It’s a miracle,” according to Wayne Boone.
Two congregations — each with a different worship style and one composed of an older crowd and the other made up of younger folks — created “new life” by becoming one.
“God has worked through any difficulties that could have arisen since we began meeting to discuss the merger,” said Boone, a member of the former Living Water Baptist Fellowship in Remlap. “I’ve definitely seen God at work through this whole situation and have never seen anything like it my entire life.”
Late last year, Living Water Baptist and Valley Baptist Church, Palmerdale, merged to form New Life Fellowship, which meets at the former Valley Baptist location on state Highway 75 North in Palmerdale. It is part of Birmingham Baptist Association.
“Though each congregation had to give and take a little bit, our vision as a church body wasn’t compromised, because we knew God wanted us to come together to reach the unchurched and love people where they are,” said Pastor Kenneth Wren.
The church has already baptized seven new members, with six more awaiting immersion.
When Ronald Bell, former pastor of Valley Baptist, first proposed the idea of a merger in January 2007, Wren, who was pastor of Living Water at the time, didn’t think much about it but felt God might be opening a door for the future.
Seven months later, leaders from both congregations began a series of meetings in which they shared visions and directions God could take the yet-to-be-merged churches. The leaders worked through ways to incorporate different polity and worship styles into the new church.
While such issues could have kept the two congregations divided, Roger Stephens, a member of the former Valley Baptist, said they felt God was leading them in the direction of a merger and were willing to do whatever it took to achieve what He wanted.
“Of all the countless meetings I sat through during this process, I never once heard a negative comment from anyone,” Stephens recalled. “We could have easily had conflicts with any number of issues. But God pushed aside any differences that could have occurred.”
During that time, both congregations participated in joint worship services and fellowships. By Nov. 18, 2007, both congregations had approved the merger.
New Life’s first official worship service took place Dec. 2, 2007, and the church has averaged between 60 and 70 people each week.
As for the future, Wren said his congregation will continue reaching a lost and dying world with the good news.
“We chose the name New Life Fellowship because we wanted to reflect the new vision we’d take together,” he said. “Basically we want to proclaim to our community that new life can be found only through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.”
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