Talking about starting new churches in what is possibly the most religious state in the nation may sound like an oxymoron. After all, Alabama already has about 8,500 churches of all denominations, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives. Of that number, 3,242 churches cooperate with the Alabama Baptist State Convention. That means with about 4.6 million residents in the state, there is one Alabama Baptist church for every 1,419 Alabama residents and one church of some type for every 541 residents.
Besides, Alabama has the highest percentage of born-again people in the United States. According to The Barna Research Group, 67 percent of Alabama residents responded to a series of belief questions in such a way as to place them in the born-again category. That is two out of every three persons in the state.
Barna also found that the percentage of Alabama citizens who are evangelicals was nearly twice the national average and that Alabama has the highest percentage of residents who feel it their responsibility to be concerned about the spiritual welfare of their neighbors.
Other studies have shown that more than 75 percent of Alabamians report identification with a religious body of some type.
Against this background, one might ask why anyone would talk about starting new churches in Alabama. The reason is simple. The need.
First, population trends are changing. The Tennessee Valley area is exploding as new industry and other related jobs bring people from other parts of the nation to Alabama. In the central part of the state, Shelby and St. Clair counties are considered among the fastest-growing counties in the state. Baldwin County in the south claims a similar distinction.
In other areas, population patterns are shifting. Different kinds of churches are needed to serve what are essentially new communities.
Alabama also is becoming more diverse in its population. Everyone is aware of the influx of Hispanics to the state and the opportunity that creates for sharing the good news of Jesus. Few are aware that Alabama Baptists regularly worship in Korean, Cambodian, Chinese, Philippine, Japanese, Vietnamese, Romanian, Russian, French, Arabic, American Sign Language and more. “Sweet Home Alabama” is now sung in more accents than Southern.
In addition to ethnic diversity, Alabama is becoming more socially diverse. Sociologists use different ways to stratify society. One system uses 64 different socioeconomic categories. The one most often referenced by state missionaries from the Alabama Baptist
State Board of Missions uses nine categories. The contention is that people within these various categories have different values, different patterns of behavior, different ways of problem solving, different worldviews from those in other categories, and these differences are so pronounced that the population may be grouped into these categories.
When this approach is overlaid on church memberships, it demonstrates that most churches draw from two, or sometimes three, social categories. Few churches are able to be all-inclusive.
Baptists have known this for a long time. We know that more people are reached for Christ if a community has two Baptist churches rather than one. That is true because the two churches take on different characteristics. They appeal to different groups of people.
Alabama now has more “people groups” than ever before that are untouched by the vast number of cooperating churches. For example, Baptists are not strong in going after those who are sometimes called “the up and outs” — the wealthiest social group in the state whose members are usually among the social elite. Our denominational roots are in the working class, and most cooperating churches reflect that heritage.
New churches are needed that target special people groups. This will take different approaches to ministry than the traditional Alabama Baptist church is accustomed to, according to Gary Swafford, Alabama Baptist coordinator of church planting.
Whether Alabama Baptists will grasp the opportunity is an open question. Alabama Baptists regularly start about 30 new churches each year. Unfortunately few of these are purposeful, intentional church starts. Most of them result from church fights and church splits.
So common is the practice of starting new churches through church splits that jokes are often made about church fights being the Baptist plan for church growth. Baptists need to hear again the words of the apostle Paul as recorded in Galatians 5:19ff, where one reads, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious,” followed by a list that includes “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy … .”
Much of what we jokingly call our “church growth strategy” may be of the devil rather than of God.
That good has come out of some of the messes Baptists have created through church fights and church splits only attests to the fact that God works in all things for good for those who love the Lord, just as Romans 8:28 affirms. Still our overall history in church starts is something to confess, not something to celebrate.
If Alabama Baptists are to reach the state for Jesus Christ, then a statewide strategy of purposeful, intentional church starts will be needed. It will take a missionary spirit that is willing to invest people and resources in new ways in order to reach new people.
We do not need discord, dissensions and factions starting more churches just like the ones we already have.
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