While politicians stir controversy over the flag at the state capital, South Carolina Nazarenes are working to win hundreds of people to Christ across their state. While civic leaders and reporters revisit and open old wounds, Nazarenes are building bridges of salvation, holiness, and racial harmony.

The South Carolina District has started 10 new churches, now at various levels of strength and organization. These churches report a total of 450 in average worship attendance. District NewStart Director Craig Winesett, in addition to his NewStart duties, has served as the pioneer church planter of the Celebration Place Church in Rock Hill, which averages 60 in worship attendance. Rev. and Mrs. Ray Moore recently moved from Charlotte Trinity Church, a well-established 300-plus-member church, to become pastors of Celebration Church. This move gives Winesett more time to resource existing NewStarts, to give leadership to planting additional new churches , and to supervise the startups of New Hope in Christ centers. Moore and Winesett are examples of missional pastors and illustrations of how God raises up leaders when new churches are started.

NewStarts

In addition to Celebration Place Church, the list of other NewStart churches include Columbia Korean, West Columbia Hope in Christ, Beaufort New Direction, Greenville Reality, Simpsonville Life Spring Community, Spartanburg New Horizon, Manning NewStart, and Anderson Haitian. Though each new congregation is unique in spirit and focus, all are part of a great effort to increase the witness of the Church of the Nazarene throughout South Carolina. Dr. Winesett personally plans to plant another new church within the next 24 months.

Replicative Compassion Plan

Hope in Christ Ministries is another unique church planting strategy that holds incredible promise for the future, especially in ministry to southern African-Americans. Hope in Christ Ministries is a plan to start compassionate ministry centers in every county in North and South Carolina. The strategy calls for establishing a center to meet physical needs of hurting people and then developing a fully organized Church of the Nazarene at each site to meet spiritual needs of persons served in the centers.

In most instances, Hope in Christ Ministries is a return to the inner cities left without a Nazarene witness when established churches moved to the suburbs. The method to bringing this compassion/NewStart vision to a reality is to begin a ministry in each setting focused on empowering people through emphasis on education, compassion, and responsibility. Each center is started by an interested group of Nazarene lay and clergy leaders who gather others from area churches, find a facility, incorporate and initiate compassionate ministries that fit special needs in their geographic area. Their plan is to keep from duplicating services that are already provided by other church and civic agencies.

Field Tested

New Hope in Christ Ministries was field tested when Rev. Arnold Williams opened the first center at Columbia, South Carolina.  In a Nazarene church building where attendance had declined to five, Revs. Arnold and Judy Williams (a husband and wife ministry team) began the first New Hope Compassionate Ministries in 1991.  Since then, New Hope Church of the Nazarene has helped hundreds of people experience God's love and has been used by our Lord to make a dramatic change in individuals, families, and community.  In that location, Rev. Arnold Williams became affectionately known as "Missionary to Main Street."  Rev. Judy Williams now serves as pastor of New Hope Church and as director of New Hope Center in Columbia.

In addition to helping develop, motivate, and train new personnel for new centers, Rev. Arnold Williams serves as director of the Hope in Christ Center at West Columbia Hope in Christ Ministries.

The Williamses came to Christ through the ministry of Florence St. John's Church in its opening days in 1987.  To plant the Florence church, Dr. Charles Johnson came from Meridian, Mississippi, to hold an evangelistic campaign and Vacation Bible School.  After the revival, St. John's Church was organized and Rev. Eddie D. Sipp was installed as pastor.  The Arnold Williamses soon joined the church and felt called to preach.  In only 13 years, they have moved from new converts to ordained elders.  They are living examples of the Word of God's instruction for Christians to pray for the Lord of harvest to send laborers.

South and North Carolina Cooperation

In 1999, District Superintendent James Bearden, Dr. Craig Winesett, and Rev. Arnold Williams began to dream of starting a Hope Center and a Church of the Nazarene in many different locations.  Soon Arnold was selected as district director of Hope in Christ Centers for both North and South Carolina.  Since then, several centers have been licensed by the state and are up and running.  Each center is individually incorporated while being connected to the larger network of the two Carolina districts.  The tie between centers provides coordination and encouragement.  Each center commits to compassionate evangelism--meeting physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  These centers offer alternatives to the destructive cycles that have imprisoned so many people in the inner city for so long.  The main purpose of each center is to bring the hope of Christ into North and South Carolina communities.

Leaders and participants for Hope in Christ are not difficult to recruit because, as one layperson explained, "All my life I have wanted to assist the poor and needy but didn't know how to start.  Now I have a delivery system that makes it possible for me to serve."

Both efforts to plant new churches--NewStart and Hope in Christ Centers--are magnificent ways for a district and local churches to become missional.  These ministries require that their pastoral leaders work a lot like missionaries do overseas: (1) they study the culture, (2) they question existing conditions, (3) they gain the confidence of the people through service, (4) they learn the language of the setting, (5) they understand and confront their own comfort zones, (6) they try new methods, and (7) they expect God to send leaders.

Like overseas missions, no one knows how quickly these works will develop.  District leaders are trying to keep open to what God is doing and follow His leadership.  The spirit of a missionary, the persistence of a missionary, and the "do-or-die" commitment of a missionary are being lived out in many places across South Carolina--and that is what being missional really means in terms of the human costs.

As a way to start churches, Hope in Christ is a strategy that could be replicated in many settings.  Those who have interest can contact the South Carolina District Office.