Mobile’s Dayspring church reaches community with the arts

During the last five weeks, The Alabama Baptist has analyzed church health by looking at a handful of the heartiest Baptist congregations in the state. Though their methodologies vary greatly they all have certain characteristics in common.
   
They are purpose-driven and intentional in their ministries, their members are plugged in and enthusiastic, and they devote a lot of energy and money to outreach.
   
As the final featured church in the series, Dayspring Baptist in Mobile Association maintains the core traits of a healthy church as outlined by guidelines from the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), while nurturing a personality all its own.
   
Founded six years ago, the West Mobile church is considered one of the fastest-growing churches in the state by SBOM.
   
One of the reasons for its exponential growth is that Dayspring isn’t afraid to use culture to reach the culture, church leaders explain.
   
Jazz concerts and eclectic worship that combine interpretive dance, video clips and drama along with a deep commitment to community outreach are all part of the plan at Dayspring.
   
As executive pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Association for eight years before coming to Dayspring as pastor in 2001, David Johnson watched as Hunter Street grew from 842 members to 4,000.
   
“They were doing creative things and people were responding,” Johnson said. “I realized that we couldn’t do church like we did in the 1950s and expect a lost culture to be drawn to us. You have to be relevant.”
   
He took that philosophy with him when he came to Dayspring in 2001, taking his cues from the community.
   
Early on, Dayspring began incorporating jazz into the worship because it resonated with the constituency. Many members at Dayspring are professional jazz musicians lending their talent to weekly worship.
   
Worship Pastor Mike Thomas, a professional jazz musician himself, suggested that they could reach even more by holding quarterly jazz concerts on the church grounds.
   
They decided to call it Java and Jazz — a trendy combination of top-rate jazz performances and a coffee house atmosphere that draws 400 people at a time.
   
More than half of them are from outside the church.
   
“We are ministering to a culture of visual learners,” Johnson said. “That is why we as a church are so committed to the performing arts.
  
“Chuck Colson once said ‘the greatest way to reach the masses is through the performing arts’ and we have found that is absolutely true here in Mobile.”
   
The arts has been such a successful outreach tool the church recently hired a full-time performing arts director.
   
And plans for a performing arts center where people from the community can take anything from ballet to acting classes are well under way.
   
“The church has grown exponentially just from implementing this model of ministry,” he said, pointing out that the church has grown from 375 members in 2001 to more than 1,600.
   
Since Johnson began, the church has beefed up other outreach ministries such as the Dayspring Summer Camp and citywide Harvest festival.
   
More than 85 percent of the students who attend the summerlong day camp are not Dayspring members. The fall festival reaches even more. 
   
Last year 3,000 people attended the Halloween alternative, prompting Johnson to rent the entire Mobile fairgrounds for this year’s outreach.
   
“There used to be a time when the church was the epicenter of the community, and we lost that,” he said. “We’re trying to do things to get that back.”
   
Johnson admits that some have questioned Dayspring’s unusual antics, but insists that, “We may be liberal in our methodology, but we are extremely conservative in our theology.”
   
Edwin Jenkins, director of the office of leadership/church growth for the SBOM, said, “Dayspring is experiencing tremendous growth. They may do things differently, but none of these churches are doing what they are doing accidentally.
    
“They are healthy because they are doing what they are doing intentionally.”