CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
American churches are in trouble. The reports of attendance trends from Christian faith groups vary only slightly.
Traditional Christian houses of worship have not fared well for the last half century. According to Ed Stetzer and Mike
Dodson, between seventy and eighty percent of local churches either are not growing or are in actual decline (2007,
19). The pews are not filled and the faithful who sit among the ample seating are growing older and older. That senior
adults are more active and vital than ever before hardly mitigates the warning signs. Unless something changes, many
churches will decline beyond the point of no return and simply cease to exist.
Plainly speaking, the aforementioned concerns are the current reality of First Baptist Church of Madison, North
Carolina. Worship attendance is about half what it was twenty years ago. The church has not birthed a new church, a
hallmark aspect of its first century of ministry, in over eighty years. In June 2007, First Baptist celebrated the high
school graduation of four of her youth. Unfortunately, the celebration was mixed with sadness. On the one hand, the
church rejoiced that each graduate had been nurtured in faith, had completed work for a high school diploma, and had
been accepted for university study. On the other hand, these students were the last of the youth. First Baptist Church
had no more active teenagers. There were only four children left in the church and three of these children were those
of the pastor. First Baptist was in trouble.
In August 2006, this student arrived as the twenty-fifth pastor in the 165-year history of the church. As a retired Navy
Commander, this forty-nine-year-old pastor had a strong background in leadership and mission accomplishment
through ministry in the Chaplain Corps. The first year of ministry was dedicated, in part, to assessment of the situation
at First Baptist Church. This pastor’s conclusion, in concurrence with the church’s leadership, was that something must
be done to inject life back into the fellowship; exactly how to do that was the challenge.
That challenge was the impetus for this Doctor of Ministry project. This student proposed that the best days of First
Baptist Church were not behind her but ahead. The revitalization of this church would be accomplished by deliberate
effort and focused strategy and by trusting in God’s leading and power to transform First Baptist from a “maintenance”
to a “missional” church. A missional church, to be defined later in this project, is a church that takes seriously the
words of Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). (All scriptural
references are from the English Standard Version translation unless otherwise noted.)
This process would take at least a decade to accomplish. The first step, the catalyst for all future growth, was the
reintroduction of ministry to families. In order to create balanced and relevant ministry to all ages, this church worked
toward utilizing the energies, insights, availability, and resources of mature believers to build, develop, and sustain
ministry to families with young children. This first step was the subject of this project.
Descriptive Evaluation of Ministry
While First Baptist Church of Madison was the context of this project, in a larger sense, the setting for this effort must
also include the local community. The church is composed predominately of Caucasian, upper-middle class, and highly
educated individuals. By contrast, the local community is composed of people who are from multiple ethnicities, have
lower socioeconomic strength, and are generally less educated. Both members and potential members live in three
small towns and surrounding areas located in approximately a twelve-mile radius of the church. The entire
congregation has been involved in this project as active leaders of change, prayer partners, and resource providers.
The participants in this project have recognized or are recognizing three critical facts:
• The projected cessation of the ministry of First Baptist Church under former structure and vision;
• The high level of need in the local community for family ministry, especially ministry to at-risk children;
• The missional history and theology of First Baptist Church.
This project was designed to meet four objectives. Each of these objectives was measured through surveys (appendix
1), the establishment of new ministry and outreach events (appendix 2), attendance records (appendix 3), anecdotal
evidence as provided through reviews (appendix 4), and annual mutual ministry reviews (appendix 5). These
objectives were:
• To change the culture of First Baptist Church from maintenance to missional;
• To develop existing ministries and create and sustain new ministries that will reach out to families with elementary
school age children and younger;
• To welcome two new families with young children into the congregation;
• To reach, inculcate, and sustain twenty elementary-aged children in the ministry of First Baptist.
Brief History and Description of First Baptist Church
The church was organized in Madison in 1841. The original name of the church was Madison Missionary Baptist
Church. The founding of this church predated the establishment of the Southern Baptist Convention by four years.
The Southern Baptist Convention was formed in response to a disagreement with Northern Baptists regarding the
acceptability of human slavery. Madison Missionary Baptist Church was also begun from theological disagreement. In
those days, the Piedmont area of North Carolina was dominated by Baptist congregations that were heavily influenced
by hyper-predestination theology. Madison Missionary Baptist Church, by contrast, emphasized a larger human role in
soteriology than did their more Calvinistic brethren. The missionary emphasis was strongly influenced by one of her
early pastors, Lewis Hall Shuck (1860-1863). Shuck was the son of one of the first Southern Baptist foreign missionary
teams sent to China. Through his pastorate, he reinforced the missionary mindedness of the church as well as the
value of education in his role as head of the Beulah Male Academy.
Madison Missionary Baptist Church played a role in the founding of First Baptist Church of Greensboro in the 1850s. In
1881, a remarkable man served as pastor of Madison Missionary Baptist Church. The Reverend W. H. Wilson served
for twenty-nine years. During his pastorate, five new churches were founded. In 1924, yet another church was begun
by the congregation of Madison Missionary Baptist Church. All told, this church helped birth seven new works by its
eighty-third anniversary. Each of these churches still exists and most are currently larger than First Baptist of Madison.
The church was renamed First Baptist Church of Madison in 1954. At that time, the local economy was dominated by
the textile industry. By the mid-1980s, the bulk of the industry had relocated overseas. The effects of the economy
change had a distinct impact upon area churches, especially First Baptist. Many “white collar” workers and their
families left the area. Consequently, the church entered into a period of decline from which it has not recovered.
Church attendance in the mid-1980s averaged 150; roughly double what it is today. The large and active youth group
of the 1970s and 1980s gradually disappeared.
In spite of the loss of members, the church experienced great stability. This is evidenced by the long tenures of the last
three pastors. Dr. Larry Bennett shepherded the church for thirty-one years—the longest in the history of the
congregation. He helped guide the church through the turbulent waters created by sweeping changes in the Southern
Baptist Convention. The church retained its theological identity, refusing to be swept up in the Fundamentalist tide that
pushed other Southern Baptist Churches further toward the right. In the early 1990s, moderate Southern Baptists
organized into what would become known as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. By the time this student arrived as pastor,
no detectable debate regarding Baptist affiliation remained. Today, the church partners with Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship and, though it remains connected with the Southern Baptist Convention through state and associational
ties, has almost no connection with the larger Southern Baptist Convention.
At the outset of this project, the church averaged between seventy and eighty in worship on Sunday. Sunday school
attendance averaged about fifty. No youth ministry remained. Children’s ministry was limited to Sunday school and the
Children’s worship service, which this pastor instituted in early 2007.
Of special concern was the reputation of the church in the local community. Repeatedly, this student had heard grossly
inaccurate descriptions of the church, including adjectives, such as “snobbish,” to describe the congregation. The
reality was far different. It is possible, however, to understand how those lacking first-hand information might have
assumed that the age, relative affluence, and educational levels of the parishioners might equal an attitude of societal
superiority. That assumption on the part of the outsider, along with the loss of missionary zeal on the part of the
insider, had resulted in an image problem among and perpetuated by the uninformed.
The reality was far different. First Baptist Church has been, for years, a peaceful and loving church. Her members
desire to welcome new members into fellowship. They are working hard to grow again. They know how to reach their
objective.
In August 2006, this student began his pastorate of First Baptist Church. In early 2007, this pastor led the church to
adopt the following mission and vision statements:
• The mission of First Baptist Church of Madison is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to
love one another as Christ loves us. Because of his grace, we are free to be a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to
all people.
• Our vision is to worship God and celebrate life together; reach out with love and welcome all people; support
missions and people in need.
Church goals adopted in 2007 (appendix 6) and 2008 Church Strategy (appendix 7) included specific initiatives in
spiritual mindedness, fellowship, prayer, and outreach.
The first year of ministry was spent in getting to know the people and rhythms of both church and community. Informal
analysis of history, status, and forecast of the future of the church confirmed this student’s initial suspicions. When
asked by the search committee in March 2006 how he would address the problem of an aging and declining
congregation, his answer was, “Begin with the reintroduction of family ministry starting first with an emphasis on
children.” That answer remains the same and is being confirmed by the results of this project.