October 1, 2026
EAST POINT, Ga. — Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church rededicated its newly renovated sanctuary Sunday, Aug. 9, in a service of prayers, songs, Scripture, and a congregational litany. Church leaders called the congregation to renew its own commitment to worship, witness, and service in the community.
The service marked the completion of a sanctuary renovation Pastor Rusty Couch said was long overdue. The church’s previous renovation was completed in 1995, and in the years since, the building had required a new roof and a completely new HVAC system. The sanctuary also sat unused for nearly two years during that process, Couch said, which accelerated its deterioration.
But Couch made clear from the beginning that the morning was not about celebrating a building.
“This is a deluxe worship service,” Couch told the congregation during his welcome. “And we’re doing so not to celebrate this building, or not to celebrate any one individual, but to make much of Jesus Christ.”
Couch said part of making much of Christ was renewing the church’s commitment to the surrounding community and continuing to serve as “a shining beacon of light.” Jefferson Avenue Baptist was established in 1945, and Couch told the congregation he was praying the church would continue its ministry for generations to come.
“We’re on 81 years here,” Couch said, “and we’ll go another 81, if the Lord tarries.”
The renovation addressed a number of needs in the historic sanctuary. Couch said the ceiling bore marks from old water leaks, the carpet was stained from decades of use, the choir chairs dated to 1972, and the stage setup was not ideal.
The work included painting the sanctuary from ceiling to floor moldings, repairing the ceiling, replacing the carpet, expanding the stage, building a perch for the cross in the choir loft, purchasing new choir chairs, making cosmetic repairs to existing pews, and completing work on a safer, more functional audio, visual, and lighting booth in the balcony. The church also adjusted the spacing and angle of pew sections, reducing seating by 26 while leaving the sanctuary with a capacity of more than 350.
Couch said the renovated room preserves the traditional beauty of the sanctuary while improving its usefulness for worship. The room still features stained-glass windows, ornate trim and molding, a pipe organ, pews, and chandeliers, but the church also has integrated modern technology to help communicate its message of “faith, hope and love.”
Newt Hendrix, the church’s interim music minister, noted that the sanctuary was first dedicated to God as a place of worship in December 1952. It was renovated in 1971, restored again in 1995, and now, 31 years later, the congregation had gathered once more for a service of rededication.
“May we as church move boldly into our next season of service here in this grand old structure,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix said the building had been constructed, dedicated, and used for the glory of God, and he prayed that effective ministry would continue in the years ahead. But he also said the rededication was about more than the room.
“Today after a time of refreshing and restoration for this building,” Hendrix said, “may we as a people, as a congregation, as a church also be restored, refreshed and renewed for the days ahead.”
Hendrix then led the congregation in a litany of rededication, asking that strangers be welcomed, the lost be found, the hurting be healed, and the weary find rest. The congregation responded repeatedly with, “We rededicate this place to the glory of God.”
Darwin Caldwell, pastor emeritus of Jefferson Avenue Baptist, then led a prayer of rededication, thanking God for the opportunity to serve with a congregation that loves Him and wants His will for the church.
“We rededicate ourselves on a daily basis, Father, because You are the One we want to serve,” Caldwell prayed.
Russell Howard, lead pastor of McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Fla., preached from Psalm 84 and reminded the congregation that the church is not the renovated space, but the people God has called to worship and serve.
“The church is you, not this incredible building,” Howard said. “The place is nice, praise God for the place. The place is not the church.”
Howard said the message of Jefferson Avenue through the years has remained unchanged.
“The heart message of this congregation and this sweet hall has been, ‘Come to Jesus,’” he said.
He urged the church to continue “reaching up in worship, reaching out to the community, reaching in with love for one another,” and prayed that the rededication would serve as a milestone as the congregation follows Christ into what comes next.
The renovation was made possible in part through a legacy gift from the family of a recently deceased church member. Couch said the church set aside seed money from that gift, but the amount was less than half of what was needed. The congregation is trusting God to provide the remaining funds by the end of the year.
Couch said the project also strengthened the faith of the church’s leadership team and sanctuary renovations committee. Like many projects to renovate older buildings, the work brought cost overruns and unexpected challenges. Those included extensive work to block stains on the ceiling and misunderstanding over carpet costs. But Couch said the church met those challenges with faith.
“One of the statements we kept uttering to all who will listen,” Couch said, was, “‘Faith is contagious!’”
Longtime member Jim Selman, who was baptized at Jefferson Avenue on Easter Sunday in 1954, said the renovation took about seven weeks and addressed visible wear from years of age and water leaks.
Couch said the church hopes investing in the facility communicates that Jefferson Avenue Baptist is thinking about the future. Organizations that invest in their facilities, he said, are making a statement that they are not closing, but preparing for what is ahead.
The building also serves as a bridge to the community. Couch said groups such as the Jefferson Park Neighborhood Association, a chapter of Tara Beekeepers, support groups, and educational groups use the church’s facilities. The sanctuary also hosts community events, including concerts with students from Tri-Cities High School, located at the end of Jefferson Avenue.
“Our disposition to the facility is simple,” Couch said. “We worship King Jesus, and we use the building to assist in that endeavor.”
Couch recently challenged the congregation with a new vision statement: “to be a dynamic, multiplying church in south Atlanta.” The renovation, he said, provides the church with a beautiful, safe, and strategic location for worship for the next two decades, allowing the congregation to focus its energy on preaching the gospel, making disciples, and reaching the community.
Couch closed the service by praying that the worship, Scripture, and rededication would continue beyond the morning gathering.
He prayed that what had taken place “will not die in this moment,” but that the congregation would walk out with “our lights brighter, with our hope stronger, and Lord, with our joy even more radiant.”
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