In Dacula, GA, located about 30 miles from the center of Atlanta, you will find many cultural “Christians,” as well as many who have never heard the gospel at all. Dacula is a southern town in the “Bible Belt” that is experiencing tremendous growth, and with that growth comes tremendous diversity. Georgia Gwinnett College, ten minutes from our church, has been named the most ethnically diverse southern regional college nine years in a row. The nations are moving to us!
The opportunity for the gospel in our area is great. Cultural “Christians” need to begin truly following Jesus and committing to His Body, the Church. Those far from Christ need to hear and believe the good news about Jesus. Church members need to begin making disciples. Church leaders need to pour into the next generation of pastors and ministry leaders. The opportunity is great, and we need laborers to seize it.
Dacula, GA
In December of 2018, Dr. Landon Dowden came to Hebron Baptist Church to serve as its new Lead Pastor with a vision to bring spiritual and theological revitalization to a large but shrinking congregation. Under Landon’s leadership, our ministry plan is simple: we trust the Spirit and the Word to do the work that only God can do. By God’s grace, we’re beginning to see the fruit of a congregation that loves Jesus, loves His Word, loves His church, and is passionate about reaching the nations.
Hebron’s size, history, and location make it a strategic place to do ministry. Founded in 1842 and now one of the largest SBC churches in Georgia, Hebron has a large footprint and an established place in our community. While churches abound in our area, churches that are gospel-centered, preach expositionally, take membership seriously, and value discipleship and missions are much harder to find. Our payer is that God will use us to build a healthy church that is well positioned to plant more churches, train more ministers, and send more missionaries.
There is a great need for people willing to serve—people passionate about articulating the gospel clearly and building authentic community.
Hebron is uniquely qualified to provide top-notch theological and pastoral training to its residents as they begin serving in the local church. Residents will be able to take in-person seminary courses through the NOBTS Atlanta extension center on Hebron’s campus. Chet Harvey (Ph.D., SEBTS) serves as the Director of this extension center and as our Discipleship Pastor. Our staff also includes Landon Dowden (Ph.D., NOBTS) who teaches at both SEBTS and NOBTS as an adjust professor, Nathan Neufang (currently completing his Ph.D. at MBTS), and many others with decades of experience serving oversees, with children, administratively, musically, or pastorally.
Generation Link residents at Hebron will have the opportunity to be mentored and discipled by an incredible staff while serving full-time as part of our ministry team! Opportunities exist in college ministry, student ministry, children’s ministry, music ministry, missions and community outreach, communications, administration, and more! At Hebron, you will be invested in, and you will have the opportunity to make a real difference for the Kingdom.
*Exact dates and cost are subject to change
SummerLINK Atlanta will be serving alongside Parkside Church to serve the east side neighborhoods of Atlanta, as well as, our nearby colleges and universities. Throughout the summer we will participate in evangelism and community outreach that we hope turns into deep disciple-making relationships and new ministries. This is an exciting time to join Parkside as we plan to launch the church this upcoming fall. This summer will be a crucial and formative time for our church.
Our Atlanta team will plan to have preview services where we will worship together, hear teaching from the Word, and invite our communities to join us. In addition, we will have many community outreach events where we will engage our neighbors with the gospel and an invitation to see what is happening at Parkside Church . As our desire is to help you thrive during your time in Atlanta, we want to position you to help us engage our city, and build relationships that will last after you’re gone!
For more information about Summer LINK Atlanta-Urban, please contact Christian White at cwhite@generationlink.org