Akron Baptist Temple, Home of World's Largest Sunday School, Now Closed

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illinoisguy

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Anybody remember Akron Baptist Temple, the IFB megachurch with pastor Charles Billington? At one time there were 7000 members, and the church was featured in Elmer Towns' "10 Largest Sunday Schools." The building is now abandoned and taken over by squatters:

Akron Baptist Temple in Kenmore could get demolished in redevelopment (beaconjournal.com)

The next article, from 2019, indicates that at that time, the shrunken Akron Baptist congregation was still meeting and was planning to relocate to another location. However, a Google search yields no info about where they may be meeting today, only a notification that reads "Permanently Closed."

Once-segregated Akron Baptist Temple sold to The Word Church - cleveland.com

There is still a Facebook page for "ABT: Home of the Bridge & The Temple" but there have been no posts since May 19, 2019. There is a strange Mother's Day video posted there, featuring 3 women singing and dancing to rock music. I thought IFBs didn't believe in that stuff.

(3) ABT: Home of The Bridge & The Temple | Facebook
 

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Who knows....I thought Hyles had the biggest church in the world..at least the largest Baptist church, back in the day!
 
fishinnut said:
I know nothing about that church but I found the following 2006 article.
www.redorbit.com

Akron Baptist Temple Pastor Will Step Down: Dallas R. Billington Heeds Calling - Redorbit

By Jim Carney, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio Feb. 21--The Rev. Dallas R. Billington has announced his resignation as senior pastor of the Akron Baptist Temple.
www.redorbit.com
Click to expand...
From reading the article it does not seem this was an IFB church. They had added a contemporary service and had small group Bible studies.
 
Interesting article - as of 2006 ABT was still going strong, and had added a contemporary service in addition to the traditional service. Here is more info about what went wrong, in a column from 2011 by Thom Rainer:

Where Have All the Churches Gone? | Church Answers

There are 60 comments on this article if you scroll down, many of them quite interesting, many of them having to do specifically with ABT. Here are some samples:

"I am the worship pastor @ the Akron Baptist Temple. We are alive and well not running near what we did in 1969. I was 11 years old when we received the World’s Largest Sunday School and remember it well when Dr. Towns came to our church. Easter Sunday we had almost 2200 people so we are not dead yet…things have changed a bit. I was a southern baptist for 27 years until moving from Florida back to Ohio to take the worship job. We use to run 55 buses. All gone. We are doing a blended worship plus a contemporary worship.. Just thought I would chime in with what is happening to the used to be WLSS at one time. The church has only had 4 pastor’s in 77 years. The first three Billington’s and one outside the church. It was right for the times. Thank God things change and the church moves on. ABT was always innovative in what we did for the times. Of course legalism was a part of it, but it was with a lot of churches at the time, not just independent churches but also southern baptist. We have caught up with the times and doing well. NO MORE LEGALISM. DEAD AND GONE. Hope this might shed some light on the church of today…." [Comment dated 2011 - this staff member left the church sometime afterward]

"After younger Dallas Billington moved away, a new Pastor, Ed Holland and his wife, Kathy, were brought in. They started in Dec. of 2006. I think that was a pivotal moment for the church. While I can certainly understand a new pastor wanting to hire his own workers I believe a lot of toes were stepped on and a lot of feelings were hurt, when long time workers/volunteers were made to feel their services were no longer needed and agendas changed. A building is just brick and mortar but people are the church! I have not attended the ABT for 5 years now and I am sad that the ABT I grew up in will soon be no more." [Comment dated 2017]

"Update on Akron Baptist Temple. The Word church has now announced that they are not financially able to meet the demands of the property. The building has been placed for sale, again. https://www.ohio.com/news/20190610/akron-megachurch-building-bought-last-year-is-back-on-market The former ABT is now meeting at their new facility on Killian Road in Akron. Its formal name is Connect Church. Recent article in the Akron Beacon Journal states that the current realtor is suggesting that the building be razed and a strip mall be built in its place." [Posted 2019 - There is a web site for Connect Church in Coventry Township, Ohio, so that's what happened to ABT. The Connect pastor is a Liberty graduate. I did not see any obvious references to Connect being Baptist, but they are still supporting some causes of the Baptist Bible Fellowship].

"I was a member of ABT years ago and I think the main reason ABT went down hill is when they brought in the CCM music. [It] appeals to the young and they do not bring in the money that the church needs because the older folks leave the church because of the music. Why did they bring in the worldly music in the first place ? We were told not to listen to rock music then ABT brings it into the church. It was from Satan and very worldly. Mark Davenport spoke a message on rock music, them there it is in the church. I loved ABT, but if I had not moved away from Akron, I would have left the church for Godly music. Some of the CCM people have been found to not be Christians and you want their music in your church ? WOW, no wonder ABT went down hill."
 
It's an interesting case. At least from the limited comments here, it almost sounds like the outsider pastor used the IFB system against itself. IFB churches typically take on the flavor of their pastor because the pastor has ultimate control. It seems like the outsider pastor came in and used the "don't question the man of God" rule to remove everything that made them IFB. In the non-IFB world, in most cases, their would have been elders or church council to put the breaks on some of the changes. While I would be more in agreement with the outsider pastor on a lot of issues, it seems like a train wreck waiting to happen to try to force non-IFB ideas on an IFB church.
 
Here's the dilemma. Some IFB pastors believe that, in order to make the IFBX system work, they have to have complete control over the church and over the personal lives of its members, and they brainwash them to accept that. Then, when a new pastor comes in and starts changing everything around, some of the members, who have been conditioned to "obey the pastor, no matter what," will allow the church to be hijacked in a totally new and possibly heretical direction. Other members, who have been insufficiently brainwashed and conditioned, will object to the new direction of the church and they will leave. As a result, the church will be weakened, financially and otherwise, and the new pastor may blame that on insufficient loyalty and sacrifices (and giving) on the part of the members who remain. I don't know if this explains the dramatic decline at Akron Baptist Temple, but it does explain why some churches go into a tailspin of decline when a new pastor arrives and starts making too many changes and moving too fast. (Some churches need to have lots of changes made, and they need a new pastor with the courage and leadership ability to make those changes, nevertheless new pastors need to be cautious about how they go about it without moving too fast and unnecessarily ruffling feathers among the old guard).
 
illinoisguy said:
Interesting article - as of 2006 ABT was still going strong, and had added a contemporary service in addition to the traditional service. Here is more info about what went wrong, in a column from 2011 by Thom Rainer:

Where Have All the Churches Gone? | Church Answers

There are 60 comments on this article if you scroll down, many of them quite interesting, many of them having to do specifically with ABT. Here are some samples:

"I am the worship pastor @ the Akron Baptist Temple. We are alive and well not running near what we did in 1969. I was 11 years old when we received the World’s Largest Sunday School and remember it well when Dr. Towns came to our church. Easter Sunday we had almost 2200 people so we are not dead yet…things have changed a bit. I was a southern baptist for 27 years until moving from Florida back to Ohio to take the worship job. We use to run 55 buses. All gone. We are doing a blended worship plus a contemporary worship.. Just thought I would chime in with what is happening to the used to be WLSS at one time. The church has only had 4 pastor’s in 77 years. The first three Billington’s and one outside the church. It was right for the times. Thank God things change and the church moves on. ABT was always innovative in what we did for the times. Of course legalism was a part of it, but it was with a lot of churches at the time, not just independent churches but also southern baptist. We have caught up with the times and doing well. NO MORE LEGALISM. DEAD AND GONE. Hope this might shed some light on the church of today…." [Comment dated 2011 - this staff member left the church sometime afterward]

"After younger Dallas Billington moved away, a new Pastor, Ed Holland and his wife, Kathy, were brought in. They started in Dec. of 2006. I think that was a pivotal moment for the church. While I can certainly understand a new pastor wanting to hire his own workers I believe a lot of toes were stepped on and a lot of feelings were hurt, when long time workers/volunteers were made to feel their services were no longer needed and agendas changed. A building is just brick and mortar but people are the church! I have not attended the ABT for 5 years now and I am sad that the ABT I grew up in will soon be no more." [Comment dated 2017]

"Update on Akron Baptist Temple. The Word church has now announced that they are not financially able to meet the demands of the property. The building has been placed for sale, again. https://www.ohio.com/news/20190610/akron-megachurch-building-bought-last-year-is-back-on-market The former ABT is now meeting at their new facility on Killian Road in Akron. Its formal name is Connect Church. Recent article in the Akron Beacon Journal states that the current realtor is suggesting that the building be razed and a strip mall be built in its place." [Posted 2019 - There is a web site for Connect Church in Coventry Township, Ohio, so that's what happened to ABT. The Connect pastor is a Liberty graduate. I did not see any obvious references to Connect being Baptist, but they are still supporting some causes of the Baptist Bible Fellowship].

"I was a member of ABT years ago and I think the main reason ABT went down hill is when they brought in the CCM music. [It] appeals to the young and they do not bring in the money that the church needs because the older folks leave the church because of the music. Why did they bring in the worldly music in the first place ? We were told not to listen to rock music then ABT brings it into the church. It was from Satan and very worldly. Mark Davenport spoke a message on rock music, them there it is in the church. I loved ABT, but if I had not moved away from Akron, I would have left the church for Godly music. Some of the CCM people have been found to not be Christians and you want their music in your church ? WOW, no wonder ABT went down hill."
Click to expand...
One must wonder if this is a fruit of the "buses all gone" and the "mixed" worship service. I think Dr. Dallas Billington, in Heaven for 50+ years, would be very upset if he were here...

www.news5cleveland.com

Akron begins demolition work at former Word Church site in Kenmore neighborhood

A former church complex in Akron's Kenmore neighborhood with a rich history— but a current source of aggravation— is coming down.
www.news5cleveland.com www.news5cleveland.com
 
Based upon this article, ABT and The Word Church are to completely separate congregations so this seems like an apples to oranges comparison to the former ABT.

The govermnent says they will agressively pursue the owners for repayment of the demolition costs but it seems that the draconian policies related to the Covid-19 Plan-Demic put this congregation up a creek without a proverbial paddle pretty much rendering the property unsellable at the time! If I were the legal counsel for this congregation, this would be my main defense argument and perhaps even a possible countersuit for damages!

Yes, the IFBx crowd is completely wackadoodle but it was not CCM that led to their downfall! It was their obsessive focus upon getting people in and filling seats at any cost that led to their downfall. You do not tailor you "Worship Service" to reach a certain demographic! Do I even need to expound on this any further?
 
Starlifter said:
ABT was somewhere in the top 10, not necessarily the largest.
Click to expand...
If memory serves, they were assumed to be the largest in the late 60’s. They were at the forefront of the IFB church growth movement. Elmer Towns was writing for Christian Life Magazine and complied an annual 100 Largest Sunday Schools edition….which really ruled the growth movement.
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
If memory serves, they were assumed to be the largest in the late 60’s. They were at the forefront of the IFB church growth movement. Elmer Towns was writing for Christian Life Magazine and complied an annual 100 Largest Sunday Schools edition….which really ruled the growth movement.
Click to expand...
America’s Ten Largest Sunday Schools, 1969
Sunday School Attendance
1. Akron Baptist Temple, Akron, Ohio ...........................5,762
2. Highland Park Baptist Church,
Chattanooga, Tennessee ................................................... 4,821**
3. First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas .................................. 4,731***
4. First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana .......................... 3,978
5. Canton Baptist Temple, Canton, Ohio……………………….3,581
6. Landmark Baptist Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio ..................... 3,540
7. Temple Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan ....................... 3,400****
8. First Baptist Church, Van Nuys, California ....................... 2,847
9. Thomas Road Baptist Church,
Lynchburg, Virginia ..................................................2,640
10. Calvary Temple, Denver, Colorado .............................2,453
* Material in this book taken from a survey of 30 largest Sunday Schools in U.S. published and copyrighted annually in October, Christian Life magazine, Gundersen Dr.
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
America’s Ten Largest Sunday Schools, 1969
Sunday School Attendance
1. Akron Baptist Temple, Akron, Ohio ...........................5,762
2. Highland Park Baptist Church,
Chattanooga, Tennessee ................................................... 4,821**
3. First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas .................................. 4,731***
4. First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana .......................... 3,978
5. Canton Baptist Temple, Canton, Ohio……………………….3,581
6. Landmark Baptist Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio ..................... 3,540
7. Temple Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan ....................... 3,400****
8. First Baptist Church, Van Nuys, California ....................... 2,847
9. Thomas Road Baptist Church,
Lynchburg, Virginia ..................................................2,640
10. Calvary Temple, Denver, Colorado .............................2,453
* Material in this book taken from a survey of 30 largest Sunday Schools in U.S. published and copyrighted annually in October, Christian Life magazine, Gundersen Dr.
Click to expand...
Ronald, wants to know what position THBC occupied in 1969?
 
I'm surprised Emmanuel Baptist Church Pontiac, Michigan didn't make the list. Pastored by Tom Malone before he passed away. What saddens me is there is no plan on saving the building. Emmanuel closed and the buildings not sure if they were sold.
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
America’s Ten Largest Sunday Schools, 1969
Sunday School Attendance
1. Akron Baptist Temple, Akron, Ohio ...........................5,762
2. Highland Park Baptist Church,
Chattanooga, Tennessee ................................................... 4,821**
3. First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas .................................. 4,731***
4. First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana .......................... 3,978
5. Canton Baptist Temple, Canton, Ohio……………………….3,581
6. Landmark Baptist Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio ..................... 3,540
7. Temple Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan ....................... 3,400****
8. First Baptist Church, Van Nuys, California ....................... 2,847
9. Thomas Road Baptist Church,
Lynchburg, Virginia ..................................................2,640
10. Calvary Temple, Denver, Colorado .............................2,453
* Material in this book taken from a survey of 30 largest Sunday Schools in U.S. published and copyrighted annually in October, Christian Life magazine, Gundersen Dr.
Click to expand...

3 of the top 10 hailing from Ohio, interesting. As I look around our tri-state, and make casual historical observations, it makes sense as to the impact of the impact of IFBs made in the area, and unfortunately (or fortunately according to some other perspectives) I see the waning influence of such conservative theological churches in favor of the Furtick/Warren/Hybels models.
 
I’ve visited all but Calvary in Colorado and Thomas Rd. In Virginia.

Results of a life on the road. About half the visits were after the founder of each was either retired or dead.
 
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