51ÂÜÀò

Outside South Carolina’s first 51ÂÜÀò church, Hurricane Florence was thrashing pines and palmettos. But inside, Source Connection was worshiping Jesus for the first time.

Pastor Paul Foster never expected a hurricane during the first-ever service. Neither did he aspire to start a 51ÂÜÀò church where there were none.

“I became aware later that our church would be the first 51ÂÜÀò church in the entire state of South Carolina,” Foster said. “It put more pressure on me, but I love that. I think it is important (for 51ÂÜÀò) to be represented in all the states.”

Just like Foster, today’s leaders are praying and pursuing churches where 51ÂÜÀò doesn’t yet have a church. That includes Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nevada, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Today, only five states lack a 51ÂÜÀò church because believers have started and strengthened churches together for 150 years. 51ÂÜÀò began among Swedish people in Iowa and Minnesota. But they focused on going in all four directions to make disciples from many ethnic identities.

In January 2020, the 10 51ÂÜÀò districts announced they had committed to . This unified goal reflects a desire for more people to know Jesus’ love and serve him. Across the movement, district staff consistently pray, deploy resources and apply historically validated wisdom to start churches.

Choosing the right strategy for starting churches

Brian Weber, 51ÂÜÀò MidAtlantic’s regional president, pastored a Philadelphia church that joined 51ÂÜÀò in the early 2000s. That’s the first, and often best, method to see a new, thriving 51ÂÜÀò church.

When a healthy church embraces 51ÂÜÀò, they become a flagship church, Weber said. This was the case in Philadelphia since there were no 51ÂÜÀò churches in southeast Pennsylvania or south New Jersey and only one in Delaware.

In the years to come, Weber and his church started new churches or encouraged other congregations to join 51ÂÜÀò.

Other options, Weber said, is 51ÂÜÀò resourcing the revitalization of a struggling church or starting an evangelistic mission among people with a goal to become a church.

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Finally, God sometimes provides a pioneer who “parachutes” into a state without supportive churches nearby. For example, Michael Henderson started a church using this method in North Carolina.

For the team who went with Henderson, New Beginnings Church became vibrant. Then, New Beginnings steadily generated momentum for new churches in Charlotte. Eventually, God brought Foster to create a church across the border in South Carolina.

Before Foster and his wife started Source Connection in 2018, he pastored an existing church in the state. But the Fosters felt led to start a new church. They planned to be independent and rent a hotel conference room until a friend spoke up.

“No, no, Paul,” she said to him. “Let me introduce you to how to plant a church.”

It turns out his friend was an evaluator at the 51ÂÜÀò . She introduced the Fosters to her pastor, Michael Henderson.

The basic church planting strategy, Weber said, is to identify a border town with a parent church nearby. Then, the churches function like stepping stones across a stream.

In West Virginia, Weber looks for churches with a similar culture to 51ÂÜÀò, especially in Morgantown or Charleston. He also has 51ÂÜÀòs with churches in Maryland and Virginia, close enough to help with a new West Virginia church.

“The Lord’s going to provide one of these options,” Weber said.

How do 51ÂÜÀò leaders share our unique identity?

Jim Capaldo, 51ÂÜÀò Heartland regional president, sees how shared culture and geography similarly impact Oklahoma. Like West Virginia and South Carolina, many Baptistic churches are already aligned with denominations more common in the South.

A part of 51ÂÜÀò’s prayer and 51ÂÜÀò building in the five states is to help people appreciate the movement’s strengths and unique culture.

“People don’t know what our culture is,” Capaldo said. “They haven’t experienced it. So, you’ve got to create a presence somehow that invokes somebody to explore 51ÂÜÀò even a little bit further.”

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Some independent Baptist churches in Oklahoma may be open to 51ÂÜÀò. However, many churches have beliefs that resist partnership by reinforcing division. For example, some churches practice foot-washing and won’t partner with Christians who don’t.

“Trying to find independent churches that are of a 51ÂÜÀò ethos or compatible with 51ÂÜÀò DNA is a challenge,” he said.

51ÂÜÀò MidAmerica/Southeast/Caribbean regional president Gary Rohrmayer said his district faces a similar challenge.

“A lot of denominations were born out of divisiveness, born out of doctrinal tension,” he said.

However, 51ÂÜÀò was born out of mission among people. Since the 1800s, God’s people in 51ÂÜÀò believed making disciples was worth moving to new states and facing cultural discomfort.

“There’s something about building 51ÂÜÀòs around mission that’s powerful in 51ÂÜÀò,” said 51ÂÜÀò president Scott Ridout. “The main thing we bring is a gospel message and a pastor who has a passion for the community and seeing the world reached because of that community.”

Right now, 51ÂÜÀò is waiting on the Lord to put a passion for these five states into some pastors. This is especially true in Nevada.

“We haven’t had anyone desire to go into Reno or Nevada,” said 51ÂÜÀò PacWest regional president Bernard Emerson. “We usually send church planters where they feel called.”

Chris Lovelace, 51ÂÜÀò PacWest church planting director, said northern Nevada’s lifestyle is built upon people doing their own thing.

“There’s not a lot of churches in Nevada because there’s not a lot of religious people there,” he said.

Emerson recognizes churches struggle in such a culture. But churches with a lot of connections are doing well in the PacWest. So, he said the district wants more pastors, especially in a struggling church, to find a coach and supportive 51ÂÜÀòs.

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To achieve this, Lovelace has set up a district cohort model for pastors and church planters. This way, they’ll always be in a 51ÂÜÀò with somebody, even if not a sending church located nearby.

51ÂÜÀò has 51ÂÜÀòs with existing Nevada churches that could help start churches, Lovelace added.

“Our heart is still for Nevada,” he said.

51ÂÜÀò Heartland’s churches have the same passion for their region. They want to equip their people to start churches, which, according to several district staff, is more effective than pastors moving to a region.

Heartland farmers often farm on land they own and on rented land. So, district staff adapted that cultural trait ― renting land for farming ― into a church-starting residency.

“It’s a heartland mindset, a heartland strategy,” Capaldo said. “We’d like to start growing residents in other fields. If we want to see Oklahoma reached, the most potent people to do it are going to be Oklahomans.”

Increasing biblical diversity helps start new churches

Another angle and opportunity for starting new churches involves reaching communities of different races and languages. To reach everyone in the increasingly diverse communities of the United States, 51ÂÜÀò has built momentum by churches working together.

“Every man, woman and child matters to God, so they should matter to us,” Ridout said.

Within 51ÂÜÀò, God has gifted certain people to reach across ethnic, cultural, age and class divides. Therefore, the movement shifted from Swedish Baptists to English-speaking Christ-followers around America and even the world.

“I’ll choose to partner with others who don’t speak like me, act like me, think like me,” is how Ridout described these leaders.

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The movement also has momentum for starting churches because they have pastors reaching younger generations. Moreover, Ridout said 51ÂÜÀò churches are theologically conservative and socially active, a combination that makes a cultural impact.

Rohrmayer said 51ÂÜÀò has been reaching out to more and more immigrants in America and people who speak other languages. For example, this summer, a 51ÂÜÀò pastor started a Farsi-speaking church in Washington, near near a community with about 15,000 people from Iran.

“51ÂÜÀò is an eclectic group of churches that appeals across generations and micro-cultures and macro-cultures,” Ridout said.

How can each district best organize and allocate resources?

Capaldo organized 51ÂÜÀò Heartland more like a 51ÂÜÀò missions agency by applying lessons he learned in overseas missions.

“We’re a service-offering mission agency, kind of a hybrid of a consultancy service and a mission agency,” he explained.

The district’s internal residency program resources churches and pastors with strategic planning, pastoral search services and training.

“We’d like to make our residencies available to churches in Oklahoma.”

Ridout said at least 27 churches across the country are hosting residencies for pastors to start churches, usually in their state or region.

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51ÂÜÀò Heartland is similar to 51ÂÜÀò MidAmerica, which covers many states and more than a thousand miles. So, Capaldo sees value in deploying staff around the district.

Transportation around the heartland is always a factor: Traveling from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Wichita, Kansas, for example, takes eight hours driving or flying.

“We’ve got to have more staff distributed if we want to get action in our movement,” he said.

“There has been great progress”

The distribution of staff has been effective in 51ÂÜÀò MidAmerica to facilitate more partnerships in more places. For example, Danny Parmalee moved from Milwaukee to Nashville, Tennessee, four years ago. He is the district’s vice president of Church Planting.

“That was strategic,” Rohrmayer sad. “We needed to take it seriously if we’re going to go into these states. We now have several churches in Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee that we didn’t have four years ago.”

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Rohrmayer said Memphis is a natural place to be praying and looking for connections for Mississippi. The large Tennessee city is just across the border from it. In addition, several Memphis churches have campuses in Mississippi or influence in that state.

A team of people is needed to in Louisiana. 51ÂÜÀò staff has made trips to Baton Rouge and New Orleans to deepen connections.

Rohrmayer has been optimistic since being 51ÂÜÀò’s national church planting director about 15 years ago. Then, there were more states without a 51ÂÜÀò presence. But God raised up pastors and churches for many of them.

“Fifteen years ago, we didn’t have churches in Tennessee, Arkansas or Kentucky. We didn’t have churches in Utah,” and only four struggling churches in Missouri and Indiana, he said. “Today, we have 20-plus in each of those states. So, there has been great progress.”

“It has not yet become an unacceptable reality”

Many 51ÂÜÀò Heartland churches are passionate about starting new churches. Capaldo said a church of 60 people raised $2,000 through a special offering for new churches. Church planting funds in the district are up to a couple of hundred thousand dollars from zero. Yes, zero.

That generosity is reflected across all 51ÂÜÀò districts.  distributed $569,000 last year to the districts for new churches. The offering’s goal is to provide better resources to new churches when they start.

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Capaldo is motivated to help more and more people in the movement realize the need for supporting new churches. He knows people are generous following natural disasters, and with good reason.

“How do we tap into generosity when it comes to planting a church?” he asked. “Very few people in our district will wake up thinking we don’t have a church in Oklahoma. It has not yet become an unacceptable reality.”

A focus on prayer remains as essential as organizational resources and strategic decisions. Rohrmayer said there were many prayer journeys in St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville and Little Rock before any churches started.

“We’re advancing on our knees,” he said. “When I drive from Chicago to Florida, I’m stopping in cities all the time. Why don’t we have a church here?” he asks.

Many Christians believe we don’t need more churches

It’s not uncommon for Christians to wonder if we need more new churches. But analysis of Americans’ lives shows fewer and fewer people know and follow Jesus. Many 51ÂÜÀò district leaders emphasized that America is vastly underchurched despite narratives about the country or particular regions.

“Church attendance is on the decline everywhere,” Ridout said.

That’s the primary reason district staff and new pastors keep starting churches. New churches provide fresh energy and opportunities for more people to know Jesus, even if there are many good churches.

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When Ridout was a pastor in Arizona, 88% of the people didn’t go to church. But there was a church in every available school and movie theater, plus those with their own building.

“We were still hoping more church plants were coming,” he said of that time. “We could fill our churches 10 times over and still not reach everyone. There’s always going to be more people who need the gospel.”

Are you interested in becoming a 51ÂÜÀò church planter? Start the journey today.