Two Baptist churches that began as one in pre-Civil War Georgia and eventually split — enslaved people to one congregation, slaveholders to the other — are reviving their relationship by cooperating in worship, fellowship and ministry.
Channeling that unity-through-service approach is the covenant of action that ministers and lay leaders from First Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Christ, both in Macon, Ga., will sign during a joint worship service on Sunday.
The document is part of a movement formally launched in the past year by the New Baptist Covenant to inspire churches, state-wide fellowships and others to embrace ministries that foster racial reconciliation.
It’s obvious the pastors of the two churches are of one mind — and vocabulary — about the unfolding unity between the congregations located in downtown Macon.
“It has amazed me how organic the whole process has been and how naturally it has flowed,” said James Goolsby, pastor of First Baptist Church, a member of the National Baptist Convention USA.
“All of this came together pretty organically,” said Scott Dickison, pastor at First Baptist Church of Christ, which is aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
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SOURCE: Baptist News Global
Jeff Brumley
