Imagine a church where a college student pays the rent of an adult who is suddenly without a job. Imagine a church where female university students, as a small group, raise money to buy a car for another woman. Imagine a church where someone puts an iPod in the offering plate with the note, “Sell it,” attached.
When Dustin Willis asked God to send someone to start a new church in downtown Columbia, he didn’t have himself in mind.Dustin Willis, lead pastor of Midtown Fellowship, Columbia, leads that very church, one that works “to be in love with Jesus, in love with one another, and to have a heart for the city.”
When Willis was a Clemson University sophomore, a pastor visited his church and shared statistics about North American churches, and the statistics were not good. “He said that churches were in a downward spiral, and that broke my heart as a 19-year-old college student,” Willis said. “I prayed that God would send me to do whatever he needed and wherever he needed it done.”
In 2002, Willis graduated and took a business job in Columbia. He also spoke at the University of South Carolina campus to Christian student groups. “Every time I went on campus, I felt this probing from the Holy Spirit, and I came away with the feeling that many of the believing students were apathetic about exercising their faith. I started praying, ‘Lord, please send someone to Columbia to start a new church in downtown Columbia.’ “
Willis never thought that person would be him.
He and his wife, Renie, moved back to the Upstate, where he served as a student pastor in Anderson. “I was still praying for God to use me wherever and however, but praying, too, that God would send someone to Columbia. At some point, it became clear that God was going to send me to Columbia. Renie affirmed the calling and, meeting with others who were interested, a group of nine moved to Columbia on Sept. 1, 2005.
“On the first night that we moved here, we met with about 20 interested people at a coffee shop in Columbia. We painted the picture of a church that would have a heart for the city.”
For the next 18 months, the church met in small groups across town, and then met as a large group, monthly, for a year. In January 2007, Midtown Fellowship launched its first weekly service at the South Carolina State Museum with about 120 attending.
“We don’t get wrapped up in numbers,” Willis said. “but we experienced rapid growth in the first 18 months, and now have about 700 people in five worship services on Sunday. Of that, 415 people are members. I focus more on the number of small groups – that’s the important number, because it’s where discipleship is happening. We have more than 60 small groups meeting weekly.” About 70 percent of worshippers at Midtown Fellowship are college students.
Willis said God has called the church to be “a shining light within a city” and to shine “as the light of Christ to those around us. We feel strongly about that. John 13 says we will be known as disciples by the way we love each other. Our people love and care deeply for one another.”
There’s the story of the college girl who needed transportation to get around Columbia for her work. The other girls in her small group have been secretly fund-raising to purchase her a car. Willis said others have stepped in to pay rent and utilities for those who need help. “I’ve literally seen people take off their coats and give them to others,” he said.
Midtown Fellowship is a church with a contemporary worship style – so contemporary that its five services are all on Sunday evenings. But it’s not the jeans and music that attract people; it’s that “people look at our people and say, ‘There is something different.’ We are getting back to our scriptural roots, in Acts, and that’s what is attractive to other people – people love Jesus and one another.” Willis said “pagans and atheists” alike have come to know Jesus through Midtown. The church has baptized more than 100 people since April 2009.
“Here’s the truth,” Willis said. “Churches need to create environments where anyone can walk in and be comfortable, but there’s this mindset that if we put a band on stage, and the preacher wears jeans and we have a screen, that people will flock to that church. They will, but they will come from other churches. [Unchurched] people will go to church because they have a believer in their life who loves them. We want to be believers who love those who need to be here.”
Willis said Midtown, where the average budget gift is seven and a half bucks per Sunday, benefited from “outside support” early in its history, but is now self-supportive. “Our adults and college students give generously, and the Lord provides for us,” he said. Office space is donated by a downtown businessman, and another business leader donates warehouse space for storage. Midtown has started Sunday evening services at a second location – Earlewood Baptist Church, Columbia – and Earlewood’s leadership does not charge rent. “We do pay toward the church utilities,” Willis said. “Our church is a culture of generosity and that, too, reflects the church in Acts. People just give to the church and to one another.”
In 2010, Willis said Midtown will continue to focus on “being a missionary in Columbia.” “It can be very comfortable, celebrating numbers and ‘doing something great,’ but God is calling us to continue pushing back darkness,” he said. “For me, I just want to continue building relationships with those who don’t know Jesus. I don’t want to get comfortable in my Christian circle.” The church is looking for a third location, which will allow for Sunday morning services to better connect with families.
Bill Dieckmann, director of missions, Columbia Metro Baptist Association, said, “Midtown Fellowship has infused a lot of energy into our area, and has been a good complement to the churches in our association. They fit well within our associational team.” – SCBC