News from Northside Drive Baptist Church

"inclusive. inquiring. involved."

Mike Gregg 09

By Rev. Mike Gregg

Ever since the shhhhhh... Methodists... "borrowed" our slogan, "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors," it has been difficult to tell people in an easy phrase who we are at Northside Drive Baptist Church. We are so much more than Christian or Baptist. In a nutshell, we are place where you will find...

-- A smaller, more personal church where you can be known
-- Opportunities for spiritual growth and open-minded inquiry
-- Hands-on service that supports our community and the world
-- A tradition of liturgical worship
-- Close friendships across generations
-- A welcoming and loving spirit

But as you can tell, that is way more than we could put on the cover of a worship bulletin or the top right hand corner of a website. So as the Marketing Committee was creating a new brochure for the church, three words came to the surface as to the identity of Northside Drive Baptist Church.

First, we are inclusive. This has been a word used at Northside Drive for decades and describes who we are as a people of God. We believe that the wide arms of God surround people of different ethnicities, races, denominations, religions, cultures, genders, and orientations. And believe it or not, that is drastically different than how many people and churches view and interact with God. Northside Drive sees God as a God of love, life and inclusiveness.

Second, we are inquiring. The word inquiring describes who we are as intellectual beings. We are a church that seeks to educate and be educated on theology, the Bible, and the world. We are free to come to God and to each other with the complex questions of life without the fear of being laughed at or turned away. We are a church who lives out our questions in community and in grace.

Third, we are involved. From the Food Bank, to the Moncrief Center, to Habitat for Humanity, to Guatemala and beyond, we are a church that is involved in our community and in our world. We give a strong percentage of our budget to missions programs and we have many volunteers intimately connected to organizations throughout Atlanta and the world. Northside Drive is a very involved church.

As you notice our slogan "inclusive. inquiring. involved." on our publications and on our website, it is my hope that you will get a sense of how Northside Drive Baptist Church is well-rounded in its purpose to live out the intentions of God in Atlanta and the world.