Why I Started/Restarted a Church

In 2020, I felt the Lord leading me and my wife into the pastorate. There were a few options available to me to consider: one was a church that would have to be a revitalization of about 30 people, one was a healthy church, and one was what was left of a church plant that had essentially died.

I was getting advice from some men I looked up to, and one of those men was my father-in-law, Matthew Morrison. He was in the middle of revitalizing his church, Gosple Light Baptist in Walkertown, NC. He told me, “It’s easier to give birth, than to try to raise the dead.” Little did he know how helpful that advice would be to me–it was a part of how God led us to plant a new church instead of revitalizing the old.

After prayer, fasting, searching the Scriptures, and more godly counsel, my wife and I knew the church plant in Foley was where God wanted us. So we stepped out by faith to plant a church; however, the church plant did not start from scratch. It actually started from what was left of a previous church in that same building. We had the option to try to revitalize and save the old church, or we could start a new church and have the resources left over from the old one. Here’s why we chose to go the replant route instead of the revitalization route.

Reasons I Planted a New Church instead of Revitalizing the Old:

1.) The old church had a bad reputation.

The full history of the church, as I understand it, was that it started off as an RU (Reformer’s Unanimous) chapter of a church in a town about 10 miles away–this was several years ago. Eventually, there was some friction between the RU chapter and the church, and the RU chapter split off to start their own church.

As you can see, it wasn’t off to a very good start. In reality, it was more of an addictions program that ran a church instead of being a church with a ministry for those battling addiction. The addictions ministry itself went through several name changes and program updates. Eventually it was so good, the local courts would send people through it who had been charged with drug abuse.

The problem was the whole city of Foley knew the church as the “addictions church.” Obviously, people were hesitant bring their kids there and even hesitant to come themselves. Furthermore, the man who started the church was very toxic as a leader; he was a follower of much of Peter Ruckman’s philosophies. I listened to some sermons of his, and they would make @badpreacherclips look good.

2.) The old church had essentially died.

Eventually, the addictions ministry died out. Since it was the only true ministry of the church, the church soon collapsed afterwards. To make matters worse, the previous pastor (who arguably was not qualified biblically to be a pastor) led the church to a bunch of debt with a purchase of land in an agreement that was very bad for the church. Right after getting the church in that debt, he moved to Indiana.

One good thing he did before he left was get a man by the name of Doug Cook to be an interim pastor. Doug Cook has a ministry that revitalizes churches; he is funded much like a missionary, and he and his wife have been instrumental in revitalizing dozens of churches. He was helpful in streamlining some finances, renegotiating the loan, and getting some important policies in place.

He also did a great job of loving the 4-6 people who were left, and he humbly led them away from some of the toxic legalism they were used to. However, from his perspective, it was a good idea to change the church’s passion and primary focus from revitalizing a dead work to birthing a new one.

3.) The old pastor of the church had hurt and/or run off many church members.

I do not want to bash this guy any more than is needed, but this was a key reason that we started a new church instead of saving the old one. The previous pastor both in his preaching and his personal interactions was very toxic; in fact, he was so toxic, he ran his own mother out of the church!

The pastor was also a local barber, and everyone in the town knew what kind of a man he was. He had a great heart for reaching those in prison and on drugs; however, for the most part he was a radical, arrogant jerk. Oh, the stories I could tell!

4.) I received lots of godly counsel to plant a church instead of trying to rescue a dying one.

I began gathering as much godly counsel as I could; the Bible says, “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety.” Every single person I got counsel from when I explained the situation agreed that I should just start a new church instead of trying to rescue the old. In fact, at one point, we even considered meeting at a completely different location than where the old church met.

My father-in-law gave me some advice that really helped me be settled in my decision: “It is easier to give birth than to raise the dead.” That helped me so much. Now, don’t get me wrong–giving birth is not by any means easy! However, it is easier than raising the dead.

5.) I had the peace of God in my heart and direction from the Holy Spirit.

We all know the passage that teaches us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. I just did not have any peace about taking the church any other direction. In fact, I told the 4-6 people who were at the old church that if they wanted me to come be their pastor, they would have to be willing to change the church name and start a brand-new church instead of trying to save the old one.

They all looked at each other for about five seconds and then unanimously agreed. I truly believe the Lord had been laying that thought on their hearts before I ever met them. I also have had a desire all my life to plant a church, and I do not believe that was a coincidence–I am persuaded that the Lord laid that desire on my heart long before I got to Foley because He knew that’s what it would take for this church.

What happened next?

On my first Sunday as pastor, we had a business meeting; we voted to change the church name, revoted all the board members, voted on a new church constitution, and all that passed unanimously. We still have some bad reputation left to overcome due to meeting in the same location; however, as word in the community has spread that this is a new church in an old building, that reputation has been quickly and mostly overcome.

God has blessed since then in ways that only He can. For months, we did not have a church sign or church tracts, but even in the heat of the pandemic in 2020, somehow, we had first-time guests every single Sunday. I’ve been here for two years, and there have only been two or three weeks that we did not have at least one first-time visitor. Only God can do that!

In no way am I trying to minimize the importance of church revitalization–not every church has the option to start anew like we did, and every situation is different. I just know how God led us personally.

One Big Idea: Although starting a church is in no way easy, it’s much easier to give birth to a new one than it is to raise a dead one.