Seventy years ago, members of Red Bank Baptist Church were instrumental in planting a new church on Signal Mountain, which became Signal Mountain Baptist. In a decision that brings the two congregations' association full circle, Red Bank Baptist will acquire that church site on Signal and it will become the Red Bank church's third campus.
In a unanimous vote on Sunday, Sept. 16, the congregation of Signal Mountain Baptist voted to dissolve and let Red Bank Baptist acquire their property. The congregation of Red Bank Baptist also voted to acquire the Signal campus, after conversations were held on both campuses.
"Our church probably holds 750 people; we have a pretty large campus. But we are an aging congregation. Our attendance had dropped so much over the last several years that we had to figure out, 'Do we downsize, sell the property and move to a smaller facility?' We were without a pastor, and this was the time to decide," says Jeff Price, a member of Signal Mountain Baptist's Vision leadership team.
And it all started with a hospital visit.
"It's really fascinating to see the hand of God in this," says Dr. Sam Greer, senior pastor of Red Bank Baptist.
Greer explains he was making a hospital visit July 25 to see a Red Bank member preparing for surgery. She and her husband are members at Red Bank; their son attends church on Signal Mountain for Wednesday night prayer meetings. The patient's husband mentioned in passing that their son had told them Signal Mountain Baptist might be interested in selling its property.
Greer returned to church and passed this along to his pastoral staff, suggesting they should follow up to confirm the information. One of the Red Bank pastors reached out to a contact he had, who confirmed the sale possibility. But the Red Bank minister was also informed that the Signal Mountain church already had an offer from a corporate investor who wanted to use the property for something else besides a church campus.
"Then it was on the fast track," Greer recalls. "The following Tuesday - less than a week after learning of this possibility - we met with their leadership team and discussed what an acquisition might look like. We also got help from the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board about what an acquisition should be."
Greer says this action is a "strategic merger where one congregation becomes a satellite campus of a larger multicampus congregation relinquishing their autonomy."
"We have not purchased their property. There won't be any exchange of money for acquiring their campus. But there are renovations that will need to be done, and we will be part of that," he says.
"They voted to dissolve and be acquired by Red Bank, and we voted to acquire them," says the Red Bank pastor. "We are humbled and blessed to be part of this. We're very excited, and they are excited. I've said to them and to our church that they are part of our history, and we want to be part of their future. We are just praying that God will be glorified."
Legal proceedings called for the acquisition process to go through the state Attorney General's office, which is followed by a 45-day processing period after which Signal Mountain's congregation votes to dissolve.
With these proceedings pending, the congregations of both churches will hold a celebration on Sunday, Sept. 30, at 5 p.m. at Signal Mountain Baptist.
"We're calling it A Night of Praise and having an ice cream social," says Greer. "There will be a big fellowship, and I will talk about our vision moving forward."
Greer says the new campus has not yet been named. Red Bank will put a pastor on the campus to lead the staff and teach on Wednesday nights. Greer plans to preach a service on both campuses on Sundays.
Members of Signal Mountain Baptist will be given several opportunities over the coming weeks to join Red Bank Baptist Church through new member lunches.
Price believes the Signal congregation will happily make this transition "because we are going to continue to worship in our same building, just with other leadership. Our congregation is excited about what Red Bank Baptist can bring. I can only see it as being positive."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.