The Summit Church began in 1961 when Sam James preached the first service at what was then the Grace Baptist Mission in Durham.[1] Within a year, the mission grew into the new Homestead Heights Baptist Church.
The church grew to a membership of over 150 by 1965 and as its numbers increased the congregation built a new church building in the 1980s able to seat 600 people. Although it briefly exceeded capacity, there was little growth in the 1990s and attendance eventually declined to a steady 400 members. In 2002, Homestead Heights called its college pastor of a year and a half, J.D. Greear, to be pastor.[2][3] After accepting the position, Greear asked for the renaming and ultimately the re-launching of the church as the Summit Church. In the first three years, a large influx of members eventually led to the sale of its property which was located on Holt School Road; in April 2005 the church began holding services at Riverside High School.[1]
A census of the denomination published in 2020 said that the church has a weekly attendance of 11,564 people and 12 campuses in different cities.[4]