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| First ‘High Impact’ Church Set To Launch |
| Release Date: 08/23/2004 |
LEXINGTON —The first “high impact” church planned under this new Kentucky Baptists Connect emphasis is preparing for its public launch Oct. 3.
Located in northwest Lexington, The Master’s Church is the first of 25 such congregations planned by Jan. 1, 2010, with at least five of them in eastern Kentucky. They are among 75 new churches the Kentucky Baptist Convention hopes to start the next five years as part of the new Kentucky Baptists Connect emphasis.
A high impact church has a target of 250 members in attendance in five years and is backed by a minimum of $100,000 in seed money.
That funding is vital to giving a church the resources it needs to make a noticeable difference in its community, says Scott Wilkins, pastor of The Master’s Church.
“Most churches try to launch too small, with five or six families,” says Wilkins, a native of Owensboro. “They don’t have the resources or the manpower to maintain growth.”
“High impact churches will help all Kentucky Baptists learn how to be more effective in reaching the previously unreached,” adds Paducah pastor Kevin McCallon, a member of the mission study committee that recommended the Kentucky Baptists Connect initiative.
The new Lexington congregation is already averaging about 120 people at Sunday services, held in an office-warehouse complex. The building is about one mile south of Masterson’s Station, a residential development that expects to surpass 5,000 homes by 2007.
The Master’s Church began meeting last Easter with a core group of about 20, drawn from people who attended a series of PowerPoint presentations at the Masterson Station clubhouse earlier this year.
On Aug. 29 it will welcome KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey as the speaker for its morning service. That afternoon, Mackey will join officials from the KBC, Elkhorn Baptist Association, Victory Baptist Church (the sponsoring church), and Master’s for a covenant signing ceremony.
The covenant signifies the congregation’s pledge to participate in the association, state and national conventions. Master’s already tithes from its offerings to the state convention (8 percent) and association (2 percent.)
“It has been gratifying to see how God has brought the pastoral team together and has provided a strong core group to work toward a significant launch,” Mackey says. “It is my prayer that all Kentucky Baptists will praise God for the new church start in a new growth area.”
Jim McGee, a KBC church development strategist for southeastern Kentucky, has also played a key role in the new congregation.
Formerly minister of education at Porter Memorial Baptist Church, McGee met Wilkins when Scott drove down from Indianapolis to officiate at the funeral of a family member last October. McGee later recommended Wilkins for the position.
“I knew I wasn’t the guy to pastor it because I’m 68,” McGee says.
Still, McGee helped form the core group, acts as a leadership consultant and teaches the seniors Sunday school class.
The congregation is running about 60 percent young adults and features a blended worship style that favors the contemporary side.
However, McGee says worship style doesn’t define a high impact church as much as its commitment to missions and starting new churches.
“We feel like being the first one we’ve got a real responsibility for this thing to work,” McGee says. “We feel it is working well. By having that money to start out, it helps do everything to let people know about the church.”
Volunteers have been doing random acts of kindness to spread the word about the new church. In late July they handed out more than 3,000 bottles of water at a county fair. In mid-August the church hosted a free cookout to mark the end of a week of backyard Bible clubs. Soon, it will distribute boxes of light bulbs to 5,000 homes with an invitation to the launch service.
Its most visible community project will be a free fireworks show and concert Sept. 4 at Applebee’s Stadium after a Lexington Legends baseball game. The event will feature comedienne Victoria Jackson and singer Bob Carlisle, best known for his hit tune, “Butterfly Kisses.”
Despite this splash, Wilkins says his heart isn’t set on building a mega church but a “meta” church – one of many. If Master’s only reaches250 in attendance but starts 10 similar-sized churches, he says it will create a domino affect.
“We want to be part of planting new churches,” says Wilkins, most recently pastor of Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis. “New churches grow three times as fast and baptize three times as many people. We want to be a church that enlarges God’s kingdom.”
A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wilkins says his desire to start new churches comes from the time he spent in Atlanta.
As a pastor in Stone Mountain, his congregation planted African-American, Korean, Hispanic and Laotian churches. Wilkins saw dramatic growth in each of them.
“They grew so quickly,” Wilkins says. “There was so much freedom in the Spirit, a freedom to grow and reach people. I think at that point is when the Lord birthed a real desire in my heart to plant churches.”
During seven years in Indianapolis, Fall Creek started four other churches, but this marks the first time Wilkins has pulled up stakes to lead one.
The move back to his home state cost him financial security, a comfortable home and his three children’s established friends, but the 43-year-old pastor says it has been worth it.
“God literally said, ‘It’s time to go,’” Wilkins says of his call to Lexington. “The Lord kept opening doors and showing us this is what He wanted us to do.”
Mike James, pastor of Victory Baptist Church, is equally excited. Just 12 years old itself, the former mission of Immanuel Baptist Church hopes to co-sponsor a new work with Master’s during the next two years.
There has been little growth of Kentucky Baptist churches in Lexington the past 30 years, James says, a trend he wants to help reverse.
The sponsor has supported the newest mission with prayer, access to office equipment, mailing and other tasks. Several families from Victory are expected to join Master’s.
“It’s been very positive,” James says of Victory’s participation. “I always want our church to look outside the four walls. When we fail to see the possibility of people who can be reached on the outside, we get tunnel vision.”
Release prepared by Ken Walker |
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