30 :: Hickory Grove Baptist Church

Today I worshiped at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. I had a great time. I attended early, going to the eight o'clock service. It was reasonably well-attended, and the music and preaching were absolutely great. One thing to note about the place was the immensity of the buildings and the property itself.

Here is an aerial picture:

As you can see, it is a very large place. The interior and exterior are hard to get your head around. Here are some pictures of both the outside and inside - of note, there is a school on the property, as well as a consignment clothing store:

The music was a nice mix of contemporary sounding tunes mixed in with the right amount of traditional Southern gospel music. Here's a bit of that:

After the choir cranked out this great music, the sermon was given by Senior Pastor Clint Pressley, seen here on the staff page of the church's website. As you can also see, the church has a large number of people on staff. A sign of a healthy church, no question about it.

Pastor Pressley was finishing a series on the Book of Romans, which has taken a full two years, from what he said! I felt honored to be at the completion of a cycle that took that long.

Of note is that his speaking style is among the best I have ever heard. He has a solid, baritone voice, speaks with clear diction, as well as has the type of formal Southern accent akin to how Billy Graham spoke in front of a crowd. It was really a pleasure to listen to Clint Pressley give a sermon.

A video and some pictures of Pastor Pressley:

From the sermon, I took notes in my Bible app, something I am doing with more diligence. It helps me to focus. The main ideas of the sermon:

• Praise God for loyal Christian friends. 
  
  
• Praise God for broken barriers. 
  
  
• Praise God because He is able. 
  
  
• Praise God because He is able to strengthen us. 
  
  
• Praise God for the Bible. 
  
  
• Praise God for the missionary spirit (Great Commission).
  
  
• Praise God for His grace. 

Nothing about the sermon was particularly challenging and I enjoyed its simplicity a great deal. There are just some weeks that a good, straight forward message is what I need. This was one of those Sundays when I benefitted from a message that reinforces good ideas without making me stretch mentally.

One thing I did take note of is that this church seems to be in a transitional phase. Evidence of this transition was everywhere. As an example, the Pastor was in a three-piece suit and the church had the ubiquitous purple accent lights in the front of the sanctuary. I have seen Pastors in three-piece suits, and I have seen a huge amount of those purple accent lights... but never in the same place. 

That contrast gave me pause and set me to thinking about the way in which the older, mainline denominations are being replaced by younger, more nimble churches that are both contemporary in format and non-denominational.

There are major changes within the Christian church in the US. 

Some mainline denominations have increasingly embraced a message of social justice as their central platform. That message is an essential part of revealed Truth.... and it is perhaps also reductionist. As a result, some mainline denominations are speaking a lexicon much more familiar to people who don't go to church as often, or at all. The United Methodist Church, some branches of Presbyterianism and the Episcopal Church are in a numerical decline. Within fifty years, it's very likely that the aforementioned liberal denominations will be almost entirely moribund.

And while Southern Baptists could arguably be called a mainline denomination, they are neither liberal nor in numerical decline. They will be around for a long while. And I am seeing more evidence that they are preparing for the future by slowly cutting over to the new format - more akin to the style and music of a Freedom House. 

Also, more Southern Baptist churches are de-emphasizing their affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, at least explicitly. Of note is that when Beth and I visited Biltmore Church in Asheville [link], I only learned that it was a Southern Baptist church by reading about it online after the service. While there, there was no sign it was Southern Baptist. Even the name doesn't mention the denominational affiliation.

A mere twenty years ago, virtually all Southern Baptist churches had everyone wearing coat and tie or dresses while singing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" to organ music. Now, more of them are moving to relaxed dress, contemporary music and those ubiquitous purple accent lighting. All the while, they are maintaining their more conservative theology. And because of this, the numerical stability of this denomination is still relatively healthy.

On the question of demographics, I did take note of the fact that the congregation was a bit older. I feel that this was tied to the fact it was the 8 am service. That is more normative at earlier services. On an additional demographic note, there were a significant number of black attendees. This in a denomination not known for its history of racial integration. That was a happy thing to see, for sure.

At the end of the service, they sang the doxology. It was very well done, here's the video:

I enjoyed Hickory Grove Baptist Church a great deal. May its transition into its next phase of evolution continue unabated. 

I thank them for their hospitality.