Churches in Transition: Second Baptist Church (Part 1 of a Series)
Published by Dean May 25th, 2007 in Site.
Change… it’s a fact of life. We are all affected by change. Sometimes it’s for the good, at other times not so good. Often, change has the most profound impact when it happens within the community of faith. Over the next several weeks, we’ll take a look at some churches that are going through transition - whether it be a change in location or leadership, worship style or ministry focus – it is transition that will alter the spiritual landscape of our community.
This weekend, Second Baptist Church of Monticello will move into its brand new facility across the street from Monticello High School on Old Warren Road. According to Rev. Jimmy Albrecht, pastor of Second Baptist, the journey began approximately 85 years ago. Originally located in a small, white building at Jackson and Pine, across the street from the old Burlington factory, in 1949 the church moved across the street from the original site and built a brick structure. Three other building programs followed at that location. In 1965, a new sanctuary was constructed. The old sanctuary was renovated and turned into an education wing in 1977. In the early 90s, a new fellowship hall was built. Generally considered to be a “blue collar” church, in its heyday Second Baptist ran 400-500 in attendance, and it had an effective ministry on the eastside.
Second Baptist Church was started as a church plant by First Baptist Church, and Rev. Albrecht noted that there is a significant Second Baptist influence in Monticello as well. Pauline Baptist Church was started by a former pastor of Second who wanted to move the church from the Southern Baptist Convention to the American Baptist Association. The church balked and the pastor and some members left to start Pauline. Immanuel Baptist Church was begun as the result of a church split within Second. Northside Baptist Church was started as a mission of Second Baptist, and a number of founding members of Journey Church came out of Second.
In the late 90s, as the east side of town began to transition demographically, Second Baptist felt it needed to move to a more viable location. Around 2000-2001, 12 acres of land were purchased across from the high school and relocation plans were set in motion. An architect was hired and plans were drawn. However, due to turmoil which resulted in the departure of several families, those plans were scaled back in 2005 in order to build a facility that the church could afford. At the same time, the church was in talks with Revival Center to purchase the Pine Street facility, as it was felt the predominantly African American church could more effectively serve that community.
With the sale completed, Revival Center ready to move in and the new facility barely under construction, Second Baptist began the transition process. The church office relocated to an unoccupied house on the campus of the Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home, and Wednesday night activities were moved there as well. Sunday School and worship services were held at the middle school. With school in session, this arrangement has presented logistical challenges for the staff, as they must set up and break down each Sunday. They do try to give it at least some appearance of a church building each week. And while this nomadic experience has been inconvenient at times, it has had an upside. “We’ve had to, together, go through a transition time,” says Rev. Albrecht, “And like the early church, we were the church. The building wasn’t the church, but we were the church…. The building is a tool to be used for ministry. If we ever think of the building as the church, we miss out on what God wants us to really know. It’s about relationships.”
However, transition often entails more than physical relocation. Rev. Albrecht talked about some of the transitions being made in the area of ministry. He points to the G.R.O.W. (God Rewards Our Work) outreach, which was initiated since the relocation, and a strong senior adult ministry.
“The relocation process has consumed so much of our focus,” says Rev. Albrecht, “and one of my goals as we started the actual relocation was to not let any of these ministries die, but sometimes they falter during the relocation time.” He added, “My plan and prayer is for them to be revitalized. The in-house is probably stronger than the outreach right now, but the outreach has not been forgotten.”
Rev. Albrecht points to the Sunday School as one organization that is of paramount importance to the church.
“I don’t ever want to see that falter, because that’s where small groups begin to gel.”
He described how Sunday school classes have had to be combined, and how the members are anxious to get back to their old classes… back to the community of the small group. But the Sunday school isn’t all about getting back to the status quo and the familiar. Rev. Albrecht says that while the church has been in its temporary location, a vital area for any church in a college town was addressed: a new college and career class began last August, with as many as 15 in attendance.
Having come to Second when the church was hurting, Rev. Albrecht sees an ongoing healing process taking place among the members of the church. It is a healing that is necessary in order for the church to grow.
“When you’re wounded, when you’re hurt, it’s hard to reach out,” he said. “It’s sad to say, but that’s what was happening.”
Looking toward the future, Rev. Albrecht points to the opportunities that being in close proximity to the school complex will present. There are plans for a youth center which will host after-school programs for students. It will be housed in the very first structure that was built on the new property. First used as a pavilion, it has since been enclosed and is currently the temporary home for the church office, which had to vacate the Baptist Children’s Home when they started a building program of their own. Once the office moves to its permanent home in the main facility, the youth center will start to take shape.
Says Albrecht, “Students and the community need to be what our focus is. I don’t think that God placed us across the street from the high school to not have a love and vision for our students.”
Besides recreation-based ministry, he envisions one day offering after-school tutoring services to students. Being closer to UAM is a plus for reaching out to the college community as well. Right next door is one of the few nursing homes in town, and there is already a once-a-month ministry provided by some of the church members and staff to the residents there. The residents are also excited about the possibility of being able to attend church services at Second once the new sanctuary is in use.
The church sees ministry to college, secondary and elementary students, as well as senior adults, as key to reaching families. Rev. Albrecht also sees ministry to teachers, firefighters and police officers as part of Second Baptist’s outreach efforts. He wants Monticello to know that Second Baptist Church cares about our town, and he foresees almost daily activities taking place at the new location as the church seeks to find ways to minister to the people of the community. And despite moving from a neighborhood setting to one that is removed from residential areas of town, Albrecht doesn’t see this as a drawback.
“The church of the 21st century is not a neighborhood church anymore. People pass by how many other churches to go to their church now? The neighborhood church is, I don’t want to say a thing of the past, but it is. Every church in Monticello needs to be a community church.”
From the east side to the south side. From its home of nearly 60 years, to a school auditorium and children’s home, to a brand new facility. From a neighborhood church to a community church. Second Baptist Church has seen its share of difficulty and adversity, triumph and joy, transition and change. And much like the Israelites who wandered in the desert before reaching the Promised Land, the people see new opportunities and blessings on the horizon. This coming Sunday, the physical phase of transition will be complete, but the spiritual and ministerial transitions will continue to evolve as Second Baptist Church seeks to fulfill its mission here in Monticello.
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20 Responses to “Churches in Transition: Second Baptist Church (Part 1 of a Series)”
- 1 Pingback on Jul 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 pm
I am excited about what God has done, is doing, and will do through the people and ministries of Second Baptist Church. I am blessed to call Second my church home, and praise God for the many, many ways that the members of Second show His love to my family.
Thanks to Dean and MonticelloLive for the feature story.
And to anyone reading this in the area who isn’t connected to God and His people through a local church, please know that everyone is welcome at Second Baptist Church!
What a great story!! I attended Second Baptist church for 18 years. I moved when we lost one of our Pastors, but it was because at the age of 18, he was such a great influence, and I hated to see him go. I began attending another church in town and soon joined, but Second Baptist will always be home, and many that still remain are part of what was my church first family.
I am glad to see this new facility and I sure wish them the best as they strive to propser and grow at their new home. I can tell you that there are wonderful people in Second Baptist Church; people who in fact lead me to Christ.
Even though I am a member and am involved in another church, I will always have a love for this church and its people. You can rest assured that I will be one of what I am guessing will be many to attend the service tomorrow. God bless, and best wished to this great church.
Yeah, good for them. “god” really wanted them to spend 2 million dollars on a church and not on food to feed starving children.
And to my knowledge, wasn’t the reason second baptist leave their last sanctuary because it was too big and cost too much money?
Do any of you “christians” even realize that over 4,000 children die every hour from starvation? To my count, there are more than 50 churches in Monticello alone. If all those churches would spend less time and money on recreation centers and more on humanitarian aid, the world would be a better place.
What Would Jesus Do?
Well Wade, I don’t think Jesus would downgrade a church for building room for people to come and worship. Have you been inside the new Second, or the old Second? If not, maybe you should and take a look around: you might not think this is “too big” for them. How long has it been since you visited a church?
Churches work daily to support missions to feed children all around the world, to help other churches. Does it make good sense for a church to borrow 2 million to feed the hungry? Is there a bank that loans on that? Lets get real here. Do you know what kind of missions Second Baptist supports? Do you know what kind of money goes to causes such as the one you mentioned? Probably not.
“What would Jesus do?” Hum, I think that he would probably stop and think before he spoke.
wade…
the reason you put forth for why you think second left their old building is inaccurate. i’m certain that the old building was completely paid for. an african-american church already established in the community (revival center) needed a larger space for their congregation and for the ministries they were doing in the community. second baptist was not having very much success ministering there because the neighborhood was (and is) transitioning to a more african-american demographic. i know there are many white churches that have terrific ministries in minority areas (and vice versa), and there are many that don’t. for whatever reasons, second baptist didnt, revival center does, and revival center needed a larger place. at the time, the transaction was seen as a positive thing for both churches and the neighborhood too. second baptist had owned the land across from the schools for quite a number of years (debt-free). the building was actually scaled back a good bit from the original plans, reflecting space requirements for the current size of the congregation. it’s simply an economic fact of life that it just plain costs a lot to build any type of building these days.
perhaps purchasing one of the vacant buildings around town (such as the old wal mart) and renovating would have been a little more cost-effective, and something i would have been in favor of myself, but apparently the majority of the folks in the church felt it would be a great ministry opportunity to be located across the street from the monticello school complex.
as for the missions budget, and the various ministry budgets that would address the types of needs you pointed out, those amounts i am not aware of and couldnt speak to here. i do believe that probably every church and charity could do more than they are doing in that regard, though.
you seem rather negative toward church, or at least toward this particular church. the first commenter (nat) has issued a standing invitation to anyone who does not have a church home to come visit second baptist. why not take him up on his invitation and see for yourself whether or not this church is honoring God with their time, talents and money?
I am negative towards the idea of mega-churches, not just this particular case.
Pauline has a giant LED display sign out in front of their church. I’m sure there are better ways to have spent that money.
First Baptist has a 52″ Pioneer plasma display used by the preacher as a teleprompter. Here again a crude waste of cash.
All I am saying is that these churches need to stop trying to turn your gathering places into giant fun centers and focus more on the issues relative to the human condition.
Wade: I am a member of Pauline, and yes, I am sure there are those in the community, and even those in the church who feel that this money could have been spent in a better place, or maybe divided up and not all spent on such an extravagant sign.
I agree with you that sometimes our churches (all churchs) might not make the best decisions in regards to their money. But, they are all, or they should all be after the same purpose, and that is to save lost souls, no matter how they have to reach out to do this. Having an attractive sign to cath the eye of people, or having family life centers, or having “fun nights” for youth, these are all ways that can invite one into church. Our sign that is out in front of our church, yes though it has been termed as costing too much, it allows us to show a continuing list of activities being offered at Pauline.
Possibly Dean had a good point, that the old Wal-Mart building, or another vacant building in town could have been an option. But, Second Baptist felt that there was a ministry opportunity at that location, and so they went after it. This decision is really between church members and God. If they are building big, and growing for the wrong reasons, then they will fall. If they are building and growing for the right reasons, they will prosper. And when I say prosper, I mean in growth by seeing folks saved.
So, you’re saying the church shouldn’t use the latest technology available to aid in reaching their world? But there’s no problem with Las Vegas Casinos using the same technology to aid in bringing people into their establishments?
That 52″ plasma screen may have cost 3,000.00 (just a guess). It’s also not as vain as you state - being a worship leader, I can already tell you that that screen aids the entire choir and worship leader to worship without having to hold songbooks (which accumulated over time, are WAY more expensive than this plasma screen). Crude waste of cash? I don’t think so. Sounds to me like someone wants to do something with excellence and save money in the long-run. Furthermore, it is usually a given that many of these larger churches give a MINIMUM of 10% of their budget to missions. A church the size of First Baptist on average would probably have an annual income (some more, some less) around $500,000.00. This means that at least $50,000.00 (statistically speaking) has probably gone to world missions.
MTV states that they OWN this generation. How can they claim such a thing? Because of the BILLIONS of dollars that MTV has profited has been through feeding this generation filth like “spring break.” So, why not pick on them? Talk about focusing on issues relative to the human condition! Why not take their HUGE profits and seemingly unlimited resources (which the churches DO NOT HAVE) and help free the slaves in Sudan?
I will say that if a church builds a nice facility and equips it with the latest equipment and technologies, but will not reach the lost in the community and only making these new things all about themselves - then they are missing the point.
Every church has their problems and members with some level of selfishness, but I will assure you: step into any of these churches you mention (or any other church in Monticello) and tell someone you need Jesus, they will introduce you to Him so that the real issue relative to your condition is touched.
Very well put TJ. Again, if you are expanding and reaching out for the right reasons, you will prosper. If you are doing it for the wrong, such as wanting to be the biggest or best in town, you will fall face first.
No one prospers by bashing another church. Period.
Different churches reach different people in different ways. Maybe that sign at Pauline cost thousands, but if it brings in ONE child that comes to know the Lord through seeing “COME TO AWANAS TONIGHT” then it was money well spent, wasn’t it?
At Journey we do things differently, and get some criticism for it. No one cares, because it works for us, and our families.
Bottom line is, do what works to raise your family in the most spiritual way possible.
Sure no one prospers from bashing other churches, but churches don’t prosper when they are trying to build and enlarge to get the glory of being the biggest and best. I agree with you that different churches reach different people; my past comments should reflect this and that we should all, as churches, just have one main goal.
First of all, I am not here to bash churches rights to worship. Nor am I bashing your religion. It may not be my own but as Voltaire said; “I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it.”
And as to my comment about the plasma screen…would it have not been cheaper to simply print one sheet of music and then duplicate it on a copier? And the preacher could have bought a thousand notepads for that kind of money.
Simply put, your money would be better spent feeding the starving, and putting to rest more life threatening problems our society faces. If you all would put aside the small insignificant differences you have between your ways of worshiping…the world would be a much better place for everyone.
Secondly, TJ…how can you even compare a church to a casino? I find that a ludicrous statement. You should feel foolish for even using that as an argument.
And Shelly, would you rather have a giant LED sign so that you can save one persons soul? Or would you have fed a thousand starving people?
I won’t ever be critical of a church’s willingness to improve their building/grounds with state of the art technology.
Just because they are making improvements doesn’t make it their only priority.
BEST OF LUCK TO SECOND BAPTIST AND IT’S MEMBERS! GOD BLESS!
I was not necessarily making a comparison. Comparing Vegas with a congregation of people with praise in their heart and a response of the tangible Presence of Almighty God are truly like comparing light to darkness. There is absolutely NO comparison there. Since you obviously missed my point: what I was doing was asking why “sin city” can blast you with its LED signs advertising what brings death, but the church cannot (according to you) use such tools to advertise what brings life.
So why don’t you sell your car and walk to work? Man, you can set 1,000 slaves free in Sudan for the price of a modest mid-size sedan. Why use your air conditioner or pay a cable bill when you can feed hungry people in the Appalachians with that money? Hey, why don’t we make the church COMPLETELY irrelevant in the year 2007 and forget about using todays technology to preach the Gospel? Who would that reach? Every facet of a ministry has its purpose. Technology is one of those facets that are nets to draw in the lost. Your argument against the use of such tools and against a church ministering with excellence makes absolutely no sense when the are in fact as a corporate body reaching such people. What about the personal responsibility every human being should have to push the plate back and live simply every now and then so others can simply live. This all really just sounds like an unrealistic excuse for you to point a finger at Christians. Again, if you get down to it, the mission of these churches remain the same as long as these powerful, relevant tools are used to accomplish that mission.
Wade, I pray for people like yourself with such critical spirits (attitudes). I pray that your eyes be open to the truth and that you will no longer be blinded by this extreme cloud of criticism.
Congratulations brothers and sisters of Christ at Second Baptist, Journey Church and Revival Center COGIC. May your new facilities be lighthouses for the lost and hurting in Monticello.
Mathew Chapter 25:
41″Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44″They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45″He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46″Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Wade,
It is clear to me that you are not “bashing” churches, but that you have a serious point to make about the actions you see churches taking versus what you understand about the teachings of Jesus. Your question deserves a serious answer and not the immediate, knee-jerk defensiveness and shoulder-shrugging apologies for why a local church NEEDS excessively expensive “tools.”
If you follow me, I think that you could, in fact, make an even stronger argument for your case. This is something that has been on my mind for a long time now. Note that nobody has yet undermined Dean’s explanation (above) that Second Baptist left their old church primarily because Second Baptist…
“was not having very much success ministering there because the neighborhood was (and is) transitioning to a more african-american demographic. i know there are many white churches that have terrific ministries in minority areas (and vice versa), and there are many that don’t. for whatever reasons, second baptist didnt…”
This is the exact explanation I heard explained to me nearly two years ago (also undisputed at that time), so I have a lot of confidence that Dean is telling the truth here. However, I see a HUGE problem here…when (as the quote reads) “there are many white churches that have terrific ministries in minority areas,” what are the legitimate “reasons” that Second Baptist “didn’t?”
Wade, the answers you have received to your question about why a church needs to spend two million for a new facility have been that the church is doing its ministry and ministering appropriately to the teachings of Jesus, and that these expenditures are helping the church do that. These answers are simply not consistent with the facts of this case.
If, indeed, Second Baptist moved because they were not successful in ministering to “a more african-american demographic,” that is the same as saying that the church moved because it wanted to get out of a black neighborhood. One of the sickest things that I experienced in moving to Monticello was to see how racially divided things still are here. It is truly saddening. It seems to me that Second Baptist was given a challenging opportunity to make forward progress toward unity in their community, and they either failed to meet the challenge or enough of them didn’t care enough to try.
In the end, spending the two million is not the deepest issue the church must face up to. The bigger issue, in my eyes, is that a church would rather borrow money to move to a new location than to minister to its community. I see the church’s actions as symptomatic of an extremely “un-Christian” but unfortunately pervasive local attitude: the practice and passive endorsement of racial segregation in both church and community. It was, and always will be, a poor decision.
Lastly, Wade, though I may be taken to task for making this statement, and many excuses and jaunty spiritual rhetoric given for why this wasn’t a failure on the part of the church, I think that for anyone who looks at the facts of the matter and the reasons that have been given to this point, it is clear that borrowing money to facilitate this move and the reason for the move is, from a Christian perspective, morally suspect.
the comments here have been thought-provoking, to say the least. since i authored the above article, i stayed neutral in my comments here. however, the issues raised here by wade have prompted some deep soul-searching on my part, and i have posted on this topic at my personal blog (my editorial page, so to speak:-) thanks to wade for asking the tough questions, and making the observations that have led to an epiphany of sorts for me. here’s the link to the post… http://the-grateful-dean.blogspot.com/2007/06/personal-revolution.html
BTW did I mention I live in this neighborhood?
Wade has made several commits as to the amount of money Pauline spent on the new sign. I personally gave the money to put up the new sign. I felt a call and need to do this. Jesus said poor will always be among us. If you feel a call to feed the poor please do so.