Wayne Parker is unusual by Michigan standards. In a state where most Southern Baptist pastors come from out of state, Parker was not only born in Michigan but now serves as pastor of the church in which he was reared — Merriman Road Baptist, Garden City, near Detroit.
“When Wayne was called as pastor, some of the older members reminded him that they used to change his diaper when he was in the nursery,” remembered Wayne’s father, Bill.
That familiarity also is one of the reasons the church was willing to follow the leadership of its new pastor when Parker assumed that role in 1996.
“The people here trusted me. They had watched me for the 20 years I had been away serving as a church planter, a pastor and then as a director of missions in Michigan,” he said. “The people were willing to change in order to reach people for the Lord.”
Some changes at Merriman Road Baptist were physical: a new three-story education building for Sunday School growth, a new foyer between two buildings for fellowship before and after worship services and a new family life center for recreational activities and community outreach.
Some changes related to staff. The church’s missions pastor, for example, does campus ministry at two neighboring universities. He also works with language churches, which are not Baptist.
Most of the changes related to strategy.
“The strategy for many Baptist churches in Michigan used to be to pursue misplaced Southerners who had come here for jobs,” Parker noted. “That is not a valid strategy any longer.”
Today Merriman Road Baptist practices relational evangelism. Parker and other church leaders are “involved in every community activity possible” to help establish relationships.
“About 80 percent of the people in this community report a Catholic identity, but it is a nominal identity. Still many of the people have a stereotype of Baptists that we have to overcome,” he said. “But they are receptive to the gospel.
We just have to work harder.”
In the last six months, about 100 people have made professions of faith at Merriman Road Baptist, he added. The church now averages about 600 in worship attendance and half that number in Sunday School.
“Practically all of our growth has come as a result of building relationships,” Parker said.
If people thought they were coming to an evangelistic service, then they would not come to the church, he said. So the church uses a variety of activities to draw people in. Children’s dramas are a popular tool. The church also has used performances by a Christian illusionist and age- and gender-related activities.
“We serve several meals for church and community activities every week of the year from our commercial kitchen,” Parker said. “It just helps us make contact with people.”
Merriman Road Baptist worked with an Alabama team to do follow-up with individuals who visited the church for special activities.
“The teams are always great,” Parker said. “But let me suggest that one of the biggest contributions partnership makes is the encouragement it offers to pastors and church leaders.”
With Southern Baptist churches in Michigan so widely spread geographically, many pastors and churches find themselves alone with no other church to help them, he said. “If a church comes alongside you in a partnership, it breaks down the isolation. It lets you know you are not alone. It offers you great encouragement,” he said.
Partnerships also provide a source of accountability, Parker added.
“Because you are alone, the temptation is to let things slip, even let yourself go down a little,” he said. “But when you have a partner, you are accountable to them for following up with all the kids that made decisions in Bible school or with the new families who came to your special event.”
Parker thanked Alabama Baptists for their work in Michigan. “But don’t judge everything by immediate results,” he urged. “The best work may simply be the encouragement offered to your co-workers in Michigan.”
For more information about work in Michigan, contact Reggie Quimby at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 239.
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