If being a Florida Baptist church in an Alabama association has ever bothered Trinity Baptist Church, Paxton, Fla., you couldn’t tell it.
In fact, at Trinity Baptist — the lone Florida Baptist church to hold membership in an Alabama association — no one has ever given it a second thought.
Dewayne Geoghagan, pastor of Trinity, said crossing state lines for associational affiliation came naturally for him and the members of his church, which started meeting in his house in about 1995.
After some discussion about which association to join, church members chose Sardis Baptist Association, an association closer in both physical and, according to Geoghagan, spiritual proximity than any available in their own state.
Geoghagan’s previous relationship with Sardis Association — he once served as vice moderator while active at Smyrna Baptist Church, Florala, just across the Alabama line — was the driving force behind Trinity’s joining with the Alabama group.
To hear Sardis Association Director of Missions James Preachers describe it, such crossovers in associational membership are nothing out of the ordinary. "[Trinity] appealed to Sardis Baptist Association and they were accepted," he said matter-of-factly.
Gary Swafford, director of the office of associational missions and church planting for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said a church’s autonomy lets it cross state lines if it wants to do so. "If a church wants to go with those folks over there, go with those folks over there. If you want to go with folks over here, then do that. The group does what’s natural."
Sometimes a church follows a natural barrier — "such as a stream or something" — that doesn’t always respect a map’s jurisdictional seams, Swafford said, citing the example of an Alabama church that can only be reached by driving through Mississippi.
"Also if church members work across state lines, their associational affiliation can oftentimes develop across state lines as well," he said.
About a half-dozen Georgia Baptist churches belong to Alabama associations, and about a half-dozen Alabama Baptist churches belong to Georgia associations, Swafford said, adding that similar instances exist with Tennessee and Mississippi churches.
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