April 18, 2024
MARIETTA, Ga. – “If there’s something weird, and it don’t look good, who you gonna call?” are words from Ray Parker Jr.’s popular song “Ghostbusters” and the theme song of the 1984 American supernatural comedy film by the same name. The question from the Ghostbuster box office hit almost 40 years ago is still being asked to promote law firms and other commercial enterprises.
However, is it likely that those wounded people going through weird and not-so-good times would call your church for help and assistance? Piedmont Church in Marietta could answer that question in the affirmative.
Twenty-four years ago, when Dwight “Ike” Reighard was pastor of Northstar Church in Acworth, the Lord gave him a vision to lead the church to make a profound impact upon the Cobb County area; and he called Marlon Longacre to be the church’s community pastor. His mission was to develop a strategy that would inspire and motivate the church to serve the local community.
Longacre explained, “When I became a part of Pastor Reighard’s staff at Northstar it was decided then that our church was going to be the first call people made who needed help in the community. Twenty-four years ago, many hurting people were looking to the United Way, various civic clubs, and other service organizations to help them in a time of need, but we decided that the church should lead the way in serving the community.”
Reighard and Longacre launched their effort to intentionally serve their community at Northstar and continued that initiative when they were called to Piedmont.
The effort to make the church the first call wounded and weary people make seems to be an innovative and novel approach to many, because many churches do not even know what the needs are in their community; others are isolated in their holy huddle and seem to focus more on looking in the mirror than looking out the window. They are more interested in maintaining their status and presence in the community than reaching out to those in need.
Longacre was inspired by a comment his dad made, saying, “My dad was a firefighter and had his fellow firefighters involved in the community. He once stated, ‘If we only responded to a fire, we would be standing around a lot. We must take the initiative to serve others.
“Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer in Persia, but his interests were not in the expansion of the Persian Empire, but his concern centered around God’s purpose for His people in Jerusalem. He inquired of his brother Hanani and some other Jews who had returned from a brief visit to Jerusalem and discovered that the remnant that remained there were in great affliction and reproach and that the walls were broken down” (Nehemiah 1:3). Longacre’s solemn conviction is that you can never lighten another person’s load until you have felt the pressure and anguish in their soul.
Longacre explained that there are five steps that will lead to successfully impacting a community with the love and helpfulness of Christ.
First, churches need to change the way they think. They need to make service a priority, because churches that serve earn the right to be heard. The fundamental goal is to be the first call a person makes when trouble comes or a need arises.
Second, churches need to commit to root causes. The needs in a community can be discovered by asking the hard questions. In the Old Testament Nehemiah wanted to help restore Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. He inquired of his brother, Hanani, and some other Jews who had returned from a brief visit to Jerusalem and discovered that the remnant that remained there were in great affliction and reproach and that the walls were broken down” (Nehemiah 1:3). Longacre’s solemn conviction is that you can never lighten another person’s load until you have felt the pressure and anguish in their soul.
Longacre recalled, “I started this ministry when we were at Northstar and that first day, January 13, 1999, was the worst day of my life. I had four contacts I needed to make on that day. I intended to ask questions like Nehemiah asked Hanani. This first visit was to the mayor of Acworth. The second visit was to the lead instructional teacher in the school system. The third visit was to the Kennesaw Business Association. The fourth visit was to Lt. Col. Ashley Ivey of Acworth Charities.
In each visit, Longacre discovered that churches rarely if ever sought to discover the needs that existed in the community, that churches were not considered to be service-oriented, and that churches were not as universally accepted as one might think. However, Longacre’s visit provided a long list of projects that would help to alleviate the human hurts of the area. Longacre reported, “I discovered that the 365 people are everywhere. The 365 people are those who are in the muck and mire of life every single day. We find them, listen to them, and try to help them.
Third, churches must champion efforts to meet the needs. If a church meets the needs in its community, it will also build character and compassion in the membership, grow the church and honor Christ. Piedmont is engaged with the needs of police officers, the court system, school social workers, MUST ministries, school counselors, food shelters, foster care, house shelters, special needs children and adults. This month the church is focused on setting up sensory rooms in public schools, etc. for special needs children.
Fourth, churches must cooperate with the community and build alliances. Churches that are committed to serving, working “next to” and with natural groupings in their community. In Nehemiah 3 when the Jews were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem the words “next to him” appear repeatedly. Longacre declared, “We have resolved to work “next to” individuals and help them build their part of the wall.”
This alliance-building effort has resulted in an amazing number of partnerships with the Cobb County School Board, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, military organizations, Kennesaw State University, other service organizations, etc. For example, because of the church’s relationship to the county schools there were 42 different schools that had their Christmas choral concerts at Piedmont Church with 14,000 in attendance. Because of sponsors, food vendors and crafters for the Christmas events the church was able to give a record $35.7K back to the schools, provide scholarships to deserving students, etc.; and this is just a small sample of the creative way Piedmont blesses the community.
Fifth, churches need to claim God’s promises. Everyone has a faith journey and churches can help them achieve their most worthy goals. Piedmont Church gave over $330,000 in designated offerings for what they call their “Love Does” ministry. Furthermore, Piedmont’s commitment to service has mobilized most of the church membership to be involved in some facet of their caring ministry.
Longacre exclaimed, “We have discovered that if the church wants to significantly impact their community, they need to love the people and the schools, ventures, programs, organizations the people love. The expansive community service of the Piedmont Church, in essence, is simply an extension of Pastor Ike Reighard’s vision and heart.”
Because of Piedmont’s investment in North Cobb County, the City of Acworth honored the church with the 2022 Business of the Year Award, the first church ever to win that award; and in the same year the city of Kennesaw hailed Piedmont Church as the runner-up for Business of the Year.
It was no surprise, except to Dr. Reighard, that on December 1, 2022, the Cobb Chamber’s Marietta Council selected him as the Marietta Citizen of the Year. Reighard is not only the driving force behind Piedmont Church’s extensive ministry in Cobb County, but he also serves as the President and CEO of MUST Ministries, which serves nearly 60,000 people a year struggling in poverty.
Marlon Longacre has been Reighard’s colleague from the beginning in implementing his vision; and he has proven himself to be a tireless community servant, but he is also an ambassador of good will for the cause of Christ and has helped to make Piedmont a church that cares. Because of his devoted and enthusiastic leadership, he has helped make Piedmont Church become the first on the list to many in Cobb County who know how to respond when asked, ‘Who ya gonna call?”
