“There is a need to be one church with one philosophy — doing whatever it takes to develop committed followers of Jesus Christ,” Surber said. “We’re not interested in watering down our message. We want to raise the bar.”

One of the Nashville’s largest Baptist churches will have a new name that omits the word “Baptist.”

Effective March 20, Two Rivers Baptist Church will become The Fellowship at Two Rivers, church leaders announced this week.

“We are trying to restart or reboot our church,” said Two Rivers Executive Pastor Len Taylor. “The Two Rivers Baptist Church name has been drug through the mud for the last several years. I’d even go as far to say that it’s been drug through the sewers.
“We wanted to come back with a new identity, define ourselves and not let others do it for us.”

Two Rivers, which averages about 1,000 worshippers on Sundays, is coming out of a difficult period in its history. Former Senior Pastor Jerry Sutton left in 2008 because of a dispute that began with the selection of music and ended with a lawsuit over finances.

About 70 members first tried to have Sutton ousted by the congregation, and then sued to have him removed as pastor and to get access to church financial records. The dissident members lost in court and later were voted out of the church.

In October 2009, attendance hit rock bottom. Once averaging at about 3,000 on Sundays, it dropped to a low of about 650 as members left.

Read More: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201103050210/NEWS06/103050346

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