{"id":32271,"date":"2022-09-10T16:02:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/from-near-death-to-life-how-one-dwindling-coastal-congregation-was-reborn\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:02:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:02:59","slug":"from-near-death-to-life-how-one-dwindling-coastal-congregation-was-reborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/from-near-death-to-life-how-one-dwindling-coastal-congregation-was-reborn\/","title":{"rendered":"From Near Death to Life: How One Dwindling Coastal Congregation Was Reborn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tim Savage photo – Pexels<\/div>\n

By Joy Allmond<\/em><\/p>\n

When Bobby Owings first came to what was then known as Surf City Baptist Church in 2010, there was just one person in the youth ministry\u2014a 17-year-old boy who was the grandson of long-time members.<\/p>\n

The next youngest person in the 50-person congregation was a 47-year-old woman who had been at the church her entire life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in the most extreme case, I believe there might have been 24 in the building one Sunday early on in my time there,\u201d Owings adds.<\/p>\n

Throughout a season when they had two interim pastors over the course of just two years, there had been discussions about closing the doors of Surf City Baptist and selling the property.<\/p>\n

But there was a handful, Owings says, who felt closing the church doors was not why they had been placed on Topsail Island\u2014located on the southern coast of North Carolina.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere was sort of a resignation on their part if something didn\u2019t change they were going to die,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that made it easier to do what I refer to as \u2018rebirthing.\u2019 We had to create something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owings says \u201crebirth\u201d is possible for any congregation, but he offers two cautions: \u201cIt\u2019s harder than you think and it won\u2019t look like what you think it\u2019ll look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the first changes in the rebirth process was changing the name from Surf City Baptist Church to The Gathering.<\/p>\n

The Gathering, one of two year-round churches on the island today, attracts tourists in the summer\u2014and is located less than 20 miles from Camp Lejune, a marine base.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed an identity shift,\u201d says Owings. \u201cWe still hold to the same constitution, but most people who come here now don\u2019t know we were ever Surf City Baptist Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cidentity shift\u201d comes in part due to the people The Gathering serves. He says the word \u201cgathering\u201d is something everyone can relate to\u2014especially if they don\u2019t relate to the word \u201cchurch\u201d very well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen folks come here, it is often in an effort to shed some other sort of identity,\u201d says Owings. \u201cMarines aren\u2019t looking for recognition; they just want a place where they can worship with their families\u2014even if it\u2019s for just two or three years before they are reassigned to another base.\u201d<\/p>\n

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See also  Is It \u2018Ministry Failure\u2019 To See a Counselor?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And he says the tourists who come through Surf City have a similar idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cTemporary residents come and go, tourists come and go, surfers come and go, and military personnel comes and goes,\u201d says Owings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur strategy in something as major\u2014yet as simple\u2014as a name change is creating an environment where anyone can show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former environment, he says, was somewhat restrictive and could be perceived as less than welcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard of occasion where people (who no longer attend The Gathering) would tell others sitting in the pews they weren\u2019t dressed appropriately for church,\u201d says Owings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn hindsight, what they were attempting to be was a rural suburban church in a resort tourist town. They saw the tourists as a mission field\u2014which was a good thing\u2014but they didn\u2019t seek to reach the community that was already here. The marines would visit, but they wouldn\u2019t stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gathering didn\u2019t just change their name\u2014they changed their priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf what we were doing didn\u2019t align with two things\u2014loving God and living Jesus\u2014we stopped it,\u201d says Ownings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you give people a simple understanding of who you are as a church\u2014they recognize it\u2019s not about all the complicated stuff we\u2019ve created around our faith. They want to be part of something simple, something meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, The Gathering has around 500 in attendance at its four Sunday morning services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come from every background under the sun,\u201d says Owings. \u201cWe\u2019ve even baptized 80-year-olds in the ocean. We\u2019re running out of space, but looking for spaces to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Joy Allmond<\/h2>\n

@joyallmond<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Joy is the executive communications manager at Lifeway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n