Jan 20, 2021
By Pastor Ron Higson
Thanks Patricia for the opportunity to share our experience and to encourage those who may be contemplating planting a Seventh Day Baptist church.
When I told my wife that Patricia emailed about writing an article about church planting for the Sabbath Recorder, the first words out of her mouth were, “It’s not for the faint of heart.” Those indeed are true words because starting a church requires a lot of prayer, commitment, patience, dedication, time, and hard work. (Oops I’m supposed to be encouraging you, right — not trying to scare you.) One must not enter into such a worthy endeavor as planting a church unaware of the effort and commitment that is required — though the blessing of serving Him and building relationships with the people that God places in your path makes all the effort worthwhile.
Galatians 6:9:
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Brief summary of Full Gospel SDB church:
We began with four families meeting in our home on Sabbath for Sabbath school and fellowship, for about eight months. Then we took the leap of faith to plant a church. Though the Conference did not have a task force to help with church planting at that time, they did help guide us in the right direction. We were encouraged to reach out to Pastor Ed Sutton and the Bell Church in Salemville, PA. That was the beginning of a wonderful relationship with Pastor Ed and the Bell Church family. They accepted us as a branch church and the first couple of years, when there was a fifth Sabbath in a month, a group would travel from the Bell church to join us for worship and fellowship meals. We have continued to meet together for Thanksgiving annually —except for 2020 (thanks to COVID).
The visits from our brothers and sisters from Salemville, and the visits from then-Director Rob Appel, the warm welcome we received from all the member churches of the Appalachian Association, and those we have met at General Conference have been a great source of encouragement.
I used to be a big NASCAR fan (not so much anymore) but something you will see if you watch NASCAR, when a driver wins a race, during the interview in the winner’s circle, the driver will thank his car owner, his crew, the shop that builds the cars and engines; then he goes down the long list of sponsors — that’s the decals all over the cars. He thanks all those responsible for allowing/helping him to be able to drive that race car. Why does he do this? He knows that he couldn’t do it alone; it takes a whole network of people to make that moment possible.
Planting a church similarly takes more than one person — or one family even — it requires a strong core group consisting of three to four families; a sponsor church; a lot of faith, prayer; and strong determination. Our goals should not just be that we have a place to worship on the Sabbath, but that the church would grow and become a place for Sabbath-keepers to worship long after our lives are over.
Thankfully, there are people within the denomination who have a heart for seeing the denomination grow through church planting. There have always been people with the heart for planting churches before, but now they have become better organized and, this January, there will even be a person whose main role will be church planting. This is wonderful news for those contemplating planting a church. They will be able to connect you with the right people who will help guide you through the process.
If you are that person or group contemplating planting a Seventh Day Baptist church, I encourage you to keep the faith, be strong in the Lord, pray and don’t give up, and enjoy the blessing of keeping the Sabbath. Beyond that, never hesitate to reach out to another church that may be able to support you in some way — even if it is only by phone.
Isaiah 58:13-14 :
13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Pastor Ron Higson has been pastor of the Full Gospel SDB Church, Cumberland, MD, for fourteen years; his wife of 42 years, Karen, is also a pastor; they have two children: Jennifer Raines, Roseanna White; and six grandchildren.
