Last summer, many Easley area residents read or heard about an apartment fire that displaced 14 families. For most people, the fire was another headline, but for the apartment managers and residents, it was much more. For Mt. Moriah Church in Easley, it was an opportunity to take ministry to a new level, joining God in turning tragedy into triumph.
Mt. Moriah pastor Johnny Touchet reads from the Bible at a Christmas party for children at an apartment complex where the church has succeeded in building relationships with managers and residents.Pastor Johnny Touchet first noticed the apartment complex when he came to Mt. Moriah in May 2003. After other pastors had told him the complex was off limits to ministry, he began praying about it.
“One day, I just went in and began talking to the manager and asked if we could come in and have a one-day event for the residents.” She agreed, but warned that the church could not “harass people.”
“She was open to building a relationship with our church,” Touchet said. “So, we went in with inflatable rides, cooked hot dogs, and began meeting people.”
The event was successful. From its relationship with the manager, the church was able to use the clubhouse for occasional financial or marriage studies. “MFuge,” LifeWay’s week-long student missions camp, was held there for three summers.
But for all the ministry activity, Touchet said, “we could not connect with people in the apartments. We could not have the church and faith conversations that we wanted to have.”
Ronnie Cox, Acts 1:8 strategist, missions mobilization group, South Carolina Baptist Convention, helped Touchet understand why the church had difficulty “going deeper” within the apartment complex. At a Piedmont Association pastor’s luncheon, Touchet heard Cox say, “Until you have a [church] family living in the apartment complex, it’s going to be hard to reach that place for Christ.”
For Touchet, it was the missing piece of the puzzle. “We began praying for a member family that could help us overcome years of being unable to connect with people.” In 2009, Deborah Lanford, a church member and independent missionary, moved into the apartment complex for what she thought would be “about six months.” Three weeks after she moved in, the fire changed everything.
“We rushed over to help,” Touchet said. “Because of our long relationship with the manager, the door opened and we were able to get food in there, help people find a place to stay, and transition into serving the Red Cross.”
Lanford organized a clothing drive through the church and involved other churches. Mt. Moriah’s fellowship hall was soon “full of stuff,” Touchet said. “When the complex employees saw the church helping and getting involved, the ministry walls began coming down,” Touchet said. “Deborah created her apartment ministry, Community Life Within, and went to work. Our church became her partner.”
Lanford, a former director of a Pickens County domestic violence shelter, had been serving since 2005 as an independent missionary “smuggling Bibles into China” and then working in women’s prison ministry in Ecuador. She also had missionary experience among women with drug and alcohol addictions.
“I’m used to being upfront and sharing the gospel, but apartment ministry is a slow relationship-building process,” she said. “I do believe, after the fire, that those in the apartments were moved because of the church response. Residents saw the church loving and serving, and not expecting anything in return.”
Community Life Within now offers both women’s and men’s Bible studies at the apartment complex. It also provides exercise classes, games for senior adults, community clean-up days, meet-your-neighbor parties and holiday events. There is a vision for after-school tutoring.
Cox, the SCBC strategist who has written multi-housing ministry guides, said the North American Mission Board estimates 96 percent of apartment residents are not in church regularly. “Mt. Moriah began with a concern and passion for people, and the church was willing to build relationships and take time to follow through,” Cox said. “They were ready when a door – like the fire – opened for them. Churches have to understand that reaching apartment complexes is a slow process. Relationships must be built with apartment owners and managers, receiving permission to enter the private property and connect with people. You just can’t go in and put up flyers or knock on doors. You can’t just have a one-time event, one summer day, and then go home.
“Churches must find where God wants them to be, develop relationships, build friendships, create trust, and then impact lives.”
Lanford said, “Churches have gotten comfortable, opening their doors and expecting people to come in. We have to go where the people are living and wash their feet just like Jesus did. We have to serve people.” – SCBC