Overview
Our History
The Greenforest [Community] Baptist Church was founded in 1958 with 135 charter members who met in the Wadsworth Elementary School on Greenforest Drive, Decatur, Georgia. The church was incorporated on June 5, 1959. Church buildings were erected on property purchased adjacent to the school in the early 1960’s.
In the early to mid 1970’s, church membership began to decline as the racial make-up of the community began to transition. On one Sunday morning in 1977, in what has been termed as “The Exodus Experience,” nearly all of the Caucasian church members, including the pastor, moved their membership from Greenforest Baptist Church. The remaining membership operated as a mission congregation for approximately 18 months under the guidance of the Atlanta Baptist Association (ABA).
The Atlanta Baptist Association assigned one of its staff members, the Rev. John H. Cross- former pastor of the 16th St Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama (bombed September 15, 1963) as interim pastor. After stabilizing the mission church through his wise and seasoned leadership, Rev. Cross played an influential role in Rev. Dr. George O. McCalep, Jr. being called to serve as the senior pastor of the 25-member congregation in 1979. During his early pastorate, the deed to the property was regained from the ABA and the church transitioned from mission status into an autonomous, self-governing Baptist church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 1989, as the Lord blessed the church under the leadership of Rev. McCalep, the Greenforest congregation took several bold steps of faith as they purchased the 16-acre Mt. Carmel Christian Church facility located on Rainbow Drive and subsequently added an additional 78 acres. Under Pastor McCalep’s 27 years of visionary leadership, Greenforest experienced tremendous expansion and growth in population, facilities, ministries and influence as a model church across Georgia and North America. Rev. McCalep served as senior pastor until the Lord called him home on December 23, 2006.
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