The Summit Church
The Summit Church is a Southern Baptist multi-site church headquartered in Durham, North Carolina and meeting at 11 campuses across the Triangle area. Regular attendance averages nearly 10,000 people weekly. Services are also available through the church website and by podcast.
| The Summit Church | |
|---|---|
| Location | Durham, North Carolina |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Weekly attendance | 10,000 |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Founded | 1961 |
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | J.D. Greear |
History
The Summit Church began in 1961[1] when Sam James preached the first service at what was then the Grace Baptist Mission in Durham. Within a year, the mission had grown into the new Homestead Heights Baptist Church. The Church grew to a membership of over 150 by 1965 and as it continued to grow, the congregation constructed a new church building in the 1980s to host close to 600 people. Although it briefly exceeded capacity, the 1990s saw little growth and eventually declined to a stable 400 members.
In 2002, Homestead Heights called its college pastor of a year and a half, J.D. Greear, to be pastor.[2][3] Upon accepting the position, Greear called for the renaming and ultimately the re-launching of the church as the Summit Church. In the first three years, a large influx of members eventually led to the sale of its property located on Holt School Road, and in April 2005 the church began holding services at Riverside High School.[1]
As of January 2019, The Summit Church has campuses at three locations in Durham, plus additional campuses in Raleigh, Apex, Garner, Chapel Hill and Mebane. There are Spanish-language campuses in Durham and Raleigh.
References
- Flo Johnston. "Church sets sites anew as it grows." newsobserver.com. Published 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- Flo Johnston. "Church to sell its site." newsobserver.com Published 2005-03-04. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- Yonat Shimron. "Durham church spreads Gospel with DVDs." Archived 2008-10-19 at the Wayback Machine newsobserver.com. Published 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2009-06-10.