FIRST MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

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1 FIRST MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH Church Story First Missionary Baptist Church is a growing church that has existed for many years. In the last several years, it began to make changes. One change was the starting of Refuel, a contemporary Wednesday night service. This ministry helped the church connect with young adults that they otherwise would not have been able to reach. However, though this ministry was effective initially, they began to look at other ways to have a greater impact with young adults. After considerable prayer and evaluation, this ministry was stopped and First Missionary began Fusion, which happens in conjunction with the 11:30 service and has been a huge success. Fusion was created to be a church within a church. For First Missionary, this has been the biggest change in their quest to reach young adults. The service teems with volunteers who greet people as they walk into a laidback, coffee-shop type setting. The worship service is described as modern rather than traditional, because in Todd Davidson s opinion, contemporary worship is the new traditional. The messages Davidson delivers during this time are more of a dialogue than a three-point sermon. The messages hold relevance to this generation because he wants the members of this church to know what they are for and not what they are against. This service is real and authentic because it addresses a biblical worldview. Young adults are seeking to understand how to be better parents, balance their work-load and finances, and to strengthen their marriages. Most young adults will not come back to church at night so it is important to make Sunday morning services relevant and beneficial to them. Church Background First Missionary Baptist Church has existed for almost 100 years. The church has been a traditional church, but in the last two-and-a-half years changes have begun to be made. The vision and values of the church are centered on the Great Commission. The church is theologically conservative but also very missional in their ministries. The senior pastor, Dr. Alton Fannin, is a strong leader who has brought stability to the church s ministry and has led the church to engage its community. The pastor s vision was to reach people in their 20s and 30s, and their families. Todd Davidson is the Pastor to Young Adults and Families at the church, having served as a youth pastor for ten years before becoming the young adult minister. The population of Ardmore, OK, is about 30,000. It is one of the larger cities in Southern Oklahoma and is a smaller version of Oklahoma City. The city has a mix of white-collar and blue-collar jobs. There are colleges in the surrounding areas, but Ardmore is not a college community. A R D M O R E, O K L A H O M A First Missionary Baptist Church Ardmore 1

2 Young Adult Ministry FBC Ardmore aggressively began their ministry to young adults in April of this year. In their city, no other church is aggressive about ministering to that segment of the community, so they have seen great success. The church has recognized several strengths in their young adult ministry. First, they ve been able to reach out to young people, including those who would not have been attracted to the original, traditional service. Second, those attending the church have a sense of belonging. Young adults desire to come and be a part of the ministry. Third, the setting is inviting and the worship is upbeat. And fourth, the church works to make people comfortable. Their welcome center was specifically designed to be a lounge/coffee shop. Along with the strengths, there are also a few weaknesses. The leadership of the church notices a lack of structure and organization in the ministry. This is possibly due to the newness of the ministry. Another weakness is that the ministry is built around one or two people. If Todd or the senior pastor left, the ministry might not survive. There are many unanswered questions because this is still a developing ministry, with two congregations coexisting in one church. A lot of people have joined the church who do not understand what is happening across the street with the other part of the church. Small Groups First Missionary is a traditional church and Sunday School has been their primary infrastructure for many years. The leaders of the church are beginning small-group meetings in homes and have begun to encourage Sunday School leaders to have fellowships that are just times for fun and hanging out. They are also encouraging the teachers to spend less time teaching to allow time for fellowship during the Sunday School hour (Davidson). I think just the opportunity to meet and fellowship with fellow Christians in a small-group setting is valuable. People feel more comfortable with others of similar age. They can talk about similar problems that may be facing them whether it is raising children or whether it s retirement if you re talking about older adults. I think the opportunity to converse with people of similar age about problems that they face with faith and everyday life makes it really effective. (Sudderth). Currently, the young adults have age-specific Sunday School classes designed for them. The classes meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 and are led by directors who are about the same age. The goals and objectives of the classes are to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of God s Word, and to outreach, fellowship, and disciple. Benefits of participating in the classes include fellowships, in-depth Bible study, and relationships gained. People are engaged before, during and after the lessons, making it a part of their lives. This has been very effective. Missions First Missionary has made an effort to define the mission goals of their church. We are all about the Great Commission. Because we are the largest church in our community, we felt the need to really step out and try to rescue the perishing, and care for the dying. We value the First Missionary Baptist Church Ardmore 2

3 Great Commission and what it means in the lives of people we are reaching through our church (Davidson). First Missionary is currently mobilizing their church by building a foundation for mission opportunities. Within the next year they will do specific ministries to reach their community, for example, beginning a low-income housing ministry (Davidson). The church recognizes the role that young adults will play in their mission ministries. I think young adults have a higher awareness than a lot of other age groups of what it means to be missional. They want to know when they give money to the church where it is going and what it is doing We all want to see our money and our time spent helping and reaching out. So that s another area that we are addressing since our sudden growth began. (Carpenter) Current ministries are a bridge to encourage members to serve in other church ministries. AWANA is a successful ministry of the church, and is the reason many adults who ve been involved only during the Fusion worship experience are now serving. These young adults are volunteering in AWANA as leaders (Davidson). One of the things that our church previously did poorly was connecting young adults to a place of service in the church. If you didn t sing or couldn t teach you really didn t have a place to serve. We wanted to give people opportunities to serve in a meaningful way. We are in the process of connecting our young adults who do not sing or teach to other areas of ministry. And I think one of the best ways of keeping your people engaged is by getting them to serve in a ministry where that they feel ownership (Davidson). Worship Beginning in April 2008, a separate worship service that attracts mostly young adults has been offered at FBCA, although all ages participate. This service, known as the Fusion, averages about 400 in attendance. The leadership of the church was amazed to see that the new and fresh worship event not only appealed to the young adults of the church, but to people of other ages children and youth to people in their 50 s and 60 s (Davidson). Fusion takes place on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m and consists of an energetic atmosphere, an interactive, applicable, and challenging style of teaching led by the young adult minister, and a contemporary, comfortable, and welcoming style of worship. Powerpoints and videos with no pulpit are just some of the characteristics of this time of worship. The laid back environment of Fusion is inviting, and there is a buzz in the air. When they walk in, it is not a sterile environment, but very exciting, and this goes a long way for people when they walk through the church doors. I think we always said that the very first impression is so important. And if they don t sense that there is something going on especially new believers or seekers; if they don t sense that the people are excited about their church and their visitors then they probably won t be back. We sense the excitement in the room especially when people are laughing and talking. It definitely is not sterile (Davidson). The service continues to be an intentional aspect of their ministry. Most young adults will not come back to a quote discipleship class at four o'clock in the evening on Sunday. So we need to take those first two hours that they have chosen to come to a worship setting or a Sunday School class and make it the most fruitful, beneficial time of their week for spiritual guidance (Davidson). First Missionary Baptist Church Ardmore 3

4 Outreach First Missionary uses existing ministries for outreach. Leaders of the church encourage Sunday School teachers to take time in their classes for fellowship. We ask them to take a little less time teaching I know that seems like a cardinal sin to get to know each other in the Sunday school class. Because if we are going to utilize Sunday School as an opportunity for outreach, we need to do the very best job we can (Davidson). When young adults visit Fusion, the church has a plan to reach out to them. Visitors at Fusion fill out a visitor s card and I call them personally to try to connect with them on a one -on-one basis. From a pastor s perspective, I want to know these people. So I try to build that relationship from the beginning. I then give the names to our young-adult or median-age departments, depending on their age. My hope and prayer is that they connect with these people (Davidson). A great outreach tool is the membership of the church. Your greatest marketers are your people in your church. And if they are excited about coming on Sunday morning, and they are excited about bringing their friends, together you can charge the gates of hell with a water pistol (Davidson). Challenges The church faced many challenges when trying to begin Fusion. This occurs with any new program, but the challenges were compounded by the skepticism of the elderly. The church also faced a positive challenge once Fusion began. The ministry grew so rapidly that the staff was unprepared for the success. Their lack of preparation left the young adult minister carrying a lot of extra responsibility. The church now has a sense of urgency about finding volunteers to take part in the ministry who will commit to the goal and vision of reaching young adults. Technology , Facebook, and text messaging are the primary sources of communication for the young adults. First Missionary realizes they should embrace technology as a part of their ministry. So if we embrace technology, it makes young adults feel more comfortable and it aids us in our worship. There is less of a hindrance. By enhancing worship with technology I think we are able to let that go of our personal baggage and to worship God freely without any hindrances. That s our number one goal: not to hinder anybody as they relate to God (Carpenter). Integration From the beginning, the senior pastor announced his support for Fusion and challenged the congregation to follow his lead. The same facilities are being used for young adults as for the entire congregation. Therefore, interaction between generations is very common. First Missionary plans activities like Comedy Night, that bring people together (Owens). First Missionary Baptist Church Ardmore 4

5 Theological Issues First Missionary teaches and encourages young adults to establish a strong worldview. In my opinion, having a strong, biblical world-view is the most important thing they need in life, because it will guide everything that they do (Davidson). The young adults are also encouraged to make wise decisions based on Christ s word. Young adults need to learn more about how their decisions impact their lives. Becoming a Christian doesn t give you the right to go and live your life however you want. God wants you to live close to Him and strive to be like Him (Sudderth). Young adults show curiosity about differences in denominational beliefs. They want to know the biblical basis for basic doctrines such as salvation, baptism, tithing, and others. I think a lot of people are very confused about salvation. Also, I think that in the Baptist church, as well as in other denominations, the question of baptism, what it really means, and whether it s important to be baptized, is an issue. People from different churches or denominations who attend a Baptist church are curious about baptism. All they heard was about a sprinkling, or possibly nothing at all. So I think those are questions that people, including young adults, want to have answered. And I think everybody wants to know about heaven and hell (Burson). Advice First Missionary advises churches to investigate other church models before beginning their young-adult ministry. Church leaders should find out what has worked well in other areas. They should then evaluate these findings while considering the DNA of their church. Then they will be able to implement a ministry that will work best in their community with that target audience. A final observation is that once a church begins a young-adult ministry, it is imperative that young adults are involved from the beginning. First Missionary Baptist Church Ardmore 5