The author was born into the Baptist faith. He was very active in the church and always had a great

Pastored in 1952 by Alice Lavern Riles, known as Mother Sheppard, The Church of Columbus remains today within the city of Columbus, Georgia. From a tiny building on 49th Street, to the over a million-dollar facility today, The Church of Columbus has gone through its share of change. Growing up, the church was called the First United Pentecostal Church, but once the church moved locations, Pastor renamed it The Church of Columbus. Located on 2001 Double Churches Road, there lies my second home, with its grand 36,000 square feet structure. Growing up, I was always at the church, whether it was for practice, or just to play sports such as volleyball and football with my lifelong friends that I had made throughout my attendance at the church. According the church’s website, “the church has grown from a Sunday morning attendance of sixty-one in 1985, to a consistent attendance of over 400 in 2013” (The Church of Columbus). The church’s motto is “Loving all to Christ”. The motto refers to the church’s ultimate goal of reaching the 290,000 souls of the Columbus, Phenix City, Fort Benning area (The Church of Columbus). A church member, Lisa Gail Stringer-Johnson described the church; “The first thing you feel when you walk through the doors is an outpouring of Love and God’s presence.” I am extremely grateful that I have such a tremendous place to call my second home.

He travelled through different lands, met several new people, and went through life changing experiences while on this journey. At the end of his journey, he finally reached his treasure. He only was able to reach it because he knew that once he found it, he would truly be

In the Introduction section of the book, The Hidden Lives of Congregations, Israel Galindo states that a congregation is a “corporate relationship organization” (3) and is not an organization. He points out that the hidden life of a congregation would depict the “nature” of a congregation. This further identifies the relationships and faith of the congregation. According to him, the universal principles are followed by the congregations so that “systemic relationships” can work. The leaders learn the roles that they have within the people who are the congregation. The journal will focus on Dr. Fowler’s question “what is the purpose of this gathering we call the church?”

Courage & Calling by Gordon T. Smith is a book about embracing one’s God-given potential. He talks about responsibilities and obligations as Christians, and how they are ultimately tied back to God. Smith also focuses on the differences between occupation and vocations, and how we are to navigate through different transitions in one’s life, and how all is linked back to being proper stewards.

The vast amount of windows illuminated the inside of the sanctuary which is aligned with plenty of wooden pews for around 800 people. The art displayed is inside the stained glass windows/panels. One of the windows was inspired by Revelation 4:7. There is a rather large stage for live music and worship and a stunning wooden cross on display hanging above the altar. There is another building located across from the sanctuary with adequate classrooms for all age groups. The children’s playground is massive and filled with fun outdoor activities. The congregation started in 1975 and there is over 500 multiracial members. I attended the Sunday 10:00 am service, but prior to service IPC offers an “Education Hour” that focus on a variety of topics to help you engage in Scripture and look for life applications in a more intimate setting. All worship services are spoken in English. After the service, the IPC offers coffee, tea, and donuts to its members so they can enjoy fellowship time on the patio. The bulletin includes weekly interactive ministries such as: music and the arts, Wednesday night refuel, spiritual mentoring, men’s, women’s, youth, young adults, and seniors. I had the opportunity to briefly speak with Lead Pastor Scott Bullock who informed me that the PCA is one of the faster growing denominations in Orange County. He also specified that all members of IPC are entitled to vote on the electing of their congregation officers, but neither women

his profession as a pastor in search for vital truth and hope. But his father

Name of the person you spoke with on the pastoral staff: Pastor Dodridge and Steve Layton

came to him fulfilling his mission to spread christianity; he never gave up, day by day. Even

In downtown Roanoke, on Church Avenue, an old church building still stands, having been erected over one hundred years earlier. For the same period of time, it has been occupied by a congregation, whose denominational origins lead back to a rural part of Kentucky in what was called the Restoration Movement, initiated by reformers who yearned for a primitive, apostolic form of Christianity, with “no creed but Christ.” Although “backcountry” in the denomination’s heritage, this particular congregation began in a boomtown. While striving to become a “first century” church, reminiscent of the apostles’ ministries and the church life from

“We are a church transformed by grace, connected through relationships and committed to service” is their mission statement and as is everything down in Texas, they are big! They have a large campus with several buildings surrounding the main sanctuary and a visitors center that can be accessed with one of their many golf carts. I must say, as someone who works with youth, I was impressed as to their commitment to a separate building for kids, especially those in middle school and high school. At a time when autonomy is so important for a young person, (and budgets are limited), having their own space is quite impressive.

One organization that is becoming increasingly popular, is the new youth church. These churches are made up primarily of young adults; those that attend gain a sense of belonging by their family-like structures and “cell groups”. They also dabble with the postmodern and nontraditional ways of worship, to attract outsiders, and they have a strong emphasis on missionary work.

55% of Northwest Texas’s churches have fewer than 50 weekly attendees (and 9% of the conference’s total weekly attendance) while 9 churches contain 27% of the conferences total weekly attendance. In comparison to other conferences, a large portion of the conference’s

Victory Baptist Church in Walker, Louisiana is a young church that had become complacent. They experienced a lot of success in a short amount of time. They went from meeting on Fred’s back porch to renting a bigger space at a local school. Then they acquired the land on which they built their building in just four months. Over the course of four years they have paid of the land and are well ahead of their note for the building.

We have just come into our own at Park Lake Drive Baptist Church, after years of

In Baptist history there has always been differences in doctrine. This has unfortunately resulted, at times, to separate believers from one another. This can be evident from comparing two American Baptist confessions. The most notable difference in doctrine between The Philadelphia Confession of 1742 and A Treatise on the Faith of the Free Will Baptists, 1834 and 1948 is the doctrine of Calvinism versus free-will. The Philadelphia Confession supported Calvinism and the Free Will Baptists supported Arminianism. A closer look at these two confessions show that throughout Baptist history certain doctrines remain constant while others are debated and cause separation of believers. However, this has not stopped the Gospel message to be preached