed Himself as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit to those who are reconciled to Him through His son Jesus Christ.

*We believe Jesus Christ is God the Son and was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on the cross for our sin, rose bodily from the dead, appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection, and was exalted to the right hand of God.  We believe humanity’s only hope for redemption from sin is in Jesus Christ.

*We believe the Holy Spirit Indwells all believers.

*We believe mankind was created good and upright in God’s image.  We believe God God made every individual either a man or woman, with no mistakes in their gender.

*We believe all people have sinned which results in physical and spiritual death.  We believe humanities only hope of salvation is through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

*We believe we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ: His death, burial and resurrection.  Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human effort.  We believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates believers and gives them a new heart.

*We believe the church is the body of Christ and consists of all who are saved by Jesus Christ, who is the head of the body.  We believe the purpose for the church is to be a corporate body to exult God, edify the church, and equip each person to evangelize the lost.

*We believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, who will physically and visibly return to earth to establish His Kingdom.

For our full statement of faith, with Bible references, click HERE.

For our church By-laws click HERE.

A Letter From Our Pastor

September 11, 2023

Greetings church family,

As we embark upon the next phase of our church family together, I find it important for you to know what my commitments and promises are to you.  When I married Stephanie in 2018, I wrote a series of vows to her. Those vows are my commitments to her and our marriage. In a similar spirit, I am writing to you promises that I make to you, through our local church body.  These are the promises I make to you.

I promise to preach the Word. There is no higher honor than to preach the full counsel of God’s Word. There is no power in my words- but there is life changing, eternity altering, soul saving power in the Holy Scriptures.  As under-shepherd of this flock, we will feed upon the milk and feast upon the solid meat of God’s Word. I promise not to serve you worldly junk; microwaved, shallow sermons; or sugar-coated motivational speeches. I promise to serve you with the tender, slow-cooked meat of the Word, marinated in prayer, seasoned with love, and presented with passion.

I promise to be your Under-shepherd. I promise to pray for you and with you.  I will pray for your spiritual, emotional, and physical health. I promise to teach you God’s Word and show you how it applies to your daily life. I promise to correct you and rebuke you when needed, and to do so in grace and love. I promise to warn you of false teachers and unbiblical practices. I promise to give you Godly counsel.

I promise to direct you to Jesus. To paraphrase another minister, we pastors don’t have all the answers, but we point to the One who does.  No one else can save you, but Jesus.  There is no hope apart from Jesus.  There is no soul satisfaction apart from Jesus.  You will not be content apart from Jesus.  Your salvation, hope, fulfillment, and satisfaction must come from Christ. I promise to continually and perpetually point you to Jesus Christ.

I promise to do my best. Excellence is a personal core value of mine. This does not mean I am the best- far from it.  This does mean that I promise to give my personal best.  With whatever time, energy, and ability God has given me for a particular task, my drive is to tackle that task with excellence.  God deserves our best, and I refuse to give anything less.

I promise to guard the health of our church. Too frequently churches become imbalanced.  On one hand, there are pastors who overwhelm themselves by trying to do it all.  On the other hand, there are churches that have a small number of volunteers that wind up exhausted and frustrated because they are the only ones serving.  Ministry is to be shared by all Christians in God’s church. As a Christian who attends HCC, if you are not already serving, you should be in ministry serving our body in some way.

I promise I will not make everybody happy. My goal is to bring glory and honor to God. We may have disagreements from time to time, you may not always agree with my decisions or the way I do things. We can still maintain unity even if we don’t fully see eye to eye all the time.

I promise to grow together with you.  I am 39 as I write this letter. By God’s good grace I have grown significantly in the past decade. God has taught me much and matured me in many ways. Yet, there are so many ways left to grow. I promise to keep my spiritual fire going and to continue to be molded by the Holy Spirit as He sanctifies me through the washing of the Word.  As one mentor told me, “As a pastor it is far more important WHO you are than WHAT you do.”

These are seven of my commitments to God and to you. I am eager and excited to see what God has in-store for this local flock of His worldwide, time-spanning Kingdom.  Together we will make much of the name of Jesus, grow deeper in our walk with Jesus, and spread His Gospel to our neighborhood and beyond.  

In Christ Alone,
Adrian Black, Lead Pastor