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Our Story
From Campus to Church Plant
Yonah Community Church is a church plant of Concord Baptist Church. For over 10 years, the Yonah fellowship operated as a satellite campus aligned under Concord's Ministry Expansion Project (formerly known as 777). From its birth in Mount Yonah Elementary School as a set up/tear down service, to providing 52 Helen Highway as a place of rent, God has faithfully led the Yonah fellowship.
In the spring of 2024, God began to lead Concord’s leadership to shift its Ministry Expansion philosophy and empower this Cleveland fellowship to begin the process of planting as an autonomous church. Concord received an offer from the owner of the property at 52 Helen Highway to purchase the land. After much prayer by both Concord Leadership and the Mt. Yonah Campus community, a unified consensus emerged: God was providing a unique opportunity—not only to secure the property but also to shift Concord’s Ministry Expansion philosophy toward church planting.
The Planting Process
Following a season of prayerful discernment and counsel, the first major step was taken. In August 2024, Concord voted to form and commission the Ministry Expansion Team. This team -- comprised of the Concord Lead Staff Team, all pastoral staff, all committee heads, and all committee members from the Mt. Yonah Campus -- was entrusted with two primary responsibilities in regards to Mt. Yonah:
1. Overseeing and executing the purchase of 52 Helen Highway, Cleveland, Georgia.
2. Overseeing and executing the planting of the Mt. Yonah Campus as an autonomous church.
1. Overseeing and executing the purchase of 52 Helen Highway, Cleveland, Georgia.
2. Overseeing and executing the planting of the Mt. Yonah Campus as an autonomous church.
Concord voted to gift Yonah with a substantial sum of money as the primary downpayment for acquiring the property. Then, the Ministry Expansion Team affirmed Campus Pastor Joseph Dockery as the official Church Plant Pastor to lead in the plant process. With guidance from Mt. Yonah Campus members, Concord Leadership, and the Chattahoochee Baptist Association's Director of Missions, Jojo Thomas, Yonah Community Church completed its planting process on September 1st, 2025.