Church planters, associational leaders, and sponsoring churches met with state convention staff and leaders Aug. 9 in Columbia to build relationships and plan for the future of church planting in South Carolina.
Church planters, partners and strategists gathered in Columbia Aug. 9 to discuss the future of church planting in South Carolina.The South Carolina Baptist Convention’s church-planting group sponsored the “Church Planting Connection,” which was described as a one-day relational, leadership development experience.
York Association director of missions Mike O’Dell said church planters “are putting everything on the line for the kingdom and sacrifice so much to birth a dynamic body of believers. They have a vision and passion that I wish all of our pastors had.”
Brandon Bowers is one of those passionate church planters. Two weeks after the Aug. 9 meeting, Bowers moved to Charleston to officially begin Awaken Church, a new plant supported by First Baptist Church, Spartanburg. Bowers said he attended the gathering to get “coaching, encouragement, and advice” for his new journey.
Bowers talked about how Awaken Church’s relationship with Paul McGee, acting director of missions for Spartanburg County Network, and Steve Wise, mission pastor at First Church, Spartanburg, is as vital as its new relationships with the Charleston Association and with mentor Craig Tuck, campus pastor of Crosspoint, a satellite campus of East Cooper Baptist Church in Goose Creek.
“The New Testament is about churches that planted churches, so there are biblical models for churches to embrace church planting,” Bowers said. “From a church planter’s standpoint, I want to do everything possible to bridge those relationships and partner up with churches to advance the kingdom. It’s what we’re all called to do.”
Stories like Bowers’ were shared and celebrated at the meeting. In that respect, the meeting met the goals that Daryl Price, director of the SCBC’s church-planting group, had set for it.
“The church-planting group is committed to collaboration that provides every church planter with the care, coaching, and connections they need to plant strong healthy churches that not just receive but also contribute to strengthening SCBC churches,” Price said.
Bill Dieckmann is the director of missions for Columbia Metro Association and has experience planting churches. He was a founding leader and member of Biker Church USA four years ago and recently started a house church in Northeast Columbia.
“I attended this event because church planting is important for the work of the kingdom,” he said. “Churches birthing churches just seems so natural that the opposite also seems true – that it doesn’t seem natural for churches not to reproduce. We are one generation away from extinction if we don’t reproduce.”
The churches of Columbia Metro Association are planting churches in Columbia and around the world. Dieckmann reported that the association has a goal of starting 1,000 Training-4-Trainers, or T4T, groups by January 2014. So far, 30 Columbia Metro churches have already begun the process of launching more T4T groups.
After being involved in church planting for 40 years, O’Dell said he still gets excited about new ideas in church planting. “I have seen the way God uses new churches to reach the unchurched. However, our traditional church-planting efforts are woefully insufficient to meet the growing challenge of our culture,” he said.
“I am a huge supporter of church planting as we have done it and, also, the effort to help our existing churches multiply themselves,” O’Dell said. York Association has planted three new churches this year and plans to develop a church-planting center, he said.
For his part, Price said he is celebrating the strides being made in church planting across the state and is committed to building up and supporting next-generation leaders. During the Aug. 9 meeting, he discussed plans to connect SCBC church planters and existing churches through a mutually beneficial partnership, one that encourages planters to help the existing church in its mission, as well. – SCBC