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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
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THE
METHODIST
CONNECTION "Frankly,
I was disappointed," said North Georgia
Bishop Lindsey Davis. "We've
been above 5,000 several years in a
row, and we got close to 7,000 one
year," he noted. "If
we are really serious about our
evangelistic outreach, [this
conference] should be growing by
10,000-plus every year," the bishop
said. He
pointed out that North Georgia likely
will lead the denomination in
membership growth again but to assume
any smugness in that regard "is indeed
disastrous. "We're
not really in competition with other
annual conferences," he said. "We're in
competition with evil and loneliness
and despair, so I'm not at all
satisfied with where we are. I know we
can do far better than
that." Eleven
of the conference 12 districts showed
and increase in 2004, led by the
Atlanta-Marietta, which had a net gain
of 1,595 members. The Atlanta-Roswell
District grew by 588 members. Both
Atlanta-Marietta and Atlanta-Roswell
have total memberships exceeding
40,000. Other
district increases: Gainesville, 617;
Athens-Elberton 609; Atlanta-College
Park, 423; Atlanta-Emory, 380;
Rome-Carrollton, 261; Northwest,
113; Augusta, 93; LaGrange, 60;
and Griffin, 16. Only the
Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District
recorded a loss, 784
members. The
10 North Georgia Conference churches
with the largest memberships are: Ben
Hill, Atlanta, 10,050; Mt. Bethel,
Marietta, 7,638; Roswell, 7,370;
Cascade, Atlanta, 6,964; Mt. Pisgah,
Alpharetta, 6,798; Peachtree Road,
Atlanta, 6,466; Snellville, 4,395;
Dunwoody, 3,802; Northside, Atlanta,
3,614; and Marietta First, 3,593.
While
these largest churches are well known
for their remarkable evangelistic
records, Bishop Davis noted that
several other churches that are not as
much in the limelight have "done
extraordinary work with the leadership
of current pastors." Athens
First has found that the majority of
its members prefer traditional worship
and has geared its services
accordingly. Its sanctuary is geared
toward people looking for "mystery,
holiness and awe [as they]
gather for worship in God's presence,"
Britt said. Still,
the church offers a casual worship
service -- one of four services each
Sunday -- in the rented Morton Theater
one block away from the church's
sanctuary. That service attracts about
200 each week. Athens
First offers a number of nurture and
outreach ministries and has undergone a
huge building program, which includes a
new $5 million structure and a $4
million renovation of the existing
building. The church recently purchased
an office building across the street
which is being used for small group
studies and other
ministries. Another
North Georgia Conference church
charting remarkable success is St.
James UMC, an African-American
congregation in Alpharetta. Last
September, St. James moved into its new
23,000-square-foot multi-purpose
building on 15 newly purchased
acres. While
the congregation hasn't yet celebrated
an entire year in its new building,
"we're actually making plans to start
phase two," Moss said. The
church has primarily grown by "word of
mouth," Pastor Moss said. "When anyone
comes to St. James, they will
experience in the people a true love of
Christ, a sense of family and a spirit
of excellence. They come back and bring
folk with them!"
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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of the
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SPRING
2005
North
Ga. Conference still growing,
but not as rapidly
Wesleyan Christian
Advocate
North
Georgia United Methodists charted a net
gain of 3,971 members in 2004 for a
total conference membership of
337,635.
While
the gain is not as large as in the past
several years, it still continues North
Georgia's strong record of growth over
the past two decades.
District
by district
Spotlight
on two churches
One is the 2,800-member Athens First
UMC, which has added about 600 members
under the leadership of the Rev. Bill
Britt, who became the church's pastor
eight years ago.
About 185 members were on the roll
when Pastor Marvin Moss was appointed
to St. James in 1999. At the end of
2004, membership stood at almost
1,350.
This article first appeared in the
Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the
official newspaper of the North and
South Georgia Conferences of the
UMC.