Local Church IMPACT! Fayette Baptist Mission – Oakland, TN tagged:

Local Church IMPACT! Fayette Baptist Mission – Oakland, TN

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“The Not-So-Trendy Option: Planting a Traditional, Yet Missional, Baptist Church”
Mike Morris (aka Baptist Theologue)

The name of our church plant—Fayette Baptist Mission—confuses many people. When they hear the word “mission,” they often think of a gospel rescue mission. We have chosen to plant a church in the traditional way: being under the authority of a mother church, not having a big launch, calling our group a mission rather than a church, etc. I attend the Monday morning staff meeting of our mother church, and I actually enjoy the interaction and accountability with the pastor and staff there. I don’t feel like I’m in the church planting business by myself. I learned about the importance of working on a church planting team while helping to plant five churches during my ten years as an IMB missionary in South Korea. I also have a close relationship with our associational director of missions. His secretary handles our bank account and writes my paycheck. I never touch any mission money. Two men at our mission count the offering, and our treasurer deposits it. The accountability I have in this “old school” approach gives us credibility with the people who hear about us and visit our worship services.

Some of my outreach philosophy is found in Luke 10:5-11. That passage teaches the importance of looking for both receptive individuals and receptive communities of people. Fortunately, I have found a receptive community. Oakland is the fastest growing community in the fastest growing county in Tennessee. The current population is approximately five times as large as it was in the year 2000. Many people have moved to Fayette County from the Memphis area in the adjacent county due to the perception of high crime, high taxes, and dangerous public schools in Memphis. People who have recently moved into a community tend to be more receptive than people who have been there a long time. About 85% of the Fayette County residents are unchurched (have no church affiliation) or dechurched (have church affiliation but aren’t active). In the Luke 10 passage, Jesus told his disciples to eat with receptive people. The people who visit our worship services tend to be very receptive, and I immediately invite them to eat with me at a restaurant. I always pay or at least offer to pay for that first meal. At these meals I have been able to get to know people in a way that is almost impossible in the hurried conversations I have before and after worship services. I have also done door-to-door evangelism, and in that context I have had an easier time talking to people in Fayette County than I did when doing such evangelism in Memphis. I have also spent money on newspaper ads, but I think the most efficient way of church planting is to build close relationships with receptive people and then go after the friends and family members of those folks.

A small group began meeting in our building with a former DOM before I became the official church planter/pastor. I became the first member of the mission in September, 2007. We now have six members. Our high attendance was 34 this past Sunday morning. My older son, a law student, directs the congregational singing of hymns. He likes classical music and even listens to it in his SUV. My mother plays the piano at our services. Last week a young lady, a sophomore in high school, sang a classical duet with her mother in our worship service. Apparently a lot of younger people don’t particularly like contemporary Christian music. The group upon which we focus likes traditional church music. We already have a building and ten acres of land because of the disbanding of a church last year. My wife does not attend our church on Sundays. She is a full-time staff member at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, but she frequently goes with me when I meet prospects at restaurants. Bellevue is helping us by doing a block party near our mission in May. We receive financial support from several churches, the association, and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

My preaching frequently involves the teaching of deep spiritual truths. I have often heard that the preacher should “put the cookies on the lowest shelf so that everyone can reach them.” We should try to start where most of our people are, but eventually we will need to introduce some new concepts that will be unfamiliar to them—putting the cookies a bit out of their reach. I believe that the preacher should at times stretch his people to help them in their spiritual growth. Even if they don’t understand everything in the sermon, perhaps they will be stimulated to investigate the biblical passage for themselves during the next week. My sermons are not seeker-driven, but I try to use illustrations with which listeners can identify. I always include the plan of salvation in my sermons, but my sermons are primarily directed toward Christians. I agree with what Ed Stetzer said about seeker-driven churches:

“In seeker-driven churches, Sunday morning is not supposed to look like church; it’s designed to be an ongoing evangelistic service. . . . The strategy has worked for Willow Creek, but it’s not one I embrace for theological reasons. . . . Churches should exalt God, edify believers, and evangelize the world. Worship services, first and foremost, should exalt God. This statement underscores the imperative of God-centered worship. Believers should also be built up in the faith. Finally, authentic worship can evangelize unbelievers. . . . Every church is seeker-sensitive to some degree. If we are worshipping in the local language, wearing local clothing, and singing music written in the last one thousand years, we are using a worship style that’s sensitive to those who attend. . . . My main concern is that the actions of the church are understandable to the unchurched, sensitive to their needs, but not changing the message to be sensitive.”

Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006), 261-263.