By Grace Thornton
The Alabama Baptist
Chris Harrison has been in ministry for 21 years. He’s helped start churches in Alabama and Asia and a lot of places in between.
But even so, he says he’s never experienced anything like what God is doing in Cullman through a church merger that’s breathed new life into two congregations.
“I’ve never seen anything remotely like what has happened at our church,” he said. “It’s really like a revival in my view.”
At the start of the year, Church 212, the congregation Harrison planted, didn’t really have money and didn’t really have a building.
But it had people — lots of them, he said.
“We kind of considered ourselves an independent evangelical church and we were running between 60 and 70 people or so,” Harrison said.
And amazingly his congregation was largely unchurched beforehand, he said. “Once we had a show of hands of how many people had been saved at Church 212 and about 70 percent raised their hands.”
That was great for the gospel going out but initially it wasn’t great for the budget, he said.
“We’re a young congregation and renting a space to meet in just on Sundays was costing us 65 percent of our budget,” Harrison said. “We were doing a lot on a little but we got to a place where we were really struggling.”
Their rented space was only secure until May and as they set up and tore down chairs each Sunday morning, they were getting closer to having to find a place they could afford or close the church, Harrison said.
“Then one Sunday morning in February while we were setting up chairs, a deacon and pastor from Shady Grove Baptist Church walked in the door and asked to talk to me,” he said.
In recent months, Shady Grove Baptist had dwindled to between six and 10 regular attenders but they owned a building sitting on 9.5 acres of land and had savings in the bank.
“They said they’d like our help, that their church was at the point of dying and they knew our church had been bringing in young people,” Harrison said.
At first he said he could send some church members over to help build Shady Grove back up.
But Roger Pierce, Shady Grove’s pastor, had a different idea.
“Chris had a good vision, a dream and the people,” Pierce said. “He needed space and I needed people. That’s basically it — and we knew God was in it.”
Harrison said he was totally floored at the idea and how much the people of Shady Grove were open to it.
“They are such loving people who care more about the vision and mission than I’d ever seen,” he said.
So they got right to it.
Harrison became pastor of the new combined church, which kept the name Church 212 and met for the first time in Shady Grove’s building at the end of February. Pierce became the associate pastor.
“We’ve done things as a team and there has been nothing but unity and peace and excitement,” Harrison said. “The two churches have joined together for the greater purpose of the gospel.”
‘A God thing’
The newly merged Church 212 expected around 70 or 80 on the first Sunday based on their combined congregations but 90 showed up. Now they are running 140.
“We have more people than we could’ve imagined and we’ve had more people saved than we could’ve thought,” Harrison said. “We’re so packed in this building, we are already planning to go to two services. It’s absolutely incredible.”
Pierce agreed.
“It’s just a God thing,” he said.
The new congregation joined West Cullman Baptist Association — something Harrison said he had been interested in pursuing even before the church merge.
Dennis Trimble, director of missions for West Cullman Association, said the situation is “a win-win-win for Shady Grove, Church 212 and the association.”
One church got a fresh wind, another a building and the association gained a congregation committed to missions, Trimble said.
“Church 212 has a specific vision for reaching those who have never been involved in a local church and those who may have been involved in the past but have quit the church for whatever reason,” he said. “Their goal is to not grow at the expense of other churches.”
And its name reflects its vision, Trimble said. “As the pastor explains it, 212 degrees is the boiling point. At 211 degrees, all you have is hot water but it’s not boiling. The church’s desire is not just to be hot but to be boiling, on fire for the Lord and committed to reaching the lost and discipling the saved.”
Harrison agreed, noting that he’s blown away by what God has done.
“That’s my story and it’s insane,” he said. “It fell out of heaven. It was all Jesus.”
Share with others: