Clear focus fuels Highland rebirth “H


ighland Baptist Church had realized their dream,” says current pastor Barry Campbell. “They had built a new


property on the edge of town and were growing.” Then the same thing happened to Highland that has happened to thousands of other churches. Things went south. “They began to have some strug-


gles and, by the time the economy tanked, they had dropped below 300 in worship,” says Campbell. The veteran pastor and former LifeWay Christian Resources church consul- tant was asked by a friend to consider Highland Baptist Church (HBC). “The search team did a wonder-


ful job, and during worship service while visiting there, God confirmed the call.” Before the Campbell’s visit, a


Highland Baptist Church's Independence Day Parade float finishes the parade and leads church members who volunteer to clean up the parade route each year.


team from the Northwest Baptist Convention led by Clint Ashley laid the foundation for HBC’s growth. They called the church to repen- tance and to put first things first, Campbell shares. HBC rewrote their bylaws and called the church to new polity.


“Clint and his team put in place the ability for me to come in,


follow God’s leading and make decisions,” says Campbell. “I’m privileged to have a team of key leaders, six men elected by the church who hold me accountable and have my back. It freed our deacons to come to me and say they wanted to take on the benevolence ministry. That was huge.” Renewed growth resulted, too.


HBC now baptizes as many as 50 people a year and hosts 550 in wor- ship. “We reintroduced the church to the community,” says Campbell. “We have a cold weather shelter for the homeless. We participate in Red- mond’s two parades. We have a float, but we are also the last group with as many as 50 volunteers cleaning up behind the parade.” Campbell credits the turn around


to HBC refocusing


on God, giving the pastor the ability to make deci- sions, focusing on the community and a renewed desire for evangelism ignited among the membership.


Joe Conway is managing editor for On Mission. WEST


Alive again in Melfort B


y the time Todd Goudy and his wife, Tannis, returned to his hometown of Melfort, SK., the few members of Emmanuel


Baptist Church had been contemplating closing their doors. Goudy and the congregation decided not to start new programs


or promotion campaigns. Instead they went back to the basics: repentance, prayer and service. After a time of promoting a return to holiness and obedience toward God, he set an ultimatum. “I told them I would resign if we didn’t commit to becoming a praying church,” Goudy says. “So, we stepped up to the plate and started to pray. I love our prayer meetings!” But they didn’t do all their work on their knees. The church also began to pursue the com- munity. One of the


things they did was start a “boot camp” for students and, through that, Emmanuel started to paint the town. Literally. They loved the community one bucket of paint at a time as they covered up graffiti on downtown buildings.


13 Winter 2013 • onmission.com


“We intentionally tried to keep our identity anonymous. To some, it even looked as if our youth were paying off fines through community service. We laughed! We were learning what it means through this and other humbling acts of service to serve ‘in secret’ and found God would reward us openly. We also began to see fruit from our prayer. “In God’s kingdom, you can’t stop seeding just because you are busy bringing in the harvest. We pray here a lot, and we cry here a lot. Though we don’t have many programs, people are starting to look with hope to the God who is changing hearts and restoring lives.” The next step for Emmanuel is to start training and equipping


young men to be sent out as church planters. They have a vision for a discipleship school in Melfort that would develop the young men’s “hearts, minds and hands,” says Goudy. Goudy believes God is calling them to engage retired pastors and


professors from across North America to tag team for two- or three- month sessions during the year to train young men as pastors and church planters. “It would be an exciting proposition for any retired couple who wants to get back in the saddle and train young men to be sent out.”


Adam Miller is contributing editor for On Mission.


CANADA


PHOTO COURTESY REDMOND SPOKESMAN


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