The Summit Church
| The Summit Church | |
|---|---|
| Location | Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Weekly attendance | 8,500 |
| Website |
www |
| History | |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | J.D. Greear |
The Summit Church is a Southern Baptist megachurch that meets at nine locations throughout Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Regular attendance averages 8,500 people weekly. Services are also available through the church website and by podcast. There is also a Summit Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
History
The Summit Church, which originated as Homestead Heights Baptist Church, began in 1961[1] when Sam James preached the first service at what was then the Grace Baptist Mission in Durham. Within a year, the mission had grown into the new Homestead Heights Baptist Church. The Church grew to a membership of over 150 by 1965 and as it continued to grow, the congregation constructed a new church building in the 1980s to host close to 600 people. Although it briefly exceeded capacity, the 1990s saw little growth and eventually declined to a stable 400 members.
In 2002, Homestead Heights called its college pastor of a year and a half, J.D. Greear, to be pastor.[2][3] Upon accepting the position, Greear called for the renaming and ultimately the re-launching of the church as the Summit Church. In the first three years, a great resurgence of members inevitably led to the sale of its property located on Holt School Road, and in April 2005 the church began holding services at Riverside High School.[1]
As of July 2014, the Summit Church has 8 campuses.
Vision
The vision of the Summit Church is summarized in Jesus’ Great Commandment to "Love God, Love Each Other, and Love Our World."[4]
References
- 1 2 Flo Johnston. "Church sets sites anew as it grows." newsobserver.com. Published 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ↑ Flo Johnston. "Church to sell its site." newsobserver.com Published 2005-03-04. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ↑ Yonat Shimron. "Durham church spreads Gospel with DVDs." newsobserver.com. Published 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ↑ "The Summit Church".