{"id":34621,"date":"2019-10-23T09:18:46","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T14:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.local\/?p=34621"},"modified":"2021-01-20T14:01:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T20:01:33","slug":"church-merger-ensures-gospel-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2019\/10\/23\/church-merger-ensures-gospel-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"Church merger ensures gospel witness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\"><strong>MAPLEWOOD \u2013<\/strong> A group of believers in Maplewood has a vision for the future. This congregation is the new merger of Maplewood Baptist Church and Mid-Cities Church, to be renamed Mid-Cities Church at Maplewood.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cWe voted to come together,\u201d Nate Edmondson, lead pastor of Mid-Cities, said, \u201cafter a transition team made a recommendation for us to join together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Mid-Cities Church was a young plant meeting upstairs in the Maplewood Baptist Church gym while the Maplewood Baptist Church was downstairs in the worship center.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Edmondson was the pastor of Mid-Cities while Maplewood was without a pastor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Bill Affolter, retired pastor and elder of the new congregation, has used Maplewood Baptist Church as a home base through the years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cI was a teen at Maplewood,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019ve pastored many years, never at Maplewood, most recently in East St. Louis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cMaplewood was an older congregation and beginning to decline,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut Mid-Cities had a problem with location.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They are a group of young adults with small children, and we were missing out on ministering to children.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We would go downhill unless we could minister to children and this is a way to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cWe are excited about the possibilities,\u201d Edmondson said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe are excited about inheriting the history of Maplewood Baptist and the legacy of salvations.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We complement and help each other to reach St. Louis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">Darren Casper, associate executive director of the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association, is happy with the positive blending of the two congregations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cThis relationship began two to three years ago,\u201d he said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey developed a relationship between the church plant and the traditional church.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They participated in mutual outreach events like the Maplewood Christmas event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cThey built trust and respect,\u201d he said, \u201cbetween the two congregations which displays the beautiful partnerships within Southern Baptist life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cMaplewood Baptist Church has a great history in the city and the association,\u201d Casper said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cMerging with this plant helps to ensure a strong gospel witness in Maplewood for years to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cThey didn\u2019t rush the process,\u201d he continued. \u201cThat is what made this merger so positive.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They got to know each other as friends.\u201d\u2002<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of believers in Maplewood has a vision for the future. This congregation is the new merger of Maplewood Baptist Church and Mid-Cities Church, to be renamed Mid-Cities Church at Maplewood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":34622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[177,41,17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Church merger ensures gospel witness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A group of believers in Maplewood has a vision for the future. 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