EDITOR’S NOTE: Read related article here – “Denman sells classic car to provide skid steer for MODR, Baptist Builders projects“.
KANSAS CITY – There were two churches in a suburban area of Kansas City. They both had some problems, different problems, but they found a way to come together and solve them.
Sterling Acres Baptist Church was a declining church with a majority white congregation. The demographics of the community around them were changing. They were trying to be active in service, but failing to connect with the people in their community. About 50 people attended and there were only a few young people in their teens. Though they had good facilities, the church was slowly dying.
When their pastor, Welby Jones, went into retirement, Sterling Acres began considering and praying through their options. They consulted with their Baptist association and began conversations with Gregg Boll, who is now the executive director of the Blue Ridge-Kansas City Baptist (BRKC) Association. For a time Boll served as their interim pastor.
INDEPENDENCE – Bill Denman (left) with Pastor Travis Yeargans of the Rivers Edge Church. The church merged with Sterling Acres Baptist Church last year. The Sterling Acres church had a nice facility but was declining in numbers of members. The Rivers Edge church needed a facility and had members and was growing. Now the two churches, merged into one, are reaching their community. They are a multi-ethnic church and are doing well reaching their part of the Kansas City area. (Contributed photo by Travis Yeargans)
Nearby was River’s Edge Fellowship, a predominantly African-American church. It had been a church plant and had gone through periods of thriving and growing. In 2016 they were “replanted.” They seemed to be connecting with the people in that community. But they did not have a permanent facility to meet in.
The BRKC newsletter said, “In January 2023, Bill Denman from Sterling Acres approached Pastor Travis Yeargans, Sr., from River’s Edge Fellowship about a potential merger. After much prayer and discussion with the River’s Edge elders, they decided to present the idea to the congregation. The congregation excitedly approved the idea and the discussion to merge began in earnest.”
There was a six month time of prayer and seeking the Lord about the potential adoption of the Sterling Acres church by the River’s Edge Fellowship. When the two churches voted on the adoption, it was overwhelmingly approved by both churches.
It seemed to be a good idea. Sterling Acres had a nice facility with a 300-seat worship center, education building and a gymnasium. River’s Edge had a thriving congregation but no permanent building.
Pastor Travis Yeargans, of River’s Edge, said, “We used to borrow Sterling Acre’s building for baptisms, to house mission teams.” They had a good working relationship.
Boll said, “We recognized early on that what we were embarking on was a great Kingdom advancement. In a polarized world, the church cannot continue to be separated or segregated.”
He continued, “Maybe, just maybe, God wants to use our merger as a way to draw the lost, encourage the saints, and model a picture of heaven here on earth.” He added, “Now, as one church, our aim is to reach our community and city as a place where people of different ethnicities and ages can come to be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and can serve Him and our city together.”
Yeargens agreed that the multi-ethnic church they are building together as a couple of congregations, now united, is really thriving. “It is a reflection of the Word of God where you see in the New Testament the early churches were multi-ethnic churches. The Roman Empire was made up of many different people. In Acts 6 (for example) there was a dispute about the Hellenistic women feeling they were being left out of the distribution of food.”
He said there are a few challenges. He spoke of the difference between “church with a little c and church with a big C.” He hopes they see the big C church, the larger Kingdom of God.
Yeargens said it has not been easy for Sterling Acres along the way as River’s Edge adopted them. They had a sense of losing their identity. Many of those members had been attending Sterling Acres for 25 or more years.
As they moved forward with the transition from two churches into one (with a nice building), they have learned to be accepting of one another’s differences, Yeargens said. Asked what the ratio of white to African-American is, the pastor said “About 50-50.” They are learning each other’s cultures and they are reaching their community and are reflecting their community demographics.
They had a successful VBS this summer. They are reaching people and it seems to be a successful model of church adoption which contributes to church growth and Kingdom advance.