Why a New SBC Church in Auburn?

Auburn, Alabama, is a strategically important place to plant a new Southern Baptist church. Auburn is the home of Auburn University, the largest university in Alabama, the most selective public university in the state, and a Top 50 public university according to USN&WR. With a total population of 45,000 persons, Auburn has only four viable* Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches with a total average worship attendance of 2,662 persons, only 6.0% of the population. The church-to-population ratio is one SBC church for every 11,008 persons, less than half the association average of 1 church for every 5,046 persons and almost one eighth the state average of 1 church for every 1,396 persons. Some church planting strategists with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) suggest that an area is underchurched when the ratio is greater than 1 church for every 2,500 persons. Clearly, Auburn is in great need of more solid, biblical churches.

Only two SBC churches in Auburn have experienced growth in the past ten years; both are conservative churches with a relatively traditional format. The other two churches have experienced significant decline over the past ten years; one of these has aligned itself with the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Needless to say, Auburn needs more strong, conservative, evangelical churches.

In this city of 45,000, there is only one SBC church with fewer than 200 attendees. In a blind, scientific research poll conducted in a nearby city, 74% of the people responded that they preferred a church of 200 people or less. On this basis, if we use the NAMB target for the church-to-population ratio, then Auburn needs not just one but eleven new SBC churches of 200 people or less! A new, moderately-sized SBC church will clearly meet a tremendous need that exists in the Auburn community.

Estimates indicate that 4,500 of Auburn's 23,000 students come from SBC-affiliated families and many more from other evangelical churches, Only a fraction of these SBC-affiliated students are attending local churches unless they are going to non-SBC churches. University students, after spending several formative years in the Auburn community, will graduate to become future leaders in Alabama and neighboring states. Over 1,000 Southern Baptist students graduate each year, many of whom could be equipped to give strong doctrinal influence and leadership to the many Southern Baptist churches that have drifted from their theological heritage. Planting a historic SBC church in Auburn will also enable the community and the university students to observe a model of local church life, worship, and witness conducted from a God-centered, biblical perspective. In addition to those with an SBC background, Auburn has nearly 1000 international students from all over the world. These students are a tremendous mission field as well as potential missionaries to their home countries.

The strong, biblical theology of our Baptist forefathers should have greater appeal to an intellectual community than broad evangelicalism or liberalism because of its richness, depth, logical connections, truth, and sense of history. A new SBC church in Auburn will be well positioned to testify to the truth claims of Christianity through careful exposition of Scripture and solid training in systematic theology and apologetics. Faculty and students alike could be evangelized and discipled in the rich soil of orthodox Christianity and assisted to thoughtfully engage academia from a distinctly Christian vantage point.

*A fifth church does not qualify as viable, having declined to 8 persons in worship attendance.