The Greenforest [Community] Baptist Church was founded in 1958 with 135 charter members who met in the Wadsworth Elementary School on Greenforest Drive, Decatur, Georgia. The church was incorporated on June 5, 1959. Church buildings were erected on property purchased adjacent to the school in the early 1960’s.

In the early to mid1970’s, church membership began to decline as the racial make-up of the community began to transition. On one Sunday morning in 1977, in what has been termed as “The Exodus Experience,” nearly all of the Caucasian church members, including the pastor, moved their membership from Greenforest Baptist Church. The remaining membership operated as a mission congregation for approximately 18 months under the guidance of the Atlanta Baptist Association (ABA).

The Atlanta Baptist Association assigned one of its staff members, the Rev. John H. Cross- former pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama (bombed September 15, 1963) as interim pastor. After stabilizing the mission church through his wise and seasoned leadership, Rev. Cross played an influential role in Rev. Dr. George O. McCalep, Jr. being called to serve as the senior pastor of the 25-member congregation in 1979. During his early pastorate, the deed to the property was regained from the ABA and the church transitioned from mission status into an autonomous, self-governing Baptist church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

https://www.greenforest.org/about/our-history