Three churches – Hayne, Northview and Saxon — in the Spartanburg County Baptist Network have merged.
The United Baptist Church congregation will meet in the sanctuary of the former Hayne Baptist Church.The combined congregations chose the name “United Baptist Church” during its first service Jan. 13. David Frost preached, the choir loft was full, and six persons joined the new church.
Hayne had the largest sanctuary, so United will meet there until it builds on a site. Co-pastors are Frost, Robert Carnell and Jack Weaver.
The three churches were demographically challenged. Neighborhoods had changed, and two had lost their major employer. When Hayne’s pastor left in October 2006, the lay leadership under deacon chairman Robert Ellison decided to explore the merger. They called an interim pastor – Weaver – who was not only comfortable with this concept, but also had been the pre-merger pastor in one church and the last pastor in another that closed.
Director of missions Jim Goodroe broached the idea in a letter to pastors of several nearby churches. Northview and Saxon, with bi-vocational pastors Carnell and Frost, began talks with Hayne last spring, with periodic services or fellowships.
Starting in October, there was a joint service at each church, leaving the congregations one Sunday a month for their own services. A combined choir presented a Christmas cantata at two of the churches.
The exploration process included various meetings of pastors, vision teams and deacons to hammer out the major details. Each congregation distributed and discussed a written summary in a regular business meeting, then approved the merger by a more-than-two-thirds majority vote on Dec. 30.
For the remainder of the 2007-2008 church year, United will have transitional leadership, including all deacons from the churches and all staff who wished to continue. Lay leadership will normalize when the 2008-2009 church year starts. United will one day call a pastor.
The Spartanburg County Network will help the merged congregations determine where a new church is needed. The three existing properties will be sold, and proceeds will be used for the new facility. Northview has already sold its property to Prince of Peace, one of the four African-American churches in the Network.
United is the third merger of congregations in the Spartanburg County Network. Three churches comprised River Hills in 1998, and two merged as Sonrise in 2007.
Demographic shifts will likely bring more mergers throughout South Carolina. So directors of missions will hold their Sept. 25 meeting at River Hills’ new building, to hear stories from Spartanburg’s three mergers. The program will be entitled “Baptist Church Mergers: Why Some Work, But Others Won’t.”