When Chad Burdette became pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, Ranburne, in July 2014, the church averaged about 115 in worship each Sunday. These days an average of 400 people fill the sanctuary every week.
“We’ve hit a God explosion,” Burdette said. “God was preparing the church for this time and He was preparing me too.”
Burdette said before he came to Macedonia Baptist he asked the pastor search committee who was interviewing him if the church wanted to grow. He knew that many churches said they did want to experience growth but had a hard time accommodating the changes that growth brought with it. Macedonia, however, was indeed ready for growth, and it was willing to adjust as needed in order to encourage that growth.
‘We ran hungry’
“It was a barren time at the church but you could see the potential,” Burdette said. “So we ran hungry [after God].”
The church’s slogan is “Something Big is Happening,” and that certainly seems to be the case. Since summer 2014 the church has baptized 117 people.
Charlotte Noles has been a member of Macedonia since the mid-’80s and now works as church secretary. She’s been amazed to watch the church’s dynamic growth and said fellow members have been as well — and the buzz even extends beyond the church’s walls.
“Everybody is so excited about everything that’s going on,” she said. “You can see the difference in the people in our congregation. They’re going out of their way to find people to bring to church to hear the Word. You can hardly go anywhere in this town without people talking about the church.”
In October 2014 the church hosted a “friend harvest,” where members were invited to bring loved ones to experience Macedonia. It was a huge success, Noles said, and the church is planning for a repeat “friend harvest” event this Oct. 4.
“Last year on that Sunday the church was full and we actually have several church members here today because of that event,” she said.
Noles and Burdette both have countless stories about remarkable things that have happened at the church in the past year. A bride being saved at the altar minutes before her wedding vows. A Mormon girl attending Macedonia despite a lack of approval from her family. Former drug addicts being baptized. A father running down the aisle of the church to be saved along with the rest of his family. The stories go on and on.
With so much expansion so quickly Burdette is intentional about keeping all members feeling engaged in and welcomed at the church. He established a church council to help keep conflict down and increase communication levels, and the church also has started a deacon family ministry called Family Connect. Through Family Connect, each deacon adopts a new believer or family of new believers to get them plugged into the church.
Importance of discipleship
“We want to focus on winning souls but we don’t want to forget about the people who are already here,” Burdette said. “We are focusing on discipling these new believers, on getting them connected and not letting them fall through the cracks.”
According to Noles, the church has always had a heart for evangelism and service, but having Burdette at the helm has been remarkable to experience.
“I would describe our church as a growing, loving church and anyone can come here and be welcome and participate in serving God,” she said. “I’ve never worked with a pastor so intentional about going out and meeting with people. He has a great ear and a caring spirit, and people see Christ through the way he ministers.”
Burdette has lofty goals for the church: to reach 1,400 people in the community by the year 2020.
‘We are intentional’
“I’ve made comments about how we want people to pull up into the church parking lot with a puzzled look on their face because they don’t know quite why they’re there but they just knew they needed to be here,” Burdette said. “We are intentional about inviting people into our church, but we’ve also invited God, most importantly. We hear so often from people that the presence of the Lord is here.”
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