When I came to FBC, Freeport five years ago I was informed by a pastoral staff member and by some of the key deacons that First Baptist Church was in decline numerically, financially, and most importantly spiritually and had been in decline for quite some time. All one has to do is read through the church minutes or converse with honest long-time members to confirm this humble assessment. At one point in the sixties FBC averaged 700 attendees and was by all accounts the "it church in town." Many things transpired during the 90's and 00's that slowly changed the trajectory of the church.
However, in early 2008 the lay leaders and youth pastor (rightly) determined that the most important thing was for First Baptist to try and become a Word-dominated ministry once again. To focus first and foremost on Colossians 1:28-29, Ephesians 4:11-15, and Hebrews 5:11-14 rather than on numerical growth and church growth strategies. I believe this was a landmark decision in the life of this church.
Before I ever candidated Pastor Gary Gilley from southern Illinois was asked to come and speak with the lay leaders who also served as the search committee of the church. Pastor Gary rightly assessed that First Baptist was at an important ministry crossroads. “What kind of church do you want to be? A Word-dominated, Christ-centered church, or something else?" He also asked the men whether the tail was wagging the dog here? Gary believed that the church needed shepherd-leaders who would lead the church rather than have a congregationally-led church. Pastor Gary told the lay leaders that if we committed ourselves to being a Word-dominated church that the ministry may not grow numerically or financially. Pastor Gary understood that our church needed to follow God’s blueprints for His Church and to trust the Lord with the results; which as many of you know is much easier said than done. At this critical point in the life of this church the lay leaders were united in spirit which is why they eventually decided to hire a Senior Pastor from the Master’s Seminary. The reason for this decision is because they believed TMS' philosophy of ministry was biblical and was what this local fellowship needed to implement. These faithful men also saw that Freeport sorely needed a "9 Marks" local church.
During my first year we enjoyed what is often referred to as the pastoral "honeymoon." Despite five funerals a year things numerically were moving in the right direction. More importantly First Baptist gained some key like-minded families/couples along the way but we also had a lot of internal tension and infighting going on behind the scenes. Some within the flock did not like the new depth and bible heavy direction of the church. One long time member asked a staff member, "Are you guys actually going to do whatever the Bible says?" "You can't be serious?" Many of these disgruntled members wanted shepherds who would visit them in the hospital, which we tried to faithfully do, but they did not want shepherd-leaders who would watch over their souls. Many did not truly believe in any kind biblical confrontation/restoration. After many painful face to face meetings and a number of explanatory congregational meetings the vast majority of these folks eventually decided to leave (often time with guns blazing).
All that to say, after a very challenging start we were the smallest we had ever been. We were also more united and focused than ever before. We appeared to be growing spiritually and were no doubt moving in the right direction. The ministry was blessed to have a debt free four million dollar facility. At the same time, we faced the corresponding challenge of seeking to maintain such a huge facility. The test of faith was ever before us.
