Concord Baptist Church sits along Concord Road where Forsyth and Dawson counties meet just north of Cumming, Georgia. The congregation traces its roots to 1837, when neighbors in this corner of the North Georgia foothills first gathered under a shade tree about a mile from where the present campus now stands. Almost two centuries later, Concord is still a single-site community church, and the leadership describes it as "small enough to treat visitors like family and large enough to offer plenty of service and worship opportunities." Across the same stretch of road sit a sanctuary, a fellowship hall, a family life center, a three-story education building, a chapel that doubles as classroom space, and one of the older cemeteries in the area, where veterans from the Civil War through Vietnam are buried.

Worship on Sunday Morning

The Sunday schedule opens at 9:45 a.m. with Sunday School for every age. Adult classes include Ladies of Faith (Age 60+), Adult 2, the Jimmy Moore Class (55+), In Living Hope (ladies), Fellowship Class (singles and couples), a singles and couples class, the Class of Joy, Homebuilders, Young Couples, Young Adults (18 to 25), and a Single Women's class. Youth are divided into high school, middle school boys, and middle school girls. Children move through graded rooms from nursery (Room 101) through fifth grade (Room 202), with a Bible and Me class for three-year-olds and another for four- and five-year-olds. Childcare is available during the Sunday School hour.

The morning worship service begins at 11:00 a.m. Concord calls its style a "dynamic, life-changing experience" built on a blended approach that draws from great hymns of the faith, modern praise songs, and contemporary hymns from today's composers. The service opens with music and prayer at the altar, followed by a brief welcome time, more music, a sermon, and an open response. Childcare is available, and the service is described as deaf and hard of hearing accessible. Visitors are not singled out or asked to give, and dress is whatever is comfortable.

Wednesday Nights Around the Table

Wednesday evenings at Concord are built around a shared meal. The licensed food service staff prepares a family dinner at 5:00 p.m. for member rates of $8 per adult, $4 for children ten and under, and a $27 family maximum. After dinner, the building fills with programming that runs from 5:30 p.m. through 8:00 p.m. Children's choirs (Music Makers for four- and five-year-olds and Young Musicians for first through fifth grade) and the Youth Choir rehearse from 5:30 to 6:20 p.m. Faith Friends, the children's program, runs from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. with music, Bible stories, games, prayer, and fellowship. The youth group meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Worship Room. Adults have three options at 6:30 p.m.: the Adult Bible Study, the Grace Group, and the Celebration Choir rehearsal, which runs to 8:00 p.m.

Children, Youth, and Adults

The Children's Ministry treats children as full participants in the life of the church. In addition to graded Sunday School classes and the Faith Friends midweek program, children are invited into Concord's blended worship services and are taught to develop and use their gifts in music through the graded children's choir program. Children's workers partner with parents and have all passed background checks. Director Kellie Durden, a career elementary teacher who joined the staff with an ESOL endorsement, oversees the ministry alongside her husband Andy and their three sons.

The Youth Ministry is built on the conviction that passing faith to the next generation requires more than keeping young people busy. Goals for the youth team include helping students reconcile with God, connect with other believers, grow in faith, discover God's calling, and train for lifelong service. Youth meet in Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. and again on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., with separate space for high schoolers, middle school boys, and middle school girls. Youth Pastor Dr. Charles W. "Chip" Penland, who came to Concord after ten years of pastoral work with a Deaf congregation in Memphis, leads the ministry with his wife Traci and their three children.

Adults at Concord find a wide spread of options: graded Sunday School classes organized by age and life stage, a Wednesday evening Bible study, the Grace Group small group, the Ladies Bible Study that meets Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. and again at 6:00 p.m. in the Family Life Center, and a robust music ministry that gives every age group a place to sing.

A Music Ministry for Every Generation

Concord's music ministry, led by Worship Leader Eric Tippens, is organized into ensembles that rehearse throughout the week. The Celebration Choir, an adult choir open to all ages, rehearses Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and leads worship each Sunday. The OASIS Choir (Older Adults Still in Service) rehearses Wednesday mornings from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. and alternates rehearsals with nursing home and homebound ministry. The Youth Choir, for sixth through twelfth graders, rehearses Wednesday evenings. The Concord Vocal Ensemble meets Sundays at 8:15 a.m. and the Instrumental Ensemble at 8:30 a.m. to prepare for the morning service. Together they give the church its blended sound, anchored in hymnody and reaching into contemporary worship.

Concord Weekday Preschool

Sharing the Concord campus is a Weekday Preschool that has served the community since the early 2000s under Director Shannon Gilbert. The preschool holds a state exemption from licensing through Bright from the Start, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, and admits students of any race, color, national, or ethnic origin. It runs from 8:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, following the Forsyth County School System calendar, with drop-off from 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. and pick-up from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m.

Three programs operate side by side. The two-year-old program uses the ABC Jesus Love Me curriculum and introduces colors, shapes, counting to ten, letters, manners, and a weekly featured picture book, alongside Bible stories supported by memory verses, songs, and fingerplays. The three-year-old program adds a chronological walk through key Bible stories starting in Genesis, letter-of-the-week instruction, numbers, and pre-writing through tactile letters. The Pre-K program uses the same curriculum with Handwriting Without Tears and focuses on character traits drawn from the Fruits of the Spirit, basic math, and the skills a child needs to enter kindergarten. The preschool does not offer Georgia-funded Pre-K. Students entering three- and four-year-old classes must be fully potty trained by July 1. Parents register online with a $150 non-refundable registration fee, and tuition runs from about $275 a month for two-year-old classes up to $340 a month for the four-day Pre-K.

What Concord Believes

The church's statement of faith centers on the historic Christian conviction that there is one true God, infinite and all-knowing, eternally existing in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each worthy of worship. Salvation, in Concord's teaching, comes only through faith in Jesus Christ; every person is born with a sin nature and is in need of a Savior. The church teaches that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, symbolizing death to sin and resurrection to new life. Concord holds that all who trust Christ are placed by the Holy Spirit into one united body, the Church, expressed locally in autonomous congregations of baptized believers.

Eschatology is stated plainly: Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, the saved and the lost will be raised, those who have received Christ will dwell with Him forever, and those who have refused Him will face everlasting punishment. Marriage is taught as a covenant uniting one man and one woman for life, parents are entrusted with the spiritual formation of their children, and Christians are described as stewards of their time, talents, and material possessions, accountable to give cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally.

Fourteen core values guide the congregation: full devotion to Christ, biblical teaching and preaching, authentic worship as a whole-life response, discipleship, prayer, authentic community, the family, a grace orientation to ministry, valuing people as God values them, equipping and mobilizing members to minister, creativity and innovation, ministry excellence, unity in diversity, and local, domestic, and foreign missions.

Senior Lunch, GriefShare, and Other Rhythms

Older adults at Concord have several touch points through the month. OASIS sings and serves on Wednesday mornings. The Senior Adult Choir and the church's regular Senior Lunch program give the congregation a way to stay connected. The Senior Lunch meets once a month on a Friday at noon for a home-cooked meal, fellowship, and entertainment. Reservations are required at $8 per plate, and seniors on the permanent list can cancel by calling the church office.

Other regular rhythms include a GriefShare support group that meets weekly for ten weeks in the FLC conference room, and the Ladies Bible Study that gathers in the Family Life Center on Thursday mornings and evenings. The church keeps a standing food service operation for members and guests and operates a full calendar of seasonal events for families, with weekend gatherings throughout the year.

Leadership

Senior Pastor Dr. Scott T. Gilbert was called to Concord in February 2013 after nine years at Castleberry Road Baptist Church and brings twenty-nine years of ministry experience. He holds a BA in Information Systems from the University of Georgia, an MDiv from New Orleans Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He and his wife Kendra have three daughters. Worship Leader Eric Tippens is in his twenty-fifth year of music ministry in North Georgia and joined Concord in February 2020. Pastoral Assistant Dana Hallman keeps the office running, and Children's Ministry Director Kellie Durden oversees children's programming. Preschool Director Shannon Gilbert has led the Weekday Preschool since August 2004 and also provides financial administrative support to the church.

Connect, Give, and Listen In

Anyone who wants to learn more can fill out a short "I'm New" form, share a prayer request, or sign up to volunteer, all linked from the church's online connect page. Giving can be made online as a one-time gift or as a recurring contribution. Each Sunday's worship service is livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, and previous services are kept in an online archive for listening and viewing throughout the week. The cemetery that has belonged to Concord since the nineteenth century is open to visitors who want to walk the grounds and read the names of veterans and neighbors from every generation the church has served.