by Oliver Hayes  ~

Take a drive down South Main Street in Kernersville and Triad Baptist Church is hard to miss.  I had the opportunity to visit the buzzing campus a couple of weeks ago and meet the Lead Pastor, Rob Decker.  He, along with the Creative Communications Director Jeremy Chandler and Administrative Assistant, Katherine Bean donned me with a hard hat and gave me a tour of the new facility under construction.

The nearly 33-acre campus across from Wal-Mart is home to a preschool, K-9 Academy (adding a 10th grade in the 2014-2015 school year) and, on any given Sunday, more than 1,400 people including around 400 children in Triad’s Kids Street Church celebrating a God who they see as far greater than themselves.

Local residents taking part in the church’s basketball, cheerleading, soccer, and flag football programs outnumber members. That is often the case too with Triad’s long list of ministries, which include help for those battling addictions, cancer and grief, to encouragement for single and married moms, and more.

A new Worship Center/Gym expected to open later this spring is the latest campus addition.  But what excites Lead Pastor Rob Decker the most is not the Worship Center’s 1,400 seats but the people who will sit in them—whether church members in a service or residents attending a local event—and what God will do in their lives.

“If it was just about the bricks and mortar and the ‘stuff,’ none of this would be worth the money,” he says, surveying the 44,000 square foot building.  “Instead, we are building space that allows people to worship, connect, serve, and reach—in short, do everything we are called to do as Christ’s church.  That is what will allow God to continue to work through us and continue to touch people in Kernersville and far beyond, and that is why we are building.

“I think we all want to live lives that count and be part of something much bigger than ourselves,” Pastor Rob adds.  “That happens all the time here because God is leading the work and people say, ‘Use me.’  It is an unspeakable joy as a pastor to lead a people like that, and an incredible privilege to be part of God’s work in this way.”

Daryl and Leah Burnette are a case in point.  The businessman and former Piney Grove Elementary school teacher met through the church’s college and career ministry in 2003, married in 2006, adopted three children through volunteering with Triad’s Miles of Hope for Orphan Children ministry, and are now full-time missionaries.  They are currently raising support to travel to Mozambique in April 2015 and minister to street children in the capital city of Maputo.

“We have had such great support from our church,” Daryl says about Triad.  “We know God has been answering our prayers all the way and used Triad to prepare us for service.”

Triad’s contemporary worship service—the first of three Sunday services beginning at 8:45 a.m.—had a similar origin.  A group of people simply felt called to develop a service incorporating praise and worship songs and put feet to their faith.  The result is Triad’s largest and fastest-growing service.

Jason Johnson, one of the original architects of the service says, “True worship is worshipping God in spirit and in truth.  It is about Him and not about us.  What is most important about music is not the style but the message, and it has been inspiring to see how God has spoken to hearts through the music and message.”

For local resident MaryAnn, it was not the worship through music that God used to shift her focus to Him.  It was the listening ear of Triad member LuAnne Webb.

Through Triad, LuAnne became a lay counselor in its Life Support Counseling Ministry.  She got the call when MaryAnn sought help after her husband’s diabetes spawned a dangerous infection.  The disease soon took away his job, mobility, independence, and—very nearly—his life.

Forced to adjust to the demands of full-time care giving and a radically altered income and lifestyle, MaryAnn credits God’s use of LuAnne with helping her get her life back on track.

“It did not change my husband’s health situation or what I face every day but it did heal me,” she says.  “I felt like I had a burden lifted off.  I was so overcome with grief, loneliness, and guilt.  I became emotionally healed through being able to trust someone.”

Helping people find their place of worship is important to Pastor Rob.  In a recent message he said, “When you worship God sincerely, no prison can hold you, no sickness can hold you, no disease can hold you; depression is destroyed…God’s power is greater.”

“It is so clear that something far greater than ourselves is at work here,” Pastor Rob explains.  “Our success has been God working through people who yearn for something far above the ordinary and who, in God’s power, get to experience it, be used by Him, grow in faith, and see others grow as a result.”

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Services:

Contemporary – 8:45 a.m.

Traditional – 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

(Going to two services at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. when the Worship Center/Gym Opens)

1175 South Main Street

Kernersville, NC 27284

336-996-7573

tbcnow.org

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Triad Baptist Christian Academy & Preschool:

TBCA has over 300 students from Preschool through 9th grade.  Enrollment is currently open for 2014-2015 (Preschool-10th grade).  We are a member of ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) and are currently in the process of full accreditation.  All teachers are ACSI certified and some have both ACSI and NC licensure.  Learn more about TBCA at tbcanow.org.

Lower School offers Spanish, Music, Art, Computer, Library, Physical Education, and Chapel.

Middle/High School currently offers Art, Music, Physical Education, Health, Computer, Chapel, and Yearbook.

Extra-Curricular Activities Include: Newspaper, Drama, Science Club, Student Council, and Athletics

Athletics Include: Volleyball, Soccer, Track, Basketball, and Baseball