Another church that once was among the largest in the Southern Baptist Convention is selling it 19-acre property and downsizing.
The property of Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., is now listed for sale for $28.5 million.
Current pastor Lee Merck confirmed to numerous media outlets the sale is part of a strategic plan to rethink the congregation that once was the largest Baptist church in the state of Alabama.
Notable former pastors include Jerry Vines, who went on to become co-pastor at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., and president of the SBC; Darrell Robison, a well-known evangelist who later became a vice president of the former SBC Home Mission Board; and more recently Clint Pressley, immediate past SBC president who now leads Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.
When Dauphin Way relocated to its current site in 1988, church membership was listed as 8,000. Today, membership is reported as about 600. According to real estate sale records, the sanctuary may hold up to 3,000 people but is currently configured to seat 1,900.
The church dates to 1904 and experienced its first boom in the 1940s and then again in the 1980s. For decades, the church appeared on lists of congregations with the largest Sunday school enrollments and largest Sunday school attendance.
Sanctuary at Dauphin Way Baptist Church.
Dauphin Way is not alone in this trend of decline and readjustment, which researchers say affects older churches more than newer churches. According to Lifeway Research: “Churches founded in the 20th century are the most likely to be declining, with 45% of those started between 1950 and 1999 and 39% of those that began between 1900 and 1949.”
Church growth researcher and podcaster Sam Rainer explains the context: “In the not-so-distant past, growing churches often relocated away from their neighborhoods and built large campuses at major intersections. The thought was that the drive would be worth the distance. This strategy seemed to work when these large churches were master planning their sprawling campuses in the 1970s through the early 2000s. They were championed and celebrated. Many large churches grew at tremendous rates, and many of them did, and continue to do, an incredible amount of good for the kingdom of God.
“But starting around the turn of the 21st century, the growth of many of the largest churches shifted to multisite campuses and multiple venues. The massive, single-site church was no longer the focus of their planning. … Churches with worship space for 200 to 600 are now ideal. Filling the giant rooms of megachurches is getting harder and harder.”
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