History and Vision

The City of Clarkston: A community of about 500 people where a post office was located and has been in operation since 1876. Prior to its incorporation in 1882, the town of Clarkston used to be called “Goatsville”. 

      Clarkston was the midway stop between Atlanta and Stone Mountain where the Georgia Railroad Depot was located. Adjacent to the depot were stores or markets where products like cattle were traded. Majority of them are goats raised by locals. Across the depot there stood a structure which is now called the City Hall. 

      In 1882, the Georgia General Assembly incorporated the place as “Town of Clarkston”. It was renamed after P.R.G. Clark, a prominent attorney and landowner. With an area of 1.1 square miles and municipal limits extending in a one-half mile radius from the Georgia Railroad Depot. 

      Now the City is noted for its ethnic diversity, and is often referred to as “the most diverse square mile in America” and the “Ellis Island of the South”. It is also called the “Refugee Settlement of the South”. 

      The population was 12,742 as of 2016. It continues to rise as an influx of refugees and immigrants come in and resettle. Only 32% of the population consider themselves as “Christians”. This means there are 64% non-Christians living in the city. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”. Luke 10:2

  During the 1880’s, there were only two Baptist churches in the area. The Indian Creek Baptist Church and Rehoboth Baptist Church. The Baptists among them traveled either by buggy or buckboard over rough clay roads to worship at these two churches.

      James M. Singleton, one of the Baptist leaders felt the need of a church in the Clarkston area. In August 1880 he and his friends met in the town hall to organize a church known as Clarkston Baptist Church. On December 21, 1881 trustees of CBC and the Georgia Railroad Banking Company met to complete an agreement to use Land Lot Number 18 for religious worship.

      August 16, 1883 – Clarkston Baptist Church was constituted. The first pastor was Rev. V. C Norcross. First structure built 1888-1891 with seating capacity of 300 valued at $1,200. It stood on the site of our present Sanctuary (now demolished). In 1924 Sunday School rooms were built in shed fashion. James M. Singleton served as the first Sunday School Superintendent.

      From 1945 – 1949 a three-story educational building was erected in front of the frame sanctuary with a cost of $37,000 (now demolished). On July 4, 1951 the old framed building was demolished to construct the present Sanctuary (now demolished). The new Sanctuary was completed in 1952 at a cost of $60,000. The rooms under the Sanctuary were completed in 1954. In 1962, a new educational building which is now the” Harris Building” was erected at a cost of $200,000. It was named before Dr. D.D. Harris, a former pastor of the church.

      For years, CIBC owned all adjoining structures including the Christian Life Center (CLC) where the gym used to stand (now converted into worship center) as well as three (3) houses south of the CLC (now demolished). It also includes the parking lot east of the old sanctuary. 

      In May 2017, NAMB has purchased the property through the Send Relief & CIBC partnership. It also purchased two houses across the street. We now worship currently in the New Worship Center (converted from the old gym) which was completed in 2018.

      In the 1970’s Clarkston was designated as a refugee resettlement location due to its availability of many apartment complexes, easy access to public transportation, and access to English as a Second Language classes provided by DeKalb Technical School. Refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia were among the first to arrive. In the 1980’s things began to change in the Clarkston area. More apartments were being constructed. The community was becoming more diverse as more people from different nations were being attracted to the area.

      As the community was changing, Clarkston Baptist Church (CBC), a mostly Anglo Southern Baptist Congregation was experiencing a change as well. 1970 – 1980 was CBC’s zenith for growth. As the 1990’s approached, members either began to move away from the area or moved to other area churches. Active membership declined from 600 to 150 members. CBC through the leadership of Rev. Steve Hammock decided to remain in Clarkston to minister to the diverse people that God was bringing.

      In the early 1990’s a Filipino Southern Baptist Congregation was looking for a place to worship in the Atlanta area. CBC was the desired location because of its central location. Philippine International Bible Church (PIBC) was established and became a mission congregation of CBC. 

      The establishment of PIBC led to other ethnic mission congregations like: Vietnamese, Ethiopians, Liberians, Nigerians and other African groups. A few years passed, several mission churches such as the PIBC, The Vietnamese Mission Church, The French African International Church, The Caring Believers Bible Fellowship were constituted as a separate congregation from CBC but continued to meet in CBC facilities. The New African Baptist Mission, The Ethiopian Bible Evangelical Church and the Sudanese Christian Mission Church elected to remain as mission congregations of CBC.

      The early 2000s brought a continuing slow decline in CBC membership. PIBC was also experiencing decline in membership due to the establishment of another Filipino congregation in Jonesboro area with a number of members deciding to move there.

This decline left CBC with two options:

1. To merge with Indian Creek Baptist Church, who was also experiencing declining membership, or

2. To merge with PIBC and other mission churches and separately constituted churches on site. 

CBC, PIBC and NABM began to explore ways to combine into one church. A Task Team was formed in January 2003 representing each church to further explore the possibility of the merge. It took over a year of painstaking work, until finally on May 22, 2004 Clarkston International Bible Church was born. 

      Rev. Allen Hill served as the interim pastor while a search of a full time pastor was being undertaken. In January 2006, CIBC welcomed a new pastor in the person of Rev. Phillip E. Kitchin. In September 22, 2007, The New York Times wrote an article about CIBC. Since then, the church frequently receives phone calls from around the country inquiring about how we overcame cultural differences and racial stereotypes allowing us to truly worship in one accord. We have been featured in several other local print and television media.

      In December 31, 2015, Phil Kitchin retired as the Senior Pastor of CIBC after nearly ten years of service in the ministry. After more than four months of the search process, In February 2016, Rev. Dr. Trent DeLoach was called to be the new Senior Pastor of CIBC.

      Today, we are a multicultural fellowship known as “A CHURCH FOR ALL NATIONS” that strives to minister to refugees from all over the world which have been resettled in Clarkston. We currently have four ethnic congregations meeting in this facility- Atlanta Nepali Christian Church, Swahili Evangelical Refugee Fellowship SERF (Congolese), Sudanese Christian Missionary Church, Vertical Life Church (Pakistani/Urdu). We are a multicultural Southern Baptist Congregation committed to making a difference in the City of Clarkston and beyond. 

In May 2017, CIBC partnered with NAMB to create the Send Relief ministry in Clarkston. This was a new beginning in the life of the church as we launched the CIBC 2.0. New mission, strategies and structure were formulated to adapt to the new opportunities and challenges.

The ultimate purpose of the local church is to… Bring glory to God! Romans 11:36 “For from Him (source) and through Him (means) and to Him (end), are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen” Since God is the source, the means, and the end of all things, He is the One who deserves all the glory.

Question: How does a church bring glory to God?

Answer: CIBC brings glory to God by…

• Worship God in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24; Matt 22:37)

• Witness according to the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20)

• Educate through God’s Word. (Matthew 28:20; 2 Peter 3:18)

• Minister to one another and those in the community. (Matthew 22:39)

• Dwelling together in warm, Christian fellowship. (Acts 2:42; Hebrew 10:25)

Glorifying God By Making Disciples Locally And Globally.

Gather…through worship and good stewardship and administration of our resources

Grow…through discipleship and fellowship

Go…through mission outreach /evangelism and service

1. Ministry to God: Worship. (Gather)

2. Ministry to Believers: Nurture. (Grow)

3. Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy. (Go)