Missions Dinner emphasizes church planting successes

The Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement hosted a Missions Dinner Monday evening, emphasizing both the successes and challenges of church planting across the state, with a panel of speakers sharing their stories. 

Moderated by Scott Stevens, vice president of the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation, the panel included testimonies from Pat Cammarata, discipleship and missions pastor at First Baptist Church Kingwood; Kevin Harris, pastor of Empowerment Community Center in Wilmer; Marcelo Oliveira, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Waco; and Clay Jacobson, the new director of Church Starting for Texas Baptists. 

In ministry for 40-plus years, Cammarata has been a church planter for many years and has led the planting of three congregations out of FBC Kingwood in his short time there. He spoke of the massive influx of people to the Houston area, yet churches close in the area regularly. The church aims to be part of that solution, he said, noting, “I want to catch up with that number with new churches. We are still growing while others are dying.”

He said the key was having church planting as part of the congregation’s DNA. But while that was the case at FBC Kingwood, they had only one plant in 40-plus years. The change came about as they decided to focus on the community and began to set aside 10 percent of every building project for new starts. When Cammarata came on board, the charge was to start one new church.

“I told them with that amount of money I could do three, and we have already done that,” he said, encouraging other churches to do the same. “If you are spending money on something local, save some for church plants. We have it in our budget for each month now.”

He acknowledged help from Texas Baptists to get many of the congregations going, including other churches that provided support through putting on VBS. He also encouraged churches to think about their youth who could be mentored and called out to service as well.

Harris spoke about his experience with Texas Baptists’ Pave program in helping reset his perspective about the church’s role, especially after closing the doors in 2021 of the Denison church he was pastoring. Those principles led to Empowerment starting in 2023, and the congregation has already had 32 baptisms as they focus on serving their community.

“Through this process, I realized the focus was the Great Commission – doing ministry and building disciples. Pave gave me the identity to implement a plan, and it’s working,” he said. “The heart of our church is to reach those who are unchurched. We have friends and family Sundays where we invite those who do not go to church, and we’ve seen them come to Christ and tell us they feel loved.”

Harris said the congregation adopted a “Just Jesus” motto and is focusing on serving the community, loving on those who ned Jesus and harvesting the fields. The plant has also grown Harris’ faith, which he likened to Abram having to leave all and trust God.

“It’s hard to live in the unknown, but every month we’ve had everything we needed. Abundance shows up when God is in every moment,” he said, noting thankfulness to other churches who have sponsored the work to help them get established. “He constantly provides, no matter what the budget looks like.”

Oliveira mentioned that he stepped into the historic Waco church just out of the pandemic, and while only 12 members remained, they were open to replanting and appreciated that Oliveira did not want the church to die. The product of a church planter in Brazil who took him in and mentored him in ministry, Oliveira said he was thankful for the movement and its focus.

“God is bringing us back. It’s not the perfect church, but it’s thriving because people are loving each other and loving Jesus. It’s gone from ICU to the room, then the rehab center and home,” he said. “I’ve worn out two pairs of shoes knocking on doors and talking to people and just connecting with them. I’ve invited both a Palestinian and a Jew to our church, and they have both come to Christ.”

Tearfully, Oliveira urged churches to take the opportunity to partner in planting efforts.

“If you have the means, please don’t rob yourselves of the blessing of doing a church plant. Find a church to partner with and love on them,” he said. 

Jacobson mentioned his own history as the child of a North American Mission Board church planter and a planter himself in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He said while a lot of churches may be struggling, the answer to the vast lostness in Texas will be more churches, noting, “The resources are in the harvest. God provides for that when we get serious.”

He encouraged churches to be part of the planting effort at some level and to continue “calling out the called to ministry.”

“Healthy organisms reproduce. If your church is struggling, engage in planting,” Jacobson said. 

The dinner ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Texas Baptists and GlocalNet, an organization founded by church planter Bob Roberts of Northwood Church to train planters with wisdom and experience. Roberts and Julio Guarneri, executive director of Texas Baptists, signed the agreement to work together in the efforts to mobilize churches for planting.