Posted on 06/26/2007 4:03:12 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
GREENSBORO - Most churches can only dream that their finances would be good enough that the congregation could dole out $1.7 million for needy causes.
North Pointe Fellowship of Greensboro is the little church that could.
Although attendance at the 100-year-old church Southern Baptist church has dwindled to only eight people, the church recently gave $1 million to Southern Baptists' Lottie Moon international missions offering. Another $700,000 was divided among six other projects or agencies that the tiny church thought needed financial help.
Don Smith, 75, treasurer and lay leader of the church remnant, said that donations went to Samaritan's Purse, a ministry led by Franklin Graham; Greensboro Urban Ministry, Guilford County Jail Ministry, Bible Broadcasting Network in Charlotte and to a church in Alamance County that needed help in buying land.
He would not specify the amount of the six smaller donations but did confirm the amount contributed to the Lottie Moon missions program.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which later changed its name to North Pointe Fellowship, had about 1,100 members in the 1950s. Funds for the donations came from the $1.8 million that the former Sixteenth Baptist Church received for property and buildings amassed over the years, Smith said. A charter school bought the property in 2004.
The small congregation also had a big hand in helping churches in the Gulfport, Miss., area early in 2006 that were victims of Hurricane Katrina. Several truck loads of church furniture, the music library and other church equipment were donated to churches that were heavily damaged or destroyed, according to Grady Ross of West Gulfport Baptist Church. Ross said the rebuilding of his church won't be complete until December. Meanwhile, he has been distributing items from North Pointe Fellowship to other churches.
About 10 churches, including one Methodist congregation, and several individuals were helped by the items donated by the Greensboro church, according to Ross, who organized members from churches in Denham Spring, La., Newnan, Ga., and Winston-Salem to haul the donations to Mississippi.
Ross' church became the clearinghouse for distributing the furniture and other items. "North Pointe also helped us this past Christmas with a free Christmas Store that contained all new items. We helped 250 to 300 people have a better Christmas," Ross said.
"Many churches and individuals have been blessed because of their obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ," he added.
North Pointe Church now meets in two small rooms in an office complex a few miles away from the neighborhood where the ministry was started May 5, 1907.
The congregation held services in the fellowship building for several months. Attendance continued to dwindle, Smith said.
"We couldn't keep up that large amount of property with the small congregation we had," Smith said. "We decided to sell the property; had it appraised; and were really surprised when we sold it within two months after it was listed," he said.
After the property was sold, worship services were held in the basement of a Masonic Lodge, and in 2005, the remnant settled into the office complex. Attendance continued to decline to a few dozen, then a dozen and finally to the faithful eight that now attend.
Before the day of mega churches, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was one of Greensboro's most viable Baptist congregations for many years. It reached a membership of about 1,100 in the '50s. The congregation's banner years probably were from 1954 until 1961 when attendance regularly reached 600 or more, and the church had a thriving training union of 400.
The name was changed in 2001 after the church had a dramatic loss in members and was unable to attract more members from a culturally changing neighborhood, Smith said.
The demographics of the neighborhood changed from that of a mill village to one where housing was built that attracted people who Smith said culturally were not interested in attending a Christian church - or at least a Baptist church. "Visiting people in the community came to a screeching halt; they wouldn't even come to the door," he said.
Others have a different opinion. Some former members say that demographics didn't cause the decline but power struggles between factions in the church led to the nosedive in membership. The church started going down in the late '90s with the arrival of a new pastor, said Bob Straughn, a member of the church who left after 46 years there.
Some people were forced out of their positions in the church, and members started leaving in protest, Straughn said. At one point, the entire deacon board resigned. Sunday School attendance dropped from more than 250 to about 100, he said.
Smith defends the ministry of the pastor. "For the past 10 years we had two churches under the same roof," he said.
A different set of issues arose after that pastor left and another arrived.
Russell Pinkelton, who was a member at Sixteenth Street for 73 years before leaving, said some church members were at odds with the new pastor over doctrine. They accused him of preaching Calvinism, which the church had never embraced.
Straughn said he doesn't have any malice and thinks that it's commendable that the money was given to people who needed it.
"I believe the church could still be a thriving church today if the factions had not developed," Straughn said.
Pinkelton questioned the distribution of funds from the sale of the church property.
"I don't want people to think I am against Lottie Moon; I've always been for that," he said. "But I think the money should have been used to build a church in this community."
Smith said the church voted on how to give the money after invited people to come in and make presentations about their needs.
"Money in the bank is not doing any good," he said.
The contributions not only represent the remnant of the once thriving church but also represent all of the past members, even those who are deceased, Smith said.
A celebration of the church's 100th year was held June 10.
"I couldn't give up until we reached our 100th anniversary," said Smith, a member of the church for 52 years. His wife Audrey, the former church organist, joined Sixteenth Street Church 69 years ago.
Today, the church has a new pastor. Whether the church remnant will continue to meet hasn't been determined.
"We're looking for the leadership of the Lord to guide us. What the Lord has in store for us in the future is what we want to do," Smith said.
Darn Calvinists, they'll get you every time while swearing it was predestined.
Yes, we will. And yes, it is :D
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