Recently, I moved into a jungle. Not literally. But when you walk into our home, there’s a plant everywhere you look.
They are my roommate’s plants. But she didn’t plant them from seeds; rather, many were given to her as small plants and she tended them from there. One of the plants she cut off from a “mother” plant and placed in water to allow a new plant to grow, also known as propagation.
Similarly, there’s a group of churches in the Upstate who propagated from each another, creating a network of church plants that continue to grow and produce. These churches are part of the Pillar Network, which is an international church planting network. And every year in October, leaders from nearly 300 churches across the United States and the world meet to hear biblical preaching, and to fellowship with one another at The Pillar Unite Conference.
A group of churches originating in South Carolina often take a “family” picture every year at the conference (primarily the pastors and leaders), because their churches are all related to each another by church planting. Crosspoint Church in Clemson is the mother church that birthed these “kid” churches, who then grew up and produced more “offspring,” resulting in lots of grandkids.
“When you look at that picture, that’s better than a mega church,” said Jeremy Chasteen, senior pastor of Crosspoint Church.
Crosspoint Church has launched six church plants. Their first church-planting team was sent to Bluffton, S.C., in 2008, followed by their second plant, Renewal Church in Greenville (now known as Christ Fellowship Cherrydale), Renewal Church in Anderson (est. 2014), Kings Church in Charlotte (est. 2019), Christ Church in Charleston (est. 2022), and Village Church in Pendleton (est. 2025). Crosspointe’s next church plant is called Hill City Church, which will be launched in 2026.
But what’s Crosspoint Church — the mother church’s — story?
Roughly 21 years ago, Ken Lewis, Crosspoint’s founding pastor, had a growing heart for the spiritual health of the Clemson area. Lewis was pastoring a congregation in North Carolina at the time and said the Lord began to stir his heart and he began to pray.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Chasteen, a longtime friend of Lewis, was at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) discerning what his next season of ministry would be. Chasteen had already served nine years with Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) doing college ministry, and about five of those years were at Clemson University. Now at SEBTS, he was growing a heart for the local church. Soon his passion for campus ministry and the local church would be combined.
Chasteen got a call from Lewis about planting a church in Clemson. Chasteen said he felt led by the Lord to be part of the church plant with Lewis — and in a matter of months, they decided to move forward. Chasteen said he saw a need for a multigenerational church that could reach the community and the Clemson campus.
Crosspoint’s first gathering was on Aug. 28, which was also Chasteen’s birthday, and they met at Clemson’s BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) building. Thirty-six people attended.
That night they hosted an informational meeting, expecting about 40-45 people, and they ran out of food because 70 showed up. Chasteen’s and Lewis’s plan for the church to be “underground” until January fell through when 130 people showed up the next Sunday.
“The Lord planted the church, and we just kind of grabbed on,” said Lewis.
A couple moves later, and the church now meets at their own facility on 1019 Tiger Boulevard. But their impact has been far from stationary. Just two years after planting Crosspoint, another church-plant launch was in the making … But that’s a story for next time.