Church Plant in the Larsen Community

Several years ago, Southside Baptist Church adopted the 2020 Vision Plan. This document has served as our road map in several critical areas, including reshaping our governance, clarifying our statement of beliefs, and affirming our mission to reach the lost in Jacksonville and around the world. One of the goals outlined is that we will “plant churches to meet the needs of specific cultures and language groups that God brings into our community.” I specifically challenged our congregation to plant five new churches by the year 2020.

By God’s grace, Southside has already served as the sending church for two new churches in Jacksonville -- Southside Karen Baptist Church (2012) and The City Church (2015). In addition, we are supporting church plants in Toronto, Canada (Hamilton Fellowship) and Orlando (Grace Alive Church). Because of your generosity and commitment to the Gospel, Southside is continuing to make a huge impact for the Kingdom through church planting.

We have also been involved on the other end of two churches’ lifecycles. In 2017 we assumed the property of the Silver Glyn Baptist Church in Arlington which now serves as the home of Southside Karen Baptist Church. In 2009, we acquired the property of the Paul Avenue Baptist Church in the Larsen community. For several years now, we have used this property to operate the Larsen Outreach Center. We have ministered to the residents of Larsen by offering Bible studies, recovery groups, clinics, food distribution, Backyard Bible Clubs, and various other ministries. We also played an integral role in getting clean potable water into this long-forgotten neighborhood. While these ministry efforts have been positive, it has been a challenge to connect the residents of Larsen with the church and ultimately with the Gospel without a physical church presence in the community.

Meanwhile, one of our daughter churches from the 1950’s, San Jose Baptist Church, has also been faithfully building the Kingdom through church planting. One of San Jose’s efforts has been to establish a house church in the Englewood community called Immersion Fellowship. This new work began in January of this year and within a few short months has already outgrown the house of their pastor, Ted Corby. Since Englewood and Larsen are so close in proximity, a conversation started between Ted, San Jose Baptist, and Southside about the possibility of partnering to expand the ministry of Immersion Fellowship into the Larsen community while offering them a facility in which to continue their ministry. 

We have developed a Church Sending Agreement that would bring Immersion Fellowship under the umbrella of Southside Baptist Church. As part of this agreement, Immersion would move to the Larsen Outreach Center and help us continue to reach the residents of Larsen with the Gospel. We will vote to adopt this agreement at our Annual Church Members Meeting on Sunday, November 18, at 10:30 a.m. I will have the pleasure of introducing Ted and Marie Corby to you this Sunday, November 4, at 11 a.m,. during this week’s ministry moment. Please join me in praying for Immersion Fellowship and the residents of the Larsen community as together we seek to build the Kingdom across the street and around the world.

A Structure That Is Built to Last

In our most recent Quarterly Celebration, the members of Southside Baptist Church voted unanimously to adopt a new set of Bylaws. While this decision may not seem very exciting to some, it marks the single greatest shift in church governance in Southside’s 75-year history. The new Bylaws uphold and strengthen the core beliefs and values of our great church. I would encourage every member of SSBC to read the summary description of the new governance structure. I also invite you to join me in thanking the members of the Governance Task Force (GTF), who have invested more than two years in crafting and developing Southside’s new Constitution and Bylaws. The members of the GTF are Linda Anderson, Charles Baggs, Barbara Carroll, Carl Holden, Jim Price, Pam Rush, and Mark Trednick. If you see these folks in the hall, let them know how much you appreciate their work.

The GTF has had four overarching goals:

1. To involve more people in the ministry of the church
2. To align Southside’s structure and systems with the mission of the church
3. To simplify the governance of the church
4. To clarify the beliefs of the church

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in Orange County, California, writes, “While the kind of structure a church has does not cause growth, it does control the rate and the size of growth. And every church must eventually decide whether it is going to be structured for control or structured for growth. This is one of the most crucial decisions your church will ever face.” I believe Southside has faced this decision and has opted for growth over control.

Southside believes that Jesus Christ is the head of His body, the Church. We also believe that every believer is called to minister and has equal access to the Spirit. For this reason, our Bylaws uphold the biblical model of congregational governance. This means that under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the members of Southside have ultimate and final say in all matters related to the church governance. We also recognize, however, that it is not realistic for 700-plus people to make every decision necessary for the church to function in a healthy and effective way. That is why the new governance model calls for the creation of the Council of Trustees. These nine members are to be nominated and elected by the congregation for the purpose of guiding and overseeing the mission and operations of the church.

Let me summarize in bullet form:

· Under the Lordship of Jesus Christ,
· the leadership of the Holy Spirit,
· and the authority of the Bible,
· Southside Baptist Church is congregationally governed,
· guided by the Council of Trustees
· and administered by the Staff
· to mobilize every member in ministry
· to the glory of God.

In the upcoming days and weeks, the members of SSBC will be asked to prayerfully nominate Trustees to serve on the Council. This will be a significant decision that has the potential to shape our church for years to come. I hope every member will read the scriptures and pray, asking the Spirit to guide us in the selecting these leaders.

I am thankful to be a part of this exciting season in the life of our church. I fully believe Southside’s best days lie ahead. With a faith that is built on the unshakable foundation of Jesus Christ, the blueprint of God’s Word, and solid building materials represented by godly leaders, I am confident that Southside is BUILT TO LAST.

Built to Last: A Church That Prevails and a Faith That Endures

October 18 – November 22, 2015
Southside Baptist Church

In his best selling book, Built to Last, Jim Collins describes some common characteristics of our world’s most enduring companies. The characteristics Collins identifies in companies such as Ford, Boeing, 3M, and Johnson & Johnson, include setting “big hairy audacious goals,” stimulating progress while preserving the core, and developing homegrown talent.

Long before Collins attempted to identify the qualities of an enduring business, the apostle Paul described the essentials of an enduring faith and a prevailing church. Writing to Christians in the city of Corinth, Paul said, “I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10-11).

What does it take to have a faith that can withstand the storms of life? How do we build a church that endures shifting culture, politics and an apparent erosion of biblical values? Paul’s answer is first to make sure to build on the right foundation. Jesus said that “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt. 7:24). A faith built on any foundation other than the Word of God is doomed, regardless of the quality of the building.

Paul also indicated, however, that the quality of the materials used to build on that foundation matters: “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work” (1 Cor. 3:12-13). Simply stated, Paul is warning us to choose our building materials carefully.

As finish the 40 Days of Awakening, it is vital that we obey Jesus’ command to “keep watch and pray.” We must commit ourselves to build only on the foundation of God’s Word. We should select and use the best building materials, knowing that the storms are coming, but our foundation is secure. We must follow the “master builders” who have preceded us, continuing to build a Church that provides a shelter for generations to come.

Join me beginning this Sunday for a new sermon series entitled, “Built to Last.” We will look to the Bible for ways to build a Church that prevails and a faith that endures. I will be sharing some exciting plans for the future of Southside as we seek to build a ministry that inspires and equips people to have a faith that is Built to Last.

What's in a Number?

I have never been a fan of numbers. In high school algebra class I once asked my teacher how learning complicated equations would better my life. She gave me some rote answer that I now try to remember when my kids argue with me about doing their math homework.

Too often, in church world, leaders use numbers as weapons or measuring sticks of comparison. We like numbers because they help us know our place in the “pecking order” of the Christian subculture. It is nearly impossible to speak to a leader from another church for more than ten minutes without a question about numbers being asked: “So, how many people do you have? What is your budget? What are you running in small groups?” I hate that conversation. Would it be it inappropriate to say that, for many pastors, size seems to matter a little too much?

Now I know that numbers are important. After all, there is an entire book of the Bible called “Numbers.” Most people don’t read that book, however. If they did, they would know that it is more than a spreadsheet. It has lists of names. Lots of names.

I like names. Names come with stories. Names represent people. When I call my bank, my credit card company, or my health insurance provider, do you know their first question? You got it: “What’s your account number?” They really don’t care about my name. Actually, my name is only used to verify my account number, and that is only if I am speaking to a human—which is increasingly unlikely. Most church leaders are smart enough to know they can’t get away with that kind of impersonal approach to ministry. But from hearing these leaders talk to each other you might guess that numbers matter more than the names of the people they represent.

There is one obvious exception to the church numbers conversation. Over the past 20-30 years, few leaders seem to be comparing their baptism numbers. You would think that particular number would be especially important in “Baptist” churches. Perhaps the reason we have stopped comparing this number is because the average number of annual baptisms in a Southern Baptist church has fallen from 11 per year in 1981, to just below 7 in 2013.

Here is another reason we are inclined to avoid discussing baptism numbers: the bigger the church, the more members it takes to see a single person baptized. In 2013 there were 175 Southern Baptist churches with memberships ranging from 3‑4,000 people. These churches averaged one baptism for every 59 members. Compare that to the more than 12,000 churches with memberships less than 200 that averaged one baptism for every 17 members. Perhaps our emphasis on “church growth,” defined by every increasing membership and attendance, is having a negative impact on “kingdom growth” as defined by the number of new disciples the church is actually making.

I pastor one of the hundreds of Southern Baptist churches found somewhere in the middle of the two examples offered above. Southside Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, has a membership of about 700 people. The average number of members it takes to baptize one person in churches our size is typically 53. That is a lot. Fifty-three people can do a lot of things, but to think that’s how many of our members it would require to see one person come to faith and publicly profess Jesus through baptism is enough to make me want to find another job.

I have the unique privilege of serving the church in which I was baptized at the age of nine. The year was 1981 and Southside baptized 52 people that year. That was the last year we baptized more than 50 people in a single year. There have been years in which we have baptized as few as 12 people. Like most churches, we don’t talk much about baptism numbers. There hasn’t been much to talk about. But something is happening this year. After spending the last six years focused on church health rather than church growth we have seen an increase in our baptism numbers. From October 1, 2013, through the end of September 2014, Southside has celebrated the baptism of 40 people! That means that currently at SSBC it requires about 18 members to see one person stir the baptismal waters. That is a number I can live with, but hope will continue to diminish.

Our baptism goal for 2014 has been 50. This past Sunday, October 5, 2014, we baptized our 32nd person, but that number doesn’t tell the real story …

Number 32 is an Iranian immigrant who lives in a retirement community where 11 other Southside senior adults are residents. Many of these seniors actively invested in their new friend, inviting him to visit our church. He soon began attending a Sunday school class that uses English as a second language (ESL) to teach the Bible. The couple that faithfully teaches this class works with people from many different nationalities. They are passionate about sharing the gospel with people from other cultures. Then there is the retired evangelist/poet/street preacher who drives our friend to church every week. As number 32 and I waited for the beginning of the worship service in which he was to be baptized, he told me with tears in his eyes how he came to know the love of Jesus Christ through the love he was shown by his new friends. “They are my family,” he said in broken English.

Numbers can’t tell that story. Will we reach 50 by the end of 2014? I pray we will. Not because I plan to brag about the number, but because number 50 represents someone God loves and for whom Christ died. As does number 51 and 52 and 53 and 54 and 55 …

T'was the Week Before Christmas

T'was the week before Christmas and all through the church
Every staff member hustled and felt in a lurch.
The deacons were busy, the grow groups atwitter,
Fresh paint on the steeple atwinkle like glitter.

Tonight there is music and dinner and laughing
For Christmas at Southside is sure to be smashing!
Sunday we'll continue with John 3:16
The truth from the Scripture we hope you will glean.

We're collecting for Lottie, our goal it is high;
We've a long way to go so I hope you will try
To dig a bit deeper into that small stash
And give it to missions, which always needs cash!

On Friday the garden will ring with glad sound,
as saxophone music and much fun abound.

Hot chocolate and popcorn and games we'll consume,

So come meet our neighbors and watch the love bloom

On the night before Christmas we'll gather inside
To sing songs by candles and welcome Yuletide.

The blood and the body of that little babe

Was offered on Calvary, mankind He would save.

So much of the season goes by in a hurry

We know that your eyes become clouded and blurry.

So take time to breathe and remind friend and neighbor

That Jesus has come for mankind He does favor.

From your pastor and staff: we all wish you good cheer

For a very Merry Christmas and most blessed New Year.