Our Story
Pastor Tyrone Barnette launched Peace Baptist Church in 1993 with 14 adults to restore broken lives and to establish a church that would mend a broken community. He believes the church cannot isolate itself from the pain of people, the problems of society, or allow the pressures of a changing world to hinder the church from being the light Jesus called it to be. God holds the church responsible for society. Pastor Barnette teaches that Christians cannot huddle inside the church sanctuary but we must take ministry to the streets.
Today, Peace Baptist has grown to a weekly attendance of 1,400 at its main campus in Decatur, planted six congregations throughout Atlanta, and established churches in Brazil and South Africa. Peace operates over 25 ministries including recovery ministries, programs that distribute over 400,000 pounds of food yearly to the community, manages a $1.6 million grant to operate an after-school educational center for DeKalb students in elementary, middle and high school, and administers many other programs to address brokenness.
Over the years, Peace has endeavored to stay true to the vision God gave 29 years ago to build a ministry that devoted top priority to the preaching of the Gospel. Pastor Barnette maintains a high standard to not compromise the truth of God’s Word. Pastor Barnette says, “Many of our Christian leaders have substituted the wisdom of God’s Word with the flawed wisdom of the world and culture. When we no longer seek to align ourselves with God’s truth, we lose the power to transform lives. If we want the blessings of the Kingdom, we must live under the rule of the King and govern our lives and ministries by Him.”
Another characteristic of the church is that every generation is represented equally at Peace. The adult membership is over 35% men and there is a large number of under 35-year-olds who are finding a place to serve. Each Sunday, there are separate worship environments for toddlers, children and teens to attend. The weekend service features a spirit-filled worship experience with dance teams for youths, adults and senior adults, frequent dramatic presentations, and other creative elements to illustrate the
Gospel message. Peace believes the future of the church should be focused on the youth and young adults. Pastor Barnette recently shared that:
“Acts 20 tells of a young man who was in church but leaning out of a three-story window. He wasn’t engaged or interested in what was happening in the church service and fell out onto the streets and died. The Apostle Paul left the pulpit and went down onto the street and embraced him and brought him back to life. The young man got up and started serving in the work of the church joyfully. Today, many of our young men and women are in the street and have fallen away from church.
With all of our programs, beautiful buildings, and impressive ministry, we are still losing them. In order to bring them back to life we must go to where they are, understand their issues, and give them a place to serve. Our young people have much to give and are looking to invest their lives in places that will heal brokenness inside and outside the church but we must go and get them.”
In order to expand its reach, Peace purchased our current facility, 4000 Covington Hwy, in 2014. The 20-acre, 160,000 square foot facility was sold to Peace for $400,000. The bank sold the property at such a discounted price because it knew of the community development work of the congregation.
After some renovation, Peace moved into the facility on Feb. 8, 2015 and has enjoyed steady growth since then. The church sold its 46,000-square-foot building on Austin Drive across the street from its current home as well as the 40 acres it owned on Miller Road to focus its efforts on developing the currrent location.
Peace has recently renovated 18,000 square feet of the additional 90,000-square-foot unfinished space and expanded its many youth and outreach ministries with plans to continue the build out over the next few years. Innovative ministries will be created to address the various needs in the community. Immigration programs, housing programs, a health clinic, homeless services, legal aid, day center for seniors, employment services, a church planting and leadership center, athletic and youth arts programs will be established in a few short years. Land is already being cleared for a future ball field and to build a residential women’s and children’s center on the campus of the church. Additionally, Peace is currently working with a developer to help bring a grocery store and other businesses to rehab the former Cub Foods next door to the church property.
God has called every church to be a light in the community. If a church wants to measure its effectiveness, all it has to do is look within its community to see how far its light is penetrating the people who live in that community. The leaders and members of Peace Baptist Church know that they are not THE light but must be a reflection of Christ’s light. Peace hopes to continue to be a safe place where broken individuals, families, and communities can find restoration in every aspect of their lives.