Join us on Sundays at 9:30AM!

Take the Next Step With Us!
Join a Step Group today.
Faith is a life-long journey of following Jesus, step by step. Step Groups are micro-groups of 3-4 people who will meet weekly each season to help one another do just that: take steps to follow Jesus. Along with the Sunday sermons, we'll be utilizing a work-book called ``Discipleship Essentials`` to foster conversation and steps. Take this step with us, join one today!
Talking About on Sundays

Step Out
Serving Like Christ
The fourth and final ``Central Steps`` series is called ``Step Out: Serving Like Christ``, and will focus on how we are called to 'step out' into the world (and out of our comfort zones!) to serve like he did. We'll tackle the purpose of the church, the gifts we're given to serve with, what we're up against, how we're called to give it all away, and more. We'd love for you to join us as we wrap up this year long journey of taking steps together to follow Jesus!
Our Most Recent Sermons
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July 13, 2025
Series: Step Out: Serving Like Christ
No matter where you are in the journey of faith, we all need to grow up in every way –… read more
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July 6, 2025
Series: Step Out: Serving Like Christ
Speaker: Matt Agresti
Topic: Central Steps, Following Jesus, Mission, Satan, Spiritual Warfare
Book: Ephesians
Spiritual warfare: not a topic we touch on very often, so when we do, we may as well make it… read more
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June 29, 2025
Series: Step Out: Serving Like Christ
Speaker: Matt Agresti
Topic: Central Steps, Church, Following Jesus, Spiritual Gifts
Book: 1 Corinthians, Romans
One of the most important things we can do as Jesus followers is discover the gifts God has given us,… read more

Read the Bible With Us!
We believe that the bible tells the one true story of the world - a story that leads to Jesus. And since at Central, Jesus is central, it means that it's well worth reading. But we know that reading the bible can be pretty tough - so why not do it with us, and stick to a plan?!? That's what we're doing in 2025, and we invite you to do with us. Check out the plan, insights, resources, and more at the link below.
A bit about us
Who are we?
Central Baptist Church is an intergenerational congregation in the heart of Atlantic Highlands, NJ – that has been here for over 125 years. We are not a perfect people, but we’re a warm, kind, and generous community. We’d love for you to join us and ‘come and see’ for yourself.
We blend contemporary and traditional elements of worship into our services; preserving our faith history while embracing new traditions in worship. We love kids, and are excited to be growing our kids programs. We are affiliated with the American Baptist Churches – New Jersey and the American Baptist Churches – USA.
What matters here?
What is ‘central’ at Central? Jesus. He is our center, as we seek to live our lives by faith in him, to be known by the way we love like him, and to echo him by being a voice of hope in the world. This is what matters here at Central.
Why are we here?
We are here because we believe that Jesus Christ is the hope of the world – a world that God so deeply and profoundly loves – and through churches like ours, God shares his love with the world. So we are here to share his love, to bear witness to his amazing grace, and as he calls us to, to love our neighbors.


CENTRAL LEARNS
Central Learns is an after school program that we are excited to launch, providing space for kids K-12 to come and get homework help, tutoring, and enrichment by former educators and other skilled volunteers. Restarting in October of 2024, it is every Wednesday from 3-5PM, and is free for all. Register and find out more details using the link below.
Upcoming Events
Central Happenings
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Hear the Truth
This Sunday, we talked about “spiritual warfare” – about how 'what we're up against' (the ‘spiritual forces of evil
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Onwards & Upwards!
On Sunday during Onwards and Upwards, I mentioned the four spiritual habits from our GROW curriculum and
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The Feet of Jesus
On Sunday, we kicked off our final “Central Steps” series called “Step Out: Serving Like Christ”. We talked
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Time to Step Out
In last week’s Wednesday email, I reflected on that startling stat (if you missed it, read it here!): if
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32 Years!
32 years. That’s all it’d take. Huh? Let me explain. On Sunday, we had the gift of hearing from
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What Will They Find?
a guest blog by Rebecca DeLucia, Next Generation Pastor I am so excited because today (Wednesday, June 4th),