West Texas Pastor establishes clarified vision, sees increase in baptism average, ministry leadership through Pave

Upon finishing his Doctor of Ministry program, First Baptist Church Dimmitt Pastor Jonathan Sullivan began looking for ways to develop a clarified vision for the church; one that could take the current “Know Jesus and make him known” mission statement and provide his congregants more direction for how they accomplish it. 

“I describe First Baptist Church Dimmitt as a bunch of race horses going in all different directions, and I don't want to stop them from [serving]... I want to try to bring us together to where that vision is, ‘Hey, I know what you're doing over here, but it feeds into the vision of our church together,’” explained Sullivan.

He explained that the Caprock Plains Baptist Association read through an advanced strategic planning book together that focused on developing vision. 

“The big thing was trying to put together an understanding of vision… and [the book] was like a PhD course on vision, and I'm like, ‘Vision casting can't be this hard. It can't be this difficult,’” said Sullivan. 

Sullivan heard through a peer about a ministry called Pave, the Texas Baptists revitalization strategy, and how it could give him a chance to hone his skills and establish a church vision. He met with Jonathan Smith, associate director of the Center for Church Health at Texas Baptists, to see if Pave would be a good match for him. 

“Whenever I ran into Jonathan [Smith]... He actually put this whole [vision] down on a little napkin and was like, ‘This is pretty much the basics of it, and in Pave we talk a little bit about [vision casting],’” said Sullivan. “I'm like, ‘Well, that's a whole lot simpler.’”

Sullivan began his Pave journey in April 2023. Smith advised him to let his congregants be who they are, but in a way that they're working together toward goals that reform and revitalize the church. He considered how to honor their original vision while simplifying it and making it actionable. 

“I'm like, ‘Okay, let's do that. How do we know Jesus and make him known?’ Well, we connect with others, and we grow together, and we go and make him known,” said Sullivan. “[So], we just ‘Connect. Grow. Go.’ here at First Baptist Church.”

Celebrating baptisms shows evidence of change, increase in baptism average

Sullivan said a Pave principle that has shown evidence of change in his church body is celebrating baptisms. 

“Whenever someone comes forward and wants to be baptized, we want to record a little testimony of their life and play that testimony the week before. Then you want to play the testimony before the baptism and record the baptism. Then the next week, you want to show the testimony, the baptism [to the church],” explained Sullivan. 

Sullivan said that since implementing celebrating baptisms into their routine, the church has seen an increase from an average of five baptisms a year to an average of more than 20 baptisms since 2023.

“When [church goers] see the celebration around [baptisms] and that our church celebrates this… it gets people excited about it, and they're like, ‘I've never done that, and I can do that.’ So, that's been a big step for us.” said Sullivan. 

He said he has also seen an increase in adults coming forward for baptism.

“Out of all those baptisms [in 2023], I think five of them were adults. To me, that’s one of the big [impacts]. I don't remember too many adults getting baptized in our church before that,” said Sullivan. “Two of the four that we've baptized so far this year are both adults who have made decisions of faith.” 

Sullivan also put into practice the Pave principle of keeping evangelism at the forefront of the church’s mind by implementing an evangelism strategy. He said a part of their strategy is to end Sunday services with baptism, serving as the invitation and commissioning his church members to share the gospel. 

“I tell people before I go get into the baptismal, I say, ‘Our invitation today is to celebrate the baptism of this one and to go out and to tell others.’ Then I get up in the baptistry, and before, I go through the Great Commission, and we baptize that person, and at the end of it I say, ‘As you leave today, may you remember the time you were baptized and go out and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others,’” explained Sullivan. “[Baptism] is the culmination of everything we've been doing that whole service.” 

Evangelism Sundays get people excited about sharing the gospel 

Sullivan has also implemented a bi-annual Evangelism Sunday, where congregants have the opportunity to attend five breakout sessions to learn about FBC Dimmitt’s ministries, how to answer tough questions and how to share the gospel. He said the purpose is to get people excited about evangelism. 

“The biggest complaint that I heard is that there wasn't enough time. [So] I'm like, ‘Okay, if people are saying there's not enough time to talk about evangelism, we're on the right track here,’” said Sullivan. 

He said he plans to add a lunch teaching on evangelism strategy to their upcoming Evangelism Sunday in May. 

“[We’ll go over] what our evangelism strategy as a church is, and really it's just the Pave [strategy]: There's one way to share the gospel. You need to have three people in your life. One that you're introducing them to the gospel, one that you're helping them better understand it and one that you're discipling. That's what we're going through,” explained Sullivan.

Creating opportunities for leaders to serve the community

Sullivan said the seven-interview Pave principle, in which pastors interview seven community members to get an idea of where their church could serve, led to a new ministry for FBC Dimmitt. 

“I interviewed our local sheriff, and I talked to him about any needs that he sees, and he goes, ‘We’ve got a big need in our jail… There's no TV. There's no radio. There's no internet here. They have nothing, and he said, ‘We would really like for someone to come in and do a Bible study with them,’” explained Sullivan. “So, we started this Bible study, and it really blossomed, and we've seen a huge increase in professions of faith through the Jail Ministry.” 

Taking to heart Smith’s encouragement for Pave pastors not to run ministry efforts but instead to allow their congregants to step up and lead, Sullivan gathered four FBC Dimmitt leaders and partnered with two members from a sister church to lead the Bible study every Wednesday night. 

“We provide the opportunity for people in the church to facilitate these ministries and to serve in the way that they feel like God's leading them, and that's exactly what we did [with the Jail Ministry]. We saw the need. I helped get it off the ground, and once that [bible study] was going, I just handed it off and let them run with it,” said Sullivan.

He shared that one formerly incarcerated person has accepted Christ and been baptized as a result of the Jail Ministry bible study. 

“He still calls me about once a year just to check in and let me know how things are going. [We’re seeing] life-change through that ministry that started because of a [principle] of Pave,” said Sullivan. ‘It has [been] a wonderful experience.” 

Moving the mission forward by connecting, growing, going

Sullivan said he is excited to continue casting and developing the “Connect. Grow. Go.” vision with his congregation to propel them forward to where God is leading them next. 

“God's doing a lot of amazing things through these various parts of Pave that are happening, and I think we're ready to really develop that vision and that mission of our church to be able to move forward. That's the next step,” said Sullivan. 

Adam Pardue, pastor at Highland Baptist Church in Lubbock and Sullivan’s Pave coach, said he has been most encouraged by Sullivan’s commitment to the process. 

“Jonathan [Sullivan] is already a strong pastor with a great heart, instincts and leadership ability. He showed a great willingness to fully walk through each step of Pave with intentionality and consistency. Jonathan not only completed the program, but now serves as a coach for Pave Pandhadle/Plains,” said Pardue. “Jonathan’s story is like so many Texas Baptists, one of a Godly leader finding renewed purpose and effectiveness through the Pave process.” 

Sullivan encouraged every pastor to implement the celebration of baptisms into their services. 

“That is the easiest way to get your church excited about sharing the gospel and to see a future and to trust that God is still moving in your congregation when people get up in the baptistry, it needs to be a big celebration,” said Sullivan. 

Visit txb.org/pave to learn more about Pave and how it can be a resource to your congregation.