2015 Spring issue of BaptistLIFE

Spring 2015 Newsjournal of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network/BCMD • www.baptistlifeonline.org

®

ENGA

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ENCO

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EQUIP

Multiplication

Connecting forMission

E3=M2

Spring 2015

For a few months now, you’ve probably heard our Network staff use the phrase, “E3=M2.” Perhaps you’ve wondered what it means.

In a nutshell, when we partner together to Equip, Encourage and Engage (E3) your church, the result is Mission Multiplication (M2)! It’s that simple. To explain:

EQUIPIn addition to high quality, conference-type training in centralized and regional events all across the Mid-Atlantic, the Network also offers a number of training resources through online portals, such as E-Quip.net, and through educational opportunities, such as online schools/seminaries and locally offered extension center programs.

ENCOURAGEWe partner with and help Network churches grow healthier as they fulfill Jesus’ commands and our mission by encouraging them and providing services like coaching, connecting, and consulting. Various retreats and other events offer opportunities for timely instruction, life-giving inspiration, and deepening community for church pastors and their staff and key leaders/members as well as their spouses and families.

ENGAGEWe assist Network churches in developing and implementing effective missions and evangelism strategies that advance the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. This includes loving our neighbors and sharing Christ with those across the world—and those who are at our own back door.

You belong to a strong Network, who is dedicated to coming alongside you to advance the Kingdom in this influential region. Know we are praying for you and rooting for you!

What is E3=M2?

by Dr. Will McRaney,Executive Missional Strategist

Spring 2015

VOLUME 100 ISSUE 1/ Spring 2015

ContentsBaptistLIFE

(ISSN 331-640) is published quarterly as a Cooperative Program ministry of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network/BCMD.

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2 What is E3=M2?Dr. Will McRaney, executive missional strategist, explains the heart behind the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network’s 3 E’s: Equip, Encourage and Engage.

4 #BringurBrick: We can do more and better together

The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network uses the visual of a brick pathway to demonstrate the importance of greater connectivity among churches.

11 Peer learning groups offer opportunities to connect

Peer Learning Groups provide opportunities for pastors to learn together, exchange ideas and hold one another accountable. Each participant individually and the group collectively moves forward in engagement with their congregations and in implementing new strategies.

14 Turning Around JourneyThe Turning Around Journey pilot program kicked off last year and already, some churches are seeing significant results and potential as they move the process.

20 Michael Crawford: ‘For us, when people come and plant, it’s personal’

The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network is continuing its adventurous pioneering tradition with church multiplication with the addition of Michael Crawford as team strategist.

22 The power of a NetworkVarious groups come to a church plant’s aid after flooding destroyed its meeting place in Newark, Del.

Spring 2015

We can do more together

#BringurBrick

By Shannon

Baker

Spring 2015

When Joel Rainey sat down with Deacon Bill Abbey last September, he learned that the Gunpowder Baptist Church was without a pastor. The church was down to around 45 people or so, and they

were hurting pretty badly. After spending around 45 minutes getting caught up with all the church

was facing, Rainey handed Abbey a brick, engraved with the church’s name on it. Rainey explained that the purpose of the brick was to demonstrate the network of churches’ collective effort to build a path that links the past with the present and on to the future.

“Then it occurred to me that I had many years ago learned the history of the Network in relation to several churches, including Gunpowder,” Rainey shared. “So as I was explaining the concept of ‘We are part of something bigger, and we have a grand past, which is why we exist,’ I looked at him and asked, ‘Do you have any idea the role Gunpowder played in that past?”

The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network uses the visual of a brick pathway to

demonstrate the importance of greater connectivity among churches

Spring 2015

Abbey didn’t know. Gunpowder Baptist Church is one of

the oldest Baptist churches in Maryland. In fact, in October 1836, six churches met at First Baptist Church, Baltimore and formed the Maryland Baptist Union

Association, the precursor to the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network. Gunpowder was one of those original churches.

Rainey told Abbey, who has been at Gunpowder for 11 years, “You guys are struggling big time right now, but if it’s

Previous: Members from Jesus Christ Universal Mission Church (Gaithersburg, Md.) gather around their church brick.

Above: Nathaniel Thomas, pastor of Forestville New Redeemer Baptist Church (Forestville, Md.) poses with one of his church members.

Right: Church members from Iglesia Bautista Communidad de Fe (Germantown, Md.) photograph their pastor Julio Mejia placing their brick.

Spring 2015

any encouragement to you, we will be voting on a $7.9 million budget for 2015, and if it weren’t for Gunpowder acting courageously more than 150 years ago, we wouldn’t even exist!”

Rainey instructed Abbey to bring his church’s brick to the Network’s Nov. 9-11 annual meeting (now affectionally called Annual Celebration), where he could place it in sequence with other church bricks.

When Abbey did, his reaction to seeing the display of bricks was priceless.

“It was nice to see how God keeps His Word and that He uses His church for His purposes,”

Abbey responded. “I noticed a few older churches. That surprised me. Here we are a 200-year-old church, and there are churches even older than us!”

Now, Gunpowder is seeing brighter days. Transitional Interim Pastor Kenneth Quick is leading the church through healing and is preparing the church for its next pastor.

Why #BringurBrick?

Surveys taken earlier this year of groups of Network pastors of various sizes of churches and language groups (as well as General Mission Board members) revealed many pastors felt disconnected from the Network.

In response, Doug DuBois, team strategist for the Skycroft Training Center, visualized using a brick to show the need for greater connectivity. The brick would symbolize the Network’s collective effort to build a path that links its past with its present and leads to its future. A single brick’s usefulness is far more

Above: Ryan and Amanda Weaver of Remedy Church (downtown Salisbury, Md.), look on as their sons Ryland and Rance place their church brick.

Right: Mark Dooley, of Leonardtown Baptist Church (Southern Maryland) and president of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network’s General Mission Board, shows his church’s brick.

limited than when it is used along with others in order to build something stronger and more enduring.

DuBois worked with a vendor to engrave the name of the 560 churches on individual bricks, which the Network staff later delivered on personal visits with the pastors. Staff then asked these church leaders to bring their bricks to the Annual Celebration to represent their part in advancing Christ’s mission in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

To encourage pastors to bring their bricks to the Annual Celebration, the Network filmed video challenges from the staff and eventually from pastors, to urge pastors to #BringurBrick; developed social media and email campaigns to push out those challenges; and took celebratory

photos as each brick was returned at the meeting. Even Comedian Dennis Swanberg, in promoting his appearance at the Celebration, sent along a personal #BringurBrick challenge.

A true celebration

On the opening night of the Annual Celebration, pastors and their church members placed their church bricks in chronological order on the “pathway” display in the foyer outside of the main meeting space.

The display matched this year’s theme, which was “Gofwd: Loving Neighbors, Sharing Christ.”

The atmosphere was festive as individuals and groups eagerly documented the moment through photos (including photos they took with their own phones!).

Because of all the excitement of those gathering around the bricks, staff opted to delay the start of the first session by about 15 minutes.

Did all the effort really matter?

As a result of the personal brick visits, there was a substantial increase in the number of pastors and their church members who attended the Celebration.

To compare: 418 registered messengers, 100 registered guests and 282 non-registered guests (for a total of 700) attended this annual meeting. Previously, 269 messengers and 73 guests (for a total of 342) attended the annual meeting in 2013, and 260 messengers and 96 guests (for a total of 356) attended the annual meeting in 2012. That represented a 105% increase

Pastor Netra Gurung of Himalayan Baptist Church (Gaithersburg, Md.) poses with church members.

Spring 2015

During this year’s Annual Celebration, 418 registered messengers, 100 registered guests and 282 non-registered guests (for a total of 700) attended this annual meeting. That was a 105% increase in attendance between 2013 and 2014!

in attendance between 2013 and 2014!But the greater hope for the

#bringurbrick campaign was better connectivity with the pastors within the Network. Of the 560 churches in Network’s database, we learned that around 80 churches were completely unengaged with the Network (which alerted the Network to a future opportunity for reengagement.)

Of the remaining 480 churches, Network staff visited 400 or 85% of them within a few short months! With such a small staff and a short time period

to connect, this was a huge achievement! Though anecdotal, it was apparent

that the personal touch spoke loudly to those visited. Like Bill Abbey, a majority of the church leaders did attend the Annual Celebration.

Presently, the Network is contining to connect with pastors and their churches. After receiving all the bricks back, the Network will use each of these bricks to build a similar path at the Skycroft Training Center to symbolize the joint commitment to “Gofwd” in all that God has planned.

Spring 2015

When we connect for mission multiplication, we’ll see more:• new believers• disciple making leaders• engaging people without Christ • new churches & mission outposts• restored lives, families, churches and communities

Join thousands of leaders just like you!Interested in being part of the Network? Call us at (800) 466-5290,

ext. 263, and learn how you can get engaged by affirming, giving, serving and multiplying.

You are not alone in ministry— with the Network you’ll always be connected.

To learn more click bcmd.org, call (800) 466-5290, ext. 263 or e-mail us at [email protected].

We’re looking for partners that REFLECT & PROMOTEwho “WE ARE” together...

PIONEERSPLANTERSSERVANTSBELIEVERSSHARERS

PRAY-ERSDIVERSELEADERS

andGIVERS

more & betterWe can do together

Spring 2015

The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network strives to continu-

ally provide opportunities for connection within our Network in an effort to encourage, equip and en-gage pastors and church leaders. Peer Learning Groups (PLG) are a new and exciting initiative to be a conduit for those connections.

Participants can choose between the groups “Love Your Neighbor/Share Christ,” as created by Net-work Executive Missional Strate-gist, Will McRaney, and “Lead Like Jesus,” from Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.

Joel Rainey, Network team strategist for evan-gelism and missions, who is facilitating the “Love Your Neighbor/Share Christ” groups, said the material helps lead-ers honestly assess their churches and themselves about their intentionality of praying for and reach-ing the lost.

“Peer learning groups

will take you beyond ac-cessing to processing and assessment. You can’t do that without your col-leagues beside you,” he said.

Keith Hammer, Net-work church strengthen-ing strategist and facilita-tor of “Lead Like Jesus,” said the material does a great job of unpacking what it means to be a true servant leader, from the

life and teaching of Jesus. The study covers

the heart, head, hands and habits of leadership. Groups are free to “own” their studies, choosing what areas to focus on.

The key elements of the groups are covenant, honesty and commitment.

Randy Millwood, Network team strategist for church strengthen-ing, who will also lead the “Lead Like Jesus” sessions, explained that leaders covenant together to be

committed to the group, to be prepared, to pray for one another, and to share in an honest, safe setting. The groups also provide opportunities to learn together, exchange ideas and hold one another accountable. Each partici-pant individually and the group collectively moves forward in engagement with their congregations and in implementing new

strategies.Groups last

for at least six months. Some have already started, others are forming. They

meet in different locations throughout the Network area.

“This is intended to fill a gap where pastors and church leaders can go on a learning journey together, network, build relationships and apply what they’re learning that serves to equip, to encour-age and to engage on a regular basis. I think God is going to use this in a significant way,” Hammer said.

‘Love Your Neighbor/Share Christ’ and ‘Lead like Jesus’ peer learning groups offer opportunities to connect

Lead Like Jesuswww.bcmd.org/llj

Love Your Neighbor/Share Christwww.bcmd.org/loveyourneighbor

Strengthen and Start Churches

Abundant Grace Baptist Church is seeking a bi-vocational pastor. Candidate must have a degree from a Baptist Seminary/institution, and previous experience as a pastor. The starting salary for this position is $1,000 per month, which will increase as the church grows. Interested candidates should please forward their resume accompanied with a CD, a DVD, or a flashdrive of a previous sermon to: Pastor Search Committee, Abundant Grace Baptist Church, 10019 Liberty Road, Randallstown, MD 21133.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.(Eccles. 4:9-10, 12)

TO M

AKE

A

UNIT

EDTO

GETH

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DIFF

EREN

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We can do more & better together.

A shaken community affected by natural disaster finds hope because trained volunteers give their time to clean up and rebuild. A tired pastor finds encouragement from insights shared by other pastors in peer learning groups. Teenagers discover their callings because they did ministry as part of their Christian camp experiences. Immigrants from closed nations hear God’s Word through English as a Second Language classes.

Through your Network, communities are healed, leaders are refreshed, future generations are called, and the nations of the world fall in love with Jesus.

The result?

Healthy church leaders, healthy churches, healthy communities, and a truly impactful force in this highly influential region of the world.

The bottom line is Mid-Atlantic Baptists unite together to love our neighbors and share Christ in our region. That’s what Gofwd Mid-Atlantic does.

You matter.Your investment, large or small, impacts God’s Kingdom.

When you invest in the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network, you are touching eternity.

Though each Southern Baptist church is autonomous, the denomination as a whole has uniquely focused on sharing in the ministry. No church should ever feel alone.

You can make a difference.Your investment helps start and strengthen 550+ churches across Maryland, Delaware and beyond.

100% of the funds received stays in the local area.

Your investment gives encouragement to those on the frontlines of ministry. It gives resources to churches who want to impact their communities through service and evangelism.

Your investment paves the way for people to know Jesus.

That’s why we need to keep going forward together.

Visit bcmd.org/donate, e-mail [email protected], or call (800) 466-5290 today.

TO M

AKE

ADI

FFER

ENCE

Spring 2015

For over 100 years, First Baptist Church of Havre de Grace has been home to many families whose lives are situated along the beautiful waters of the Susquehanna River and

the head of the Chesapeake Bay. The gorgeous gray stone façade of the building portrayed

its rich history. Even so, church just wasn’t in the community’s vernacular anymore. And despite the heroic efforts of the ministry leaders and church members, attendance on Sundays was dwindling. Over time, the leaders recognized the church was facing decline.

So Pastor Ron Smith knew it was time to turn it around.


Turning

Around

Journey

By Sharon Mager

Smith, who was a member of the church before he was called to semi-nary, said the church had been steadily declining for 20 years. “There’s no one to blame, that’s just where we were,” he said.

He was one of eight bold pastors and congregations who participated in a “Turning Around Jour-ney” developed by Randy Mill-wood, team strategist for church strength-ening at the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network. The prayer-ful and soul-searching effort is designed for churches who are plateaued or in early stages of decline and willing to make changes to move forward.

The pilot program kicked off last year and some churches are seeing signifi-cant results and potential as they move through the process. Make no mistake; it truly is an ongoing jour-ney, not a program.

“Jesus’ invitation was to follow. That would indicate a con-tinuing process,” Millwood explained.

After hearing Millwood’s overview of the Turning Around process, Smith took the idea back to his deacons. Following several months of prayer and discussion, the church body stood beside their pastor and approved the move forward.

Smith joined other pastors and the process began with an intense two-day workshop at the Network’s Skycroft Training Center. There, Smith gathered a three-inch binder full of notes, to which he still refers for help and encourage-ment.

“It’s neat; the ideas keep resurfac-ing. The infor-mation stays fresh,” Smith said.

The pastors met together two more times: once in April for a time of worship and discussion, and at the end of May, when they shared presentations with the rest of the group about how their church was progressing.

Smith shared how each pastor re-ceived all kinds of feedback,

“questions to help us think, re-think and evaluate.”

For his pre-sentation, Smith, a former science major with a math

minor, looked at Havre de Grace’s

Church statistics using the church roll, member-

ship, attendance, baptisms and other data. He listed all of

the projects the church started, empha-sized and highlighted.

He’s glad he did the research be-cause the data showed that the church was really trying to minister to the com-munity using a variety of outreach and

Spring 2015

“It’s neat; the ideas keep resurfacing. The

information stays fresh.” - Ron Smith, Pastor

First Baptist Church of Havre de Grace

Spring 2015

evangelism methods. But they were still

declining. So Smith pro-posed his church par-ticipate in a church health assessment provided by the Network.

Fifteen members gathered at the same time in the same room and filled out the in-depth questionnaire. Millwood, who has assessed over 200 churches, processed the information and pro-vided a 17-page detailed report focused on six areas: disciple-making; servant leadership; small groups/spiritual family; community; decision-making and worship. Millwood then conducted a 4-hour workshop based on the report for the church.

“We had 36 people show up. That’s over 1/3 of our regular attenders,” Smith said. “That was very encouraging to me that we had such a good re-sponse.”

The 36 divided into six teams and each respond-ed to positive and challeng-ing statements developed as a result of the survey. They an-swered questions, such as “How could they meet the challenges and overcome any nega-tives?”

The amount of par-ticipation and dialogue

was incredible, Smith said. Church members responded well because they were invested in the discussion and the strat-egy.

One strength the church dis-covered is that it was bibli-cally based; they regu-larly turned to the Bible for answers and direction. But the area that most challenged them was in the area of commu-nication.

As a result, church leaders are taking several steps to increase their communication ef-fectiveness. After discov-ering most people were not able to articulate the church’s mission statement,

members worked together to better define and articulate

the statement. Now, each ministry team is challenged to evaluate whether their team’s mission is in line with the

church’s overall mission.

Ministry leaders are purposeful-ly gather-ing church information to increase

the effective-ness of their

communica-tion. They are more effectively using bulletin boards and now have tear-off

strips on their bulle-tins where the congrega-tion can update names, emails, and cell phone numbers. Members are asked to share prayer re-quests on cards that are distributed to the pastoral staff, deacons, deacon-esses and spouses.

“I get a chance to tell the congregation every

Sunday that our church leaders and their spouses are praying for them,” Smith said.

Smith said a part of the issue was communication breakdown between

church leaders, min-istry teams and the

congregation. The solu-tion will include honestly dealing with past hurts.

In response, the church will have a heal-ing service this spring. “We will make peace with our past,” Smith said.

“A pastor can work hard. His people

can work hard. Yet, they can still find their church resting

stubbornly on a plateau and perhaps even teetering on the edge of decline. Randy Millwood’s wealth of knowledge

can point these churches toward the path of new growth and fill a weary

pastor’s heart with ... hope.”

-- Bill Warren, President, Mid-Atlantic

Baptist Network

Spring 2015

The contemporary and traditional services will be combined for a time of scripture reading and devotions relating to res-toration and how God for-gives. Smith will lead the church in writing down past hurts then burning them, offering them to the Lord for forgiveness and healing.

The church will also work on strategic plan-ning. This is an area that has Smith in awe and praising God.

As he and the church decided to move forward with the journey, Smith was concerned about his schedule. He is pursuing his doctoral degree and wondered how he could pastor, lead in the journey, and continue his studies.

God had a plan. Smith’s classwork is stra-tegic planning. The two

have “dovetailed” per-fectly.

“It just blows me away. It’s incredible to have everything working to-gether,” Smith said.

Grace Baptist Church Cumberland, Md.

Grace Baptist Church, Cumberland, is also walk-ing through the Journey. The process has resulted in the church strategically examining its ministries.

“We are creating a cul-ture of consistent evalu-ation,” said Pastor Keith Aguila.

He and other lead-ers have been visiting healthy churches; they attended the recent DREAM Church Confer-ence in Salisbury and they’re reading Autopsy of a Dead Church: 12 Steps to Keep Yours Alive,

by Thom Rainer. They’re getting some great ideas, Aguila said, but they don’t want to just grab ideas and try them out to see if they work. Aguila wants the church to discern, through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, how God wants the church to move forward.

“God has the plan and He’s the one who is order-ing things,” Aguila said.

He acknowledges that it is a slow process, a long journey.

As leaders worship with and observe other churches, Aguila said he tells them to remember when the Israelites spied out the Promised Land, the mission wasn’t to see if they could win a battle to gain the land.

“It was to see what God was going to give them,” he said.

Spring 2015www.gofwdmidatlantic.com

Spring 2015

Aguila said seeing God alive and working powerfully; seeing people saved and baptized en-courages the church and allows them to see what God wants them to expe-rience.

For Aguila, a highlight of the Turning Around ad-venture is the bonding of brothers. Spending time with other pastors as they share their heartaches and burdens along with their joys and blessings has been one of the most encouraging experiences of the journey.

Aguila said response from the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network has been really helpful. Aguila mentioned the support of church strengthening strategists, Randy Mill-wood and Doug DuBois. He also said he is ap-preciative of Ellen Udov-ich, strategist for church strengthening & com-

munity engage-ment for her help with a community assessment and of Keith Hammer, church strength-ening strategist, who will assist the church updating their constitution.

Hope Fellowship Sterling, Va.

While the jour-ney is intended for plateaued or declining church-es, Michael Mattar, pastor of Hope Fellowship, Ster-ling, Va., said even

as a planter of a church that is just five years old, he is participating in the journey to learn how to be more outwardly focused, and to be pre-pared for issues as they arise.

“Randy (Millwood) was extremely honest and compassionate about seeing churches move from stagnant growth to experiencing the joy of ministry.

I really gained

knowledge about how to approach change in a congregation and how to lead a church to be externally focused in the community,” Mattar said, noting that participation by him was proactive. “It’s all about a self-examination and it focuses on walking with God in leadership and discerning God’s will.”

Mattar said the jour-ney also built a bond of friendship with pastors.

“I consider all these guys as brothers in minis-try. We can cry together and share honestly the things that are in our hearts that are painful to us,” he said. “My hat is off to those guys who have been pastoring churches that have been around for 100 years, 50 years, taking the responsibilities for all types of crisis situ-ations… No one should be alone going through the challenges of ministry.”

Previous: Randy Millwood, team strategist for church strengthening at the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network

Above: Keith Aguila, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cumberland, Md., with his wife, Joy, and children, Abigail and Abraham.

Right: Michael Mattar, pastor of Hope Fellowship in Sterling, Va.

COLUMBIA, Md.—The Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network is continuing its adventurous pioneer-ing tradition with church multiplication with the addition of Michael Craw-ford as team strategist. Crawford, 47, replaces the former strategist, David Jackson, who recently answered God’s call in November to return to New England, an area where God used Jackson in church planting minis-try prior to his work with our Network.

Crawford, who planted Freedom Church in Bal-timore County six years ago, knows the struggles,

challenges and rewards of church multiplication and is poised well to lead the Network to new heights in the church-planting movement in this region.

As Jackson and his wife Joye, who served as missionary to church planters’ wives and as Jackson’s ministry as-sistant, moved north to oversee church planting

efforts at the Baptist Con-vention of New England, God provided this new strategist to courageously lead the charge in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Crawford’s strong personality, his intense and powerful preaching, and his support to other planters in and around Baltimore made him a quick planting leader.

Michael Crawford: 'For us, when people come and plant, it’s personal'By Sharon Mager

Spring 2015


Photo courtesy of DisciplePix Church Directories

He and his church has sponsored the annual “Unplugged” conference, an unscripted, Holy Spirit-led conference with the purpose of equipping and encouraging those minis-tering in Baltimore, which has grown in popularity over the years; he was a leader in Baltimore’s Crossover ministries in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Con-vention in 2014, and he regularly mentors other planters.

In an effort to bet-ter equip the planters he served alongside, Crawford approached the Network in search of potential resources. He also wanted to meet Will McRaney, the Network’s executive missional strat-egist. Frankly, Crawford said, he had questions about the Network and its priorities. After a four-hour meeting, Crawford was firmly in agreement with McRaney’s God-given vision and the Network’s strategy of encouraging, equipping and engaging churches. Crawford walked away from the meeting want-ing to bridge the Network with churches—to re-source pastors he loved. He was not looking to be paid to do this; this was a labor of love.

“I just wanted the Network churches to be blessed,” Crawford said.

Then, when Jackson unexpectedly resigned, McRaney approached

Crawford about the posi-tion.

“I was pretty shocked. I had not been praying about it or looking for it,” Crawford said.

So he turned to the Lord, and then to his wife, Dani. As he prayerfully searched, he felt peace, joy and excitement. Dani was very supportive.

Friends and other leaders echoed the senti-ment, en-couraging Crawford to move forward.

“Prob-ably one of strongest evidences that it was from the Lord is that I wasn’t looking for it," Crawford said. "I had a heart for church plant-ers and a heart for church planting. I wanted to be part of a church-planting network. I wanted to start a movement. This is God’s way of fulfilling all of those desires."

“There was a solid foundation laid with some incredible things accom-plished in the past by amazing people. David and Joye and the entire church-planting staff have done amazing work. There is room to stream-line and make it even bet-

ter. We are excited about that.”

Crawford said regard-ing forward movement, “We are in full stride, and we’re excited about where we’re going. We want to love and resource our planters. By God’s grace we’re making good progress.

“I think ‘no pastor walks alone’ is not just a slogan but true. We have a team out there mak-ing touches, investing in planters and existing churches.”

Craw-ford said existing churches, whom he calls he-roes, are the backbone

of church planting. “We want to create a

sense of family, belong-ing and networking. We belong together,” Craw-ford said. “When we plant new churches, we’re with them for life. We don’t want this to be a period of one to three years of financial sup-port and then we’re out.

“For us, when people come and plant, it’s per-sonal. People are not statistics, not just little dots on a paper to show we planted such and such churches. The planters are souls—

Spring 2015

Photo courtesy of DisciplePix Church Directories

continued on p. 23

The Rock Church launched just two years ago on Eas-

ter Sunday with the usual enthusiasm and a crowd of well-wishers. Since then, the plant had to change location multiple times. Planer Mike Solomon said momentum would jump up then plummet again when they moved. In the summer of 2014, God provided a building and the group was thrilled. They spent months renovating it and began services in their new, hope-fully permanent, location on Sept. 7. But January’s harsh weather took its toll. Solo-mon received a call from his worship leader. “Hey Mike, you better get over here.” A pipe busted.

“It was so devastating. A pipe in the ceiling froze and burst and water was raining down in the café, our lobby, my office, the kids’ rooms, the restrooms…so much destruction! There were 3 to 4 inches of standing water.”

Solomon called the insur-ance company and the church cleaned up the damage. They worshipped with EverSpring Church for three Sundays.

Two weeks after return-ing to the church, Solomon drove to the church to see a big sheet of ice covering half the parking lot. The windows were fogged.

“I knew something was wrong. The same pipe broke again. It was a major, major clean up.” Once again, Ever-Spring helped the church, offering a place to worship.

Throughout the crisis, Solomon said the church

found support and friend-ship. Bill Warren, pastor of Allen Memorial Church and President of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network, provided prayer support and even some funds for Solomon to restock his library that was destroyed by the water.

“Bill Warren has been one of our biggest en-couragers. We didn’t even know who he was, but he started calling and texting. He prayed with me on the phone. It was a huge en-couragement. Also, Doug DuBois and Reid Sterrett came and gave me words of encouragement and offered help with cleanup costs. We did not need it; our landlord got involved, and we took care of the rest.

Network Church Multi-plication Strategist Michael Crawford has been a huge help, calling, encouraging and praying for us. Craw-ford also provided funding to help with the clean up. Prayers were even circulated on Facebook.

There was a lot of out-pouring and love to get us on our feet, Solomon said.

Rock Church is now up to a high of 93 in atten-dance for a regular service. Solomon the church believes God is trying to teach them throughout the situations.

“One of the biggest blessings is that God has shown us that we are the people, not the building. We live on mission for Him. We also became aware of broth-ers and sisters who are there to support us. We know we have family who care.”

The Power

of a NetworkVarious groups come to church plant’s aid after

flooding destroyed its

meeting place

by Sharon Mager

Spring 2015

“

men, women and children sacrificing to follow God’s call. We have a physical and moral responsibility to not only be good stew-ards of the resources churches give us but also steward the souls of people," he said. "It’s a sobering thing we’ve been invited into. At the end of the day, the greatest gift we have is love. It doesn’t matter how many churches we plant if planters don’t feel loved. If we plant 30, and 25 don’t know who or where we are, that’s not a good thing.”

“Impressive. Godly. Wise. Engag-ing. Peacemaker. Leader. These words help to describe my new friend, Michael Crawford,” said Bill Warren, Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network president. “Our State Director of Missions is clearly the right man in the right job at the right time. His personal touch will forge strong bonds between our church.”

Crawford is a native of Los Angeles. He made a commitment to Jesus while briefly attending UCLA. He transferred to The Master’s College, in Santa Clarita, Calif., where he earned a bachelor of art degree in political science with an em-phasis in philosophy, and he later com-pleted a master of divinity degree.

Crawford pastored Free Grace

Church in Antelope Alley, Calif., from 1997 to 2008 and served as church planting and missions pastor of Cor-nerstone Bible Church, Ridgecrest, Calif., 2008 to 2009. In addition, Crawford became the co-founder and presi-dent of Care Net Wom-en’s Resource Center of North County from 1999-2008. Crawford also launched Innovative Consulting, a non-profit consulting business for the Antelope Val-ley’s underserved com-munity. In 2009 he felt

God calling him to Baltimore where he planted Freedom Church and served as lead pastor.

He officially joined the Southern Baptist Conven-tion in 2011. “I just wanted to be part of a family of churches that love Jesus and want to make Him known,” Crawford said.

Crawford, a tri-athlete, enjoys golf and Motocross. He and Dani have been married 22 years and have five children: Claudia, 21; Tabitha, 19; Nehemiah 18; Keturah, 16 and Ezra, 13.

The Spirit brings God’s people together just when they need each other the most. From Michael Crawford to me to Doug DuBois and Reid Sterrett. The Lord directed Network resources to encourage and assist Mike Solomon, a worthy young church planter experiencing a time of trial. Praised be the Name of the Lord.

--Bill Warren, President, Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network

Spring 2015

Crawford: ‘No pastor walks alone’

“Michael has already demonstrated his keen leadership ability as he

has consistently gathered Baltimore church planters

together for shared encouragement and prayer.

He is highly respected among his peers and has a powerful vision for the future of church

planting in the Mid-Atlantic region. We are thankful

for God’s perfect timing in bringing him to us!”

--Will McRaney, Executive Missional Strategist, Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network

-- continued from p. 21

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2015 Spring issue of BaptistLIFE

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Transcript of 2015 Spring issue of BaptistLIFE