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Shanghai Baptist Church, Athens, realized they needed to make a major change if they wanted to keep their doors open.
“We’d been struggling, trying to grow a church and we didn’t seem to be able to get it off the ground,” said Lynda Messer, a Shanghai Baptist member for nine years. “Our youngest member is in their 50s and we have no children who attend. We couldn’t attract younger couples and you have to have them if a church is to last.”
The church — which happens to be in a good location — had tried reaching out to its neighboring community through outreaches like trunk or treat events, Vacation Bible School (VBS) and more but nothing was working. They only had about 20 members and all were older.
In Fall 2015, Kevin Ward, director of missions for Limestone Baptist Association, preached at Shanghai Baptist one Sunday when its interim pastor was out of town.
“After I preached there I started talking to them about their church,” Ward said. “I tried to find out what the story was and found out they’d been searching for some help. They didn’t want to give their church up. They wanted it to be something of value and to thrive.”
Ward and members of Shanghai Baptist began discussing options, and the church liked the idea of a partnership with another church. Ward reached out to Joel Carwile, pastor of First Baptist Church, Athens, as Carwile’s church had led partnerships with other churches in the past.
As it turned out, Shanghai Baptist had a place in Carwile’s heart dating back to his childhood.
“It didn’t take long for me to answer ‘yes’ because of my love for Shanghai Baptist and her people,” Carwile said. “I was saved and baptized at [that church] when I was a little boy.”
‘Prayerful consideration’
The churches decided to enter into a three-year partnership with careful thought from both parties on what that relationship would look like.
“Partnership requires prayerful consideration of the declining church,” Carwile said. “We realized we did not need to ‘take over’ the campus from a physical standpoint but instead wanted to develop a memorandum of understanding of what we would do from a spiritual perspective, including providing a pastor, helping develop a dream for the church’s future and asking [First, Athens,] members to prayerfully consider relocating their spiritual gifting, tithes and offerings and experience to Shanghai Baptist.”
First, Athens, also will help Shanghai Baptist with its upcoming VBS and community outreach events.
As for the members of Shanghai Baptist, Ward said he’s been impressed with their outlook and willingness to be open to change.
“Their attitudes have been so positive,” Ward said. “‘Church resetting’ is the phrase I’ve been using for what is happening. You have to have an all-in attitude in order for it to work and they do.”
Shanghai Baptist has already undergone some changes since the partnership was formalized Jan. 31, including changing their name from Shanghai Baptist to Shanghai First Baptist Church. They’ve welcomed a new pastor, Tee Jackson, who also serves as the chairman of deacons at First, Athens.
‘Covenant’
Carwile said, “We combined that Sunday evening service into a worship, ordination and covenant service with the two congregations worshipping together for the first of hopefully many times.
“I preached an ordination service for their new pastor along with encouragement for the willingness of Shanghai Baptist to reach out for partnership in the gospel. We concluded the service with everyone in the sanctuary moving to the altar where we prayed over the ‘new’ Shanghai First Baptist Church pastor and family.”
Messer said she and her friends at the church are confident that this partnership has been blessed by God and is happening in God’s timing.
“We don’t know what exactly the Lord is going to do or how He’s going to do it, but we expect it because the Lord had to be in it for it to take place the way it has,” she said. “We knew that the church would grow in God’s time not ours.”
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