As it turns out, you can go home again. And, in the case of Mark Wilbanks, you can even follow exactly in your father’s footsteps.
In February, the younger Wilbanks began his ministry as pastor of Wieuca Road Baptist Church, the Buckhead landmark at the corner of Peachtree and Wieuca roads. It is the same church where Wilbanks spent his formative years and where his late father, Oliver, was a minster in the 1960s.
“My high school years were spent at Wieuca, and even when I went off to school, that was my home church,” said Wilbanks, 60. “So it’s interesting that I’m back as pastor where my father also served.”
Born in Tampa, Wilbanks was a baby when the family came to Atlanta. His father’s first assignment was at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist, and Wilbanks attended Garden Hills Elementary. His father moved to the Wieuca church in 1966 and became a much-loved member of the staff.
“Wilbanks is a name well known in this community,” said Wieuca member and Dunwoody resident Alta Birdsong. “We even have a prayer room in our church named for Oliver Wilbanks. So we could not be more excited to have his son here. He’s a Buckhead boy who has returned.”
Wilbanks, who had been serving at a church in Tallahassee, Fla., for the last 10 years, hadn’t given the idea of moving to Buckhead much thought until a search committee contacted him about an opening at Wieuca Road Baptist.
“It piqued my interest,” he said. “I had always followed the church because it meant so much to me as a young man. It shaped my idea of being in the ministry, and there’s a rich heritage there. But it’s been through some rough spots.”
Membership rolls of the 58-year-old congregation list about 2,000, said Wilbanks, but that number has declined in recent years.
“There are people here who have been through the good times and the bad, but over the last few years, we lost a lot of the younger generation,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do. But we’re now surrounded by high rises that weren’t there 10 years ago. It’s like the mission field has come to us.”
Many area residents already head to Wieuca for reasons other than worship. The church’s extensive facilities include a day school, an after-school program, camps and an activities building that gets some use by community groups. One of Wilbanks’ goals is to make the campus more of a resource.
“We’ve got a huge facility, but right now, we’re like a small family in a big house,” he said. “I want to open the facilities to more groups in the area looking for meeting places.
“For instance, we have a great kitchen where culinary classes can be taught. I want people to use us a community center, a place where young men and women can stretch their wings and fly. I want to recapture some of the heritage Wieuca has of making a difference in Buckhead.”
Wieuca Road Baptist is located at 3626 Peachtree Road. Information: 404-814-4460; www.wieuca.org.