The Journey, a church in Spartanburg, calls people to a place where “you will never have to walk alone.”
Chris Pollard, who at first only reluctantly accepted the role of pastor of The Journey, has led the church to reach out to people who might not feel comfortable in a traditional church setting.Those words are real to pastor Chris Pollard, who has experienced God along his journey to reach people who are hurting and addicted. Pollard, former deputy director of the Spartanburg Area Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission, met hurting people with many questions about God and faith. Those encounters led him to start a Bible study in his office in 2004.
“The Bible study began to grow,” Pollard said, “and people began inviting friends and family.” Pollard said people began to refer to the meetings as their church. “I didn’t really want that, but for them the meetings became church, and I became their reluctant pastor,” said Pollard, who has a seminary education. “I was content in my [drug and alcohol abuse] counseling work, but I also began to pray for God’s leading in my own life.”
“We had a growing number of people studying the Bible, but no one had really crossed that line of faith, claiming Christ as Savior,” Pollard said. “I prayed that I would receive God’s confirmation on what I was doing.” There were 15 faith commitments within the next two weeks.
Pollard became increasingly sensitive to the privacy issues surrounding the increasingly larger meetings at his office. He contacted Jim Goodroe, director of missions, Spartanburg County Baptist Network, and Goodroe invited the group to begin meeting at the network’s office.
The Journey, a church that grew out of a Bible study for people with drug and alcohol addiction problems, now encompasses a diverse congregation in Spartanburg.“At the time, our members were people in recovery and family members of those recovering from addiction,” said Pollard. “As I went through the church plant training, I was convicted that we needed to reach other people on the outside of hope. We needed to reach others who might not be comfortable approaching a more traditional church.”
Goodroe said, “Chris is an MK (missionary’s kid) whose dad also served as a director of missions in North Carolina, so he understands missions and partnership ministry. Chris preaches the gospel with practical application. He is doing a quality work without a lot of resources, and he has served at great personal sacrifice.”
About 2007, a significant transition began for The Journey. “I was attending leadership training through the North American Mission Board, and it had a lot to do with outreach, focus and vision,” Pollard said. “I decided to lead our church through the Bible to see what God desired from his church. The church came to the conclusion that we wanted to be a church of unity and diversity, committed to diversity – and we wanted to impact the next generation for Christ.”
Pollard said he looked around the church and realized there was no real diversity and no children. “Right away, we were not even close to where we believed God wanted us to be,” he said, “but we committed to being God’s church.”
The Journey partnered with Oak Grove Baptist Church, which allowed The Journey to use one of its fellowship hall locations for services, providing children with access to its Sunday morning children’s ministry.
Pollard and his wife Tish began praying that God would lead them to property where the church should be. It turned out to be a 7,300-square-foot building on a quiet lot on the edge of Spartanburg’s Highland neighborhood, a low-income inner-city area. In May 2009, the church moved into its new building with 65 people attending, and at the close of 2009 the number has increased to 125.
Is there diversity? Pollard said the ethnic composition is about 50-50, and there are about 40 children participating in church ministry.
The Journey has benefited, too, from a relationship with Shepherd’s Door Community Center, which is comprised of Mission Service Corps missionaries with the North American Mission Board. Through that relationship, the two groups have purchased a bus, allowing The Journey to offer a bus ministry for 65-70 people on Sunday.
Moving into 2010, The Journey will continue to offer a men’s group that helps men with life skills and community service, a women’s group, a youth group and a recovery ministry that is organized by some with longer-term sobriety.
“Our goal is to baptize 75 people during 2010,” Pollard said. “We want to share the gospel with 8,200 people within a one-mile radius of our property. Already, we are leading Bible studies in two homeless shelters. “We also want to see people become disciples. We want to equip people to engage local ministry within their own community.”
In September, Pollard left his job with the Spartanburg Area Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission to serve The Journey full time. – SCBC