After almost 140 years of ministry in Durham, North Carolina, Temple Baptist Church arrived at a crossroads. Although the church’s finances were solid and its members were dedicated, there were not enough young families in the church to sustain the congregation long term. “There are some who are content to continue as we are until the story ends,” said senior pastor Randy Carter. “There are others who feel that is a failure and want to do whatever we can to survive.” Not wanting to shift the church into survival mode or “chase gimmicks” to drum up membership, Carter reached out to CBF’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. “Thriving Congregations has given us a way to embrace the present and future that does not guarantee our future survival, but energizes the present moment for the church.”
Thriving Congregations helps churches like Temple Baptist acquire the tools and strategies they need to flourish in their unique ministry environments. Working in tandem with other congregational leaders in peer learning groups, churches discover the five critical traits necessary to thrive: Compelling Clarity, Faithful Agility, Holy Tenacity, Rooted Relationships and Dynamic Collaboration. Through “holy experiments,” congregations engage these traits and transform their churches and communities.
For their first holy experiment, Temple Baptist, concentrated on strengthening their Faithful Agility—that ability to be flexible and to innovate in the face of changes or challenges. After several months of discussion, the church transitioned from employing a church secretary to hiring a Communications Coordinator. This new staff member handles emails, manages the church website, sends out a video-laden digital church newsletter and maintains the church’s social media posts. “For Temple Baptist Church it was a big move because as an older congregation, the idea of not having a church secretary and all the traditional roles that person filled seemed unthinkable,” Carter said. Through Holy Tenacity the congregation persevered and is now benefitting from the new multifaceted communication strategy.
Temple Baptist looked outward to the needs of the community for its next holy experiment. Said Carter, “Early in our engagement with Thriving Congregations, we identified the need for transportation for older adults in our congregation and the larger community as a potential idea for a holy experiment.” This holy experiment required the congregation to engage in Dynamic Collaboration.
Through Dynamic Collaboration, a church can maximize its assets and cultivate meaningful fellowship by partnering with others. Temple Baptist is partnering with three other local churches to establish a Durham branch of Aging Forward, a national organization dedicated to supporting older adults. “Very quickly, it seemed right to join with others already doing the work,” Carter said. “It also gave us a vision for engagement in the community that might include other organizations, the medical community and our local social services.”
Recently, Carter opened his Thriving Congregations folder to consider what holy experiments might be next for Temple Baptist Church. “I do not want the work we engaged in with Thriving Congregations to be like most good Duke and UNC basketball players: one and done.”
He believes that CBF’s Thriving Congregations Initiative would benefit other churches like his who also find themselves at a crossroads, “Most churches will simply try harder in the same ways that led to this present moment. Thriving Congregations presents a way for the church to examine itself honestly through the five traits, see present and emerging strengths more clearly, and then move in ways not previously imagined.”