Joe Westbury

'Butch' Butcher, 49

The Summit Church, Loganville

• "Part of God's commission to us is to deliver the gospel to the lost and the unchurched. He has given us the freedom to wrap it in culturally sensitive ways that our hearers can understand."

• "The message is what is sacred, not the method (of delivery)."

• "If you go to a tribe of people that only uses sticks and drums as a form of music, then you use sticks and drums as a form of music in your worship. You don' t have to bring in a piano and an organ before you can teach a Christian song."

• "A church needs to do missions, and missions includes planting churches."

Bryant Wright, 53

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta

• "If we were not open to offering an alternative form of worship we would be guilty of denying the Gospel to hundreds who are attracted to those services."

• "Participants at all five of our services hear the same uncompromised message, but we vary the style in which it is delivered."

• "One of our core values is 'an unchanging message and an ever-changing methodology for reaching today's world for Christ.'"

Joe Westbury

Milton Wood, 67

Came out of retirement to pastor First Baptist Church of Forest Park

• "The style of worship is secondary to the presentation of the message."

• "The Gospel must be contemporary. It must be relevant to its hearers. That's what the Apostle Paul taught when he said he became all things to all people so that he might by all means save some. He never compromised the message but always sought out ways to make it relevant."

• "I personally prefer a traditional service with a choir and robes and hymn singing. But it's not about me or about what I want. It's about Him and making the Gospel relevant to those outside the church doors."

Dean Haun, 49

First Baptist Church, Jonesboro

• "Our church is 180 years old and much of our change has occurred in just the past four years. In many ways I think our change is representative of what our country has experienced."

• "Our community began to change and we had to ask ourselves if we were going to stay and adapt or relocate. Our decision was to stay where God had planted us and find new ways to communicate Christ’s love."

• "We could have sat here and died and expected the unchurched to come worship on our terms, but we chose to be proactive in changing our style. We have a ton of folks here in Clayton County and they may not all look like us, but we have an obligation in Acts 1:8 to reach every one of them in a manner they can understand."

Joe Westbury

Tim Wolfe, 41

1027 Church, Atlanta

• "The issue is not whether you are contemporary or traditional but are you being effective, are you reaching the lost?"

• "Christianity has a revolutionary message to proclaim and it can't be confined to just one format."