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Northwest Baptist Church has been in existence since 1924, experiencing a peak in the 1950's and 1960's, followed by a long, slow decline in the last few decades. We are committed to reaching our community with the gospel of Jesus Christ so we are taking steps toward a restart. We seek to be a lighthouse and a beacon of hope and salvation to the lost and hurting, demonstrating the love of Christ through our actions, overcoming the obstacles of a post-Christian city.
The demographics of this 255-home neighborhood are unique and challenging. The neighborhood is diverse, with many young families with children under the age of six, some college students, young, upwardly-mobile professionals, and a significant number from the art community. Many, if not most, of the people in the neighborhood are highly educated, intellectual, and skeptical.
The first step Northwest Baptist is taking in restarting our church is to work on building relationships and interfacing with the community in a vibrant and relevant way that will attract them to the message of the Gospel. The church is on the largest usable public space in the community, providing many opportunities for us to minister to our community. For example, we allow the community association to use our fellowship building for their meetings, voting is held in the hall, and a yoga class meets in it as well. We have also used the property to sponsor and host fall festivals, a chili cook-off, and a neighborhood yard sale. We see these events as opportunities to help meet the needs of the community in a non-threatening way, building relationships and showing the power and the reality of our faith in what we do and who we are.
The attractiveness of the building is important as we seek to establish a good reputation in this neighborhood, so we are hoping to be able to make some much-needed repairs on the aging building. We could use help with prayerwalking, door-knocking, surveying our neighborhood, and conducting community events such as a Vacation Bible School, a fall and spring festival, and a community outreach day. Northwest Baptist has many challenges, but we believe the potential is even greater.
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Stephen Horvath
Stephen Horvath grew up in Fayetteville, Georgia, and came to Christ when going through a time of severe personal crisis. While attending Florida State University, Stephen got his real estate license and decided to pursue that career. After trying his hand at hotel management and after coming to Christ, he went back to school, getting a BA degree from Brewton-Parker College, with a major in Christianity. His senior year of college, Stephen pastored a small church in middle Georgia, and, upon graduation, came back to Georgia and enrolled at McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, where he obtained his MDiv. Stephen served as pastoral intern at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church from 2006 to 2007. In 2008, he was called as pastor of Northwest Baptist Church. Stephen and his fiancé Cara have a heart for Howell Station and Atlanta and are active in many community activities.
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