Recruiting Hundreds of Congregations to Launch New Congregations

Part Four: Grassroots Strategies for Congregational Multiplication

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

Recruiting Hundreds of Congregatons to Launch New Congregations

Part Three ended with a great challenge: How were we going to secure sponsorship for launching 500 new congregations throughout the state of South Carolina, when so few pastors and their congregations understood how to do this?

A reasonable number of pastors, staff members, and lay leaders understood the need. Some wanted to get involved. But knowing the steps was beyond many of them. It was not part of their ministry experience.

I Know a Place

The annual statewide gathering for the South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBC) in 1986 was the year an evening was set aside for an emphasis on missions.

My team put together a marketing plan leading up to that evening to build awareness for launching new congregations. Our approach was very simple.

It was called “I Know a Place”. The full title was “I Know a Place . . . I Know a People . . . I Know a Church”.

I Know a Place—a growing area. An unchurched or under-churched community. Or a new community being built where new ministries and a new congregation need to be launched.

I Know a People—a demographic of people who are growing significantly. A preChristian, unreached, unchurched, or under-churched people group in our area where new ministries and a congregation need to launch.

I Know a Church—an existing congregation who needs to lead out or be part of a launching team for one or more new congregations.

Fill Out This Card if You Want a Sticker

For two days a team of a dozen or so people traversed the core place of all conventions—the exhibit hall. We approached people and asked them to complete one or more four-by-six cards indicating a place, a people and/or a church.

They gave us their telephone number and mailing address. (Remember this was before email and texting)

Then and only then would we give them a bright blue sticker to wear on their clothing that said—“I Know a Place”.

Within 30-minutes after the doors opened the first morning, people were asking folks they encountered, “Where did you get that sticker and what does it mean”.

Soon wearing one of those stickers became the “in” thing.

We then spread out into the hallways, the lobby of the auditorium, and outside toward the buses and parking lots.

By the end of the second day we had more than 700 cards completed and created a buzz in preparation for our missions evening.

Celebration Evening

For this celebration we contracted with a well-known Baptist musician to compose and perform a song for us.

We reported on the results of the “I Know a Place” effort. People spoke who were getting involved in launching new congregations. Our SCBC executive director publicly endorsed the effort and strategy. Then a closing inspirational message was shared.

The two days were a success and raised expectations for a major effort to launch new congregations.

This was not intended to be a moment, but a movement. It is what happened after that evening that counted.

The Movement

We followed up with everyone who completed a “I Know a Place” card. If it was a layperson, we also connected with their pastor. In some cases, multiple people from the same congregation completed a card.

Many of the next 200 launches of new congregations came from suggestions from the “I Know a Place” emphasis.

SCBC moved from a regional denominational organization accidently launching five or six congregations per year to one launching many more. The accidental ones as indicated in an earlier writing were often because of church splits.

The new movement experienced only a few church splits each year that became new congregations.

The 15-year plan included increasing the number of new launches in three phases. The first five years the hope was to launch 17 new congregations per year. The second five years to launch 35. The final five years was challenging with a goal of 51 per year.

We did not make the goal for the final five year period. However, the 15-year emphasis did involve launching more than 400 new congregations. It resulted in a net increase of around 340 additional congregations affiliated with SCBC.

Obviously, during the 15 years some long-term existing congregations died, and some dropped their affiliation with SCBC. Not all new congregations survived long-term. But SCBC was proud of their record. Upwards to 80 percent survived and thrived. This was much better than the national average.

One significant result was the racial and ethnic diversification resulting from the new launches. SCBC went from having less than ten predominately African- American congregations to more than 25. Less than ten Hispanic-American congregations to more than 30. Less than ten Asian-American congregations to more than 40.

Do you know a place, people, or church?

Next, part five will talk about how many launching congregations we need.

Copyright 2025 by George W. Bullard Jr. March 3, 2025 Edition

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