By General Baptist Ministries

Through a partnership with Intentional Churches, we are piloting a church revitalization project with a select group of General Baptist churches. We hope that the GB-12 Initiative will provide opportunities for local churches to establish a Church Operating System (ChurchOS) that can lead them to fulfill the Great Commission more effectively.

The churches in the pilot project were selected using key metrics, including geographical location, average attendance, salvations, baptisms, and financial resources. The hope is to make the tools available for a wider audience of churches once there has been a “proof of concept” in some key demographics and contexts. In particular, a set of resources called the Activate Experience will be made available online to any General Baptist leader interested in implementing ChurchOS.

Each church participating in the program kicks off their participation through a one-day strategic session (“install”), where a group of 6-12 church leaders joins the pastor(s) for a day of focus on their Great Commission Engine. After this initial install, the leadership of the church receives six months of coaching as they implement the system. This is called “Lap 1.” After this initial six months, another one-day strategy session takes place, and depending on progress, another six months of coaching. This is called “Lap 2.” All included, the coaching for the church would take place over 12 months (thus, GB-12).

Churches who go through this program will receive some practical equipping to mobilize the church to reach their community digitally and physically with increased Great Commission impact!

The first church to begin the GB-12 program was Well’s Chapel in southern Illinois. They met for their initial strategic one-day on August 21. Pastor Chris Vaught and Pastor Tyler Feller met with the church in an intense one-day, where they made plans to begin implementing the GB-12 program. On October 16, the Nixa General Baptist Church in Nixa, Missouri, was the second church to join the pilot program.

By Tyler Feller

The sound of a rooster crowing woke me up, and I rolled out of bed excited for what was to come. After getting ready, I picked up my next-door neighbor, Jay, a fellow General Baptist pastor. Jesse ‘Jay’ Vineyard is the lead pastor of Well’s Chapel.

We took off, headed to the church for a day of strategic planning with 12 leaders from the congregation.

A few weeks prior, I led the staff and elders of Connection Point Church in Jackson, MO, through the same planning, and Jay was my guest. Dr. Chris Vaught, lead pastor of Connection Point, would return the favor and cross the Mississippi to help me coach and pray with Well’s Chapel as we lean into God’s future for the congregation.

It’s great having another General Baptist as a neighbor. We spend a lot of evenings talking about all the things we have nowhere or no one else to talk with about them. The local proximity helps because there is a greater level of familiarity with Southern Illinois cultural nuances.

When I first met Jay, he was pastoring Sims Congregational Christian Church, located 45 minutes north. After prayerful consideration, Jay made the tough decision to leave a church he had poured into for a decade.

Jay and his family began attending different churches in the region and finally began attending one of the larger ones in the area with an incredible story. God was sowing into Jay a new level of spiritual consciousness to achieve what was before him in the next season.

About four months before the pandemic shut churches down across the nation, Jay became the Well’s Chapel pastor. It was a small church of about 30-40 people but had weathered some difficult turbulence.

The church only remained intact because of the strength of its lay leaders.

After a particularly dry season, they looked for a pastor who could lead with vision and take them to heights they didn’t think their church could accomplish.

Next, Jay instructs me to take a right turn. I thought it was a driveway, but it was a 6 mile stretch of a one-lane road that led to a beautiful brick church. Dr. Chris Vaught called it an ‘oasis of hope’ amidst endless rows of cornfields.

It’s a new building. Local officials condemned the previous facility. If they hadn’t relocated, the church would no longer exist. They bought a piece of property adjacent to their facility and constructed a new beautiful building.

One in five churches in America closed down permanently during the pandemic. Some statisticians say another fifth will soon close their doors. Despite their remote location and turbulent past, the church has doubled since Jay became the lead pastor. Most weeks, the average attendance is now over 100. The future is bright for Well’s Chapel.

We spent 10 hours looking at their history, assessing their current realities, and praying for what would come in the next twelve months.

During the implementation of the GB-12 Program, Dr. Chris Vaught will work with Jay several hours a month, coaching him and Well’s Chapel to execute two significant initiatives.

• First, Well’s Chapel will redesign several aspects of its ministry around their “one.” Someone they have nicknamed Luke Duke. The “one” refers to the target audience of Well’s Chapel, the type of person the church is reaching out to in the local community.
• Next, the church will emphasize expanding its small group ministry so as the church grows, everyone can have a place to land.

Well’s Chapel is the first church of several that will be participating in the GB-12 Pilot Program. This program is designed to help engage churches to further their Great Commission output.

The Mt. Olivet Association is participating in a very similar program called Ready Set Grow. You can learn more at www.growmychurch.org