October 24, 2024
COMMERCE, Ga. – If Pastor Chuck Cook had to put his finger on just one factor that has led to the revitalization of Beaverdam Baptist Church, he would point to a palpable feeling of love that visitors experience when they walk through the doors.
“Everyone who visits, they feel that love,” Cook said. “The congregation has such a welcoming nature about them. A high percentage of our first-time visitors come back. They get plugged in. And they invite their friends to come. The excitement is contagious.”
Since Cook became pastor less than three years ago, the 200-year-old church in rural Georgia, an hour northeast of Atlanta, has seen a resurgence in attendance, memberships, and baptisms. The sanctuary and parking lot have been filled with an average of about 130 people, forcing Beaverdam’s leadership to start a second Sunday morning service beginning this week to better accommodate the crowds.
Georgia Baptist Mission Board staffer Andy Childs said the love Cook talks about is necessary if a church is to flourish.
“We can have church growth strategies, outreach programs, all those things, and have the best there is, but if we don’t have love, 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, we’re just a clanging cymbal, just a gong,” Childs said. “How is it that Beaverdam is able to create an environment of love and grace? It’s because they know the love and grace of Christ. So, when a new person comes in, that love is evident.”
Childs said he has known Cook, a teacher and former high school baseball coach, for years and that Beaverdam’s love for people emanates from him.
“Chuck is a phenomenal leader and a gospel-driven preacher,” Childs said. “That’s just how he lives his life.”
Cook said he has simply moved his coaching skills from the baseball diamond to the church. “That way, I’m always on a winning team,” he said with a chuckle.
Larry Sparks, a member of Beaverdam since about 1962, said he has never seen the church as healthy as it is now.
“Now we have a very active youth program,” he said. “We’re reaching out to seniors, just trying to have a well-balanced ministry.”
Sparks, a deacon, credits Cook with creating a sense of excitement among the congregation by getting them actively engaged in ministry in lots of ways. That includes collecting food and clothing for needy families, supporting a nearby pregnancy crisis center, and providing financial support through the Cooperative Program to the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board, thereby ensuring that the gospel is being shared at home and around the world.
“Our pastor is very much concerned about lost souls,” Sparks said.
Cook had been serving as a student pastor and family pastor when he felt a tug toward becoming a lead pastor. As he prayed about that, he heard that Beaverdam was looking for a pastor not just to lead but to “coach” the congregation.
“Being a former baseball coach, I thought that was me,” he said. “They had a great group of people in place when I got there. They really wanted someone to generate excitement and get people in the right places.”
Twenty-seven members voted unanimously to call Cook as pastor in October 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Since then, the church has added about 130 new members, about 40 of them new believers who joined through baptism.
“They’ve loved people better than I’ve seen anywhere,” Cook said of the Beaverdam congregation. “They have a desire for people to come to Christ and to grow in Christ. These are people who love the Lord and who love people. They want to do whatever it takes to get that one more in.”
Last Sunday, the church celebrated its 200th birthday with an overflow crowd of 150 people.
“It’s just a special place,” Cook said. “People sense that. And, considering the days we’re living in with the stress of the pandemic and the political chaos, people are looking for a refuge, a place of hope, and I think that’s what they find at Beaverdam. They can shut out the world, and it can all be about Jesus.”
