AUSTELL, Ga. — It has been said that Baptist Associations are “first responders.” When a need or a problem arises in a local church, the association’s leadership is already familiar with the geographic location and spiritual health of the member churches and can quickly respond with concern and assistance. Associations are also resource hubs and can often provide the specific needs that a local church requires.
Jason Loudermilk, formerly pastor of New Canaan Baptist Church in Dallas, Ga., has served as the West Metro Associational Mission Strategist for the past eight years. He is a graduate of Georgia Tech, and also has a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
Loudermilk, expressing excitement about the future of West Metro explained, “It is my earnest desire to see this association increasingly become a ministry that provides the resources and services to strengthen and care for our 46 churches.”
Until recently, Loudermilk and his team were operating out of the facilities of the First Baptist Church of Lithia Springs as the site of their ministry endeavors. Within a period of about ten months, God began to unfold his new purpose for this significant association of churches.
In February 2024, Marty Guy, who was the church planting catalyst for the West Metro Association, was called to be the Missions Director of the Greenville, S.C., association. That was the first step in a sequence of events that would prompt Loudermilk to seek God’s will to review and reevaluate the ministry and mission of the association he served.
Then as God would have it, the pastor of Doss Memorial Baptist Church retired, and the few remaining members of the church concluded that it would be an expression of prudence and an act of good stewardship to find nearby churches that they could join and donate their church property and facilities to the Association.
It was not long until Berean Baptist Church, a fellowship that had no place to call home, began to meet each Sunday morning in the worship center of the former Doss Memorial Baptist Church, now home of the West Metro Association. Then a new Hispanic church, Go Iglesia Powder Springs, sponsored by First Baptist Church of Douglasville, launched in the same facility on Sunday evenings in October of this past year.
As the circumstances unfolded, Loudermilk earnestly sought God’s leadership about how the association could best steward the property resources to serve the churches under his watch. Subsequently, he led the association to create two new ministry positions to meet the needs of the churches. The decision was made to hire a full-time biblical counseling director to establish a counseling center for the association, and a part-time technology position to assist churches with media and technical needs.
Matthew Munlin, the new Director of Biblical Counseling, is currently a Ph.D. student and an adjunct instructor in Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Biblical Counseling program. Prior to his role with the West Metro team, he worked as a research assistant for the Center for Biblical Counseling at Midwestern. Munlin received his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University in philosophy with an emphasis on Religion, and his MDiv in Biblical Counseling and MABC from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Munlin will be available to churches that seek to provide quality biblical counseling for their members. West Metro churches will find that counseling for marital issues, helpful guidance in dealing with anxiety, depression, family values, crisis response, and bereavement can be found in the associational office. Munlin will lead a full-service counseling ministry to those in need throughout WMBA churches. In addition, Munlin will provide biblical counseling training opportunities for pastors and church members who want to disciple people walking through often difficult life issues.
Tara Carter, currently serving as a campus missionary through BCM at Georgia Tech, has become the part-time technical resource person for the association. She is a graduate of Georgia College and State University with a degree in mass communications with a focus on digital media.
The association is presently securing all the equipment necessary to have a state-of-the-art studio for recording videos and podcasts, associational events, and ministry presentations. Carter will also be available to help individual churches with their technology needs. She will begin serving the association in a more permanent role in May 2025.
Loudermilk indicated that though some associations may partner with a counseling group for the support of their churches, few if any associations have a full-time counseling ministry of their own, and it is not likely that many have someone designated to help churches with their media. Since the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted congregations across our land, almost all churches have resorted to using live streaming or some kind of technical support to communicate with their membership, particularly those who are homebound.
As Loudermilk evaluates the progress of this new paradigm of ministry, he hopes his association will become a model for others. “My desire is to strengthen our churches in any way possible to help reach our communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ!”