Five years ago, Central Baptist Church in Gaffney was different from what it is today. Its fractured congregation struggled with financial debt from a building project, a painful experience with former leadership, and declining attendance. Today, Central stands transformed, with a new ministry focus that it is carrying forward and into the community.
Pastor Johnny Bridges and worship leader Scott McClellan were called to Central within about a year of each other. In the face of the church’s struggles, they, along with church members, quickly realized the hope and future of the church would only be found in God. About three years ago, representatives from the church attended an informational meeting about a discipleship-coaching and -equipping process through the South Carolina Baptist Convention called the Intentional Church Multiplication Process. McClellan said the church jumped into the process and began to see God move.
“It’s not a magic bullet,” said McClellan. “It is difficult because you have to look at what you are doing and ask whether it is a good thing, or a God thing.”
ICMP is a method of developing and equipping pastors, church staff and laity to reset the vision and course of ministry that God has for the church. Congregations involved in ICMP will have a specific strategy plan to use moving forward.
Joe Youngblood, church health group director at the South Carolina Baptist Convention, praised the leadership of Bridges and McClellan as key to Central Church’s success in experiencing a complete turnaround.
“Central Baptist has done a wonderful job of implementing the church health principles of ICMP,” Youngblood said. “It is growing both numerically and spiritually, with a true spiritual impact on its community, and the church is reproducing disciples.”
Bridges said the congregation went into the process thinking of itself as a fairly healthy church. “We realized we were actually sick, because we were doing mostly inwardly focused ministries,” he said. “We realized that wasn’t what God called us to be. He has called us to be a disciple-making church and to impact our community. That is our goal now.”
McClellan added, “As a church, we have refocused. We came to a vision from God to become disciples that make disciples.”
A pivotal question was asked during the ICMP process: “If Central Church no longer existed, would the community even know it was gone?”
“As we wondered about the answer to that, God showed us that we have to be about sharing the Gospel with people right here beside the church, in our community, and all over the world,” said Bridges. “We can’t make disciples if we aren’t discipled ourselves. Discipleship is more than a Bible study on Wednesday night — it is about building relationships with God and with each other, and allowing Him to work through us to change other people’s lives.”
McClellan said church members are going out into the community. “Groups of young people have started prayer-walking on their own and are engaging folks they meet by asking how they can pray for them,” he said. “We are holding block parties and feeding Christmas dinners to families at a local housing complex.” Bridges said those efforts are reaching more people in the community with the Gospel.
Bridges said he sees the impact of ICMP in the “attitudes and the perspectives” at Central. “Several members have told me they can feel and see God at work in the church and in their lives,” he said.
Bridges recommends that every pastor go through the ICMP reconnect retreat and the leadership track to identify his leadership style, to grow as a leader and to reconnect with God.
McClellan said Central’s experience with ICMP has charted a new course for its ministry in Gaffney. “It has revolutionized and changed what we do, how we act, our worship — every gathering time that we have.”
For more online information about ICMP, visit www.scbaptist.org/icmp, or contact Youngblood at 803-227-6037 or by email at joeyoungblood@scbaptist.org.