Gary Hollingsworth, newly elected executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, says he embraces the state denomination’s pillars of evangelism, missions, church planting and church revitalization, and he plans to sharpen the SCBC’s focus on serving churches.

“Denominations only exist to serve churches, especially on the state level,” he said. “A state convention can’t do it for the church, but we can work to strengthen the churches.”

State denominations must recognize that church planting represents new life and new growth, Hollingsworth said, and helping churches start new ministries is equally important.

“It boils down to leadership,” he said. “How do [denominational servants] help churches, pastors and lay leaders all have a healthy approach to ministry?”

Against that challenge, Hollingsworth recognizes that culture is affecting Christianity today. “We are living in a culture that has shifted and changed so dramatically,” he said. “People don’t take the Bible seriously, and Christians are seen as being out of step with culture.

“As Christians, we can wring our hands and say woe is me, or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work. The last time I checked history, the Romans weren’t impressed with the Apostle Paul, but those early Christians kept at it.

“A New Testament church sees lost people saved — and saved people growing. Denominations help bring clarity and focus to it. A lot of work is to be done, but I’m optimistic we can plant new churches and strengthen existing churches.”

Hollingsworth says he will spend ample time learning before acting. “I will have to get my mind wrapped around the state,” he said. “I want to meet pastors and leaders and hear what God is doing and hear about opportunities that are out there.”

“I do love people,” he said. “Having served as a student pastor and an associate pastor, I know what it’s like to be on a staff when you aren’t in the lead chair. I also know what it’s like to be in that lead chair. I know what it’s like to be in the trenches, and I have empathy for pastors who are facing struggles and opposition.

“I have a heart for the smaller-membership churches and for bivocational pastors,” he said. “I want to be a pastor to pastors. I would love … to personally and prayerfully be alongside pastors in ministry.”

Hollingsworth has studied the work of South Carolina Baptists under the year-long leadership of interim executive director-treasurer Richard Harris, with whom he worked at the North American Mission Board. As he studied the convention’s focus on evangelism, missions, church planting and church revitalization, he saw direct parallels with the vision of Immanuel Baptist Church, his most recent pastorate.

“There won’t need to be a new vision for South Carolina Baptists,” he said. “You have four great priorities, and that’s exactly what we need to be doing.”

Because so many Southern Baptist churches still involve lay people through Sunday school, Hollingsworth was asked specifically about its role in the future of Southern Baptist churches. “I am a Sunday school guy,” he said. “I was trained early on in my ministry about what it takes to build and keep a strong Sunday school ministry, and I believe there is great value in how we Southern Baptists do Sunday school. If Sunday school isn’t working, it’s probably because the church isn’t working at it.

“But, having said all of that, for some churches — like church plants, for example — home groups or small groups may be better suited for that church than traditional Sunday school. Sunday school is our bread and butter, but the convention should be prepared to help churches with different approaches to small groups.

“Our goal can’t be to fill up cold metal chairs, but to teach the word of God, grow and get people in small groups with one another, and break the missional code,” he said. “We need to be ‘missionally doing’ and not just sitting in cold metal chairs.”

Hollingsworth said he loves what he believes is an evangelistic spirit among South Carolina Baptists and knows there is an urgency among pastors today to identify the spiritual enemy, to stop fighting with other Christians, and be salt and light to the world.

“The whole nation watched South Carolina Baptists in 2015,” he said. “We watched how you responded to the shootings in Charleston, how you responded to the flooding in your state last fall, and how you gave $1 million to international missions.

“I commend South Carolina Baptists for the way you were poised and ready to be available in hard times and in response to hard times. It sends a message to the world that South Carolina Baptists are Christ-followers, that you love people, and that He sent you to serve others in His name. I am excited about being a part of what’s happening.”

— Scott Vaughan is interim communications manager for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.

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