Celebrating New Life

by Amanda Christopher

“These classrooms used to be filled with children. It breaks my heart for these halls to be silent now. We would love for them to be full of children again.”

It was sometime in the summer of 2020, maybe June. I don’t remember the exact date. New City Macon staff members were walking the halls of the children’s floor at then Northridge Baptist Church. It was a bit like walking back in time. Life-sized depictions of Bible scenes on the walls, shelves lined with toys that hadn’t been touched in perhaps years, outdated children’s books, because it didn’t really matter if they were up to date, and there wasn’t anyone to keep up with those things. Deacon William Hursey walked with us and reminisced about the former days. There was grief and weariness in his voice and words.

For various reasons, the church had been in decline for years. There were no visitors. There were no young families having new babies. There was no enthusiasm or joy. What had once been a growing, thriving church, well-known in the community, due to the years of decline and the impact covid had on all churches, was on the brink of death.

If you’ve been around a while, you already know the story. In July 2020, the elders of Northridge voted for the church to be replanted by New City, join the New City Family of Churches, and become New City East Side. We sent a group of leaders and volunteers to help revitalize the church and start up new ministry teams. It wasn’t easy, and there is still work to be done, but New City East Side is now growing and excited about reaching their community with the gospel. They have two elders and four staff members. There is a joy on Sunday mornings and a sense of family.

And those empty classrooms? They now have children in them. Just writing that brings tears to my eyes. There are children in the classrooms—babies, toddlers, little kids and big kids. There are volunteers in the classrooms, loving on those children, teaching them the Bible and telling them about the good news of Jesus. They are singing and dancing, laughing and praying. There are diapers and wipes and snacks; toys going in mouths and books probably getting a little torn up. There are crumbs on the floor that get vacuumed up. The indoor playground has kids climbing on it every Sunday. There is life.

This life was clearly seen and celebrated this past Sunday as New City East Side had its first Parent-Child Dedication, and five children were dedicated to the Lord. Family members committed to raising their children to love and follow Jesus, and the church family committed to praying for the children and their parents and supporting them in raising them up in the gospel.

This is a beautiful picture of the redeeming power of the gospel. We live in a broken and fallen world, and churches dying is a result of that brokenness. But that is not the way it’s meant to be. Churches should be healthy and growing, vibrant with life and light. It is incredible to see what happens when the hope and joy that are found only in the gospel are breathed back into a congregation that in many ways had grown cold and weary.

So today, we celebrate with New City East Side! We celebrate what God is doing there, and we look forward to seeing his continued work in and through his people.