S.C. megachurch tailgates prior to mass baptism
By Erin Roach
Baptist Press
Anderson, S.C. (BP)—The idea of tailgating before a baptism celebration might seem unusual, but at NewSpring Church, it’s part of an effort to reach people with the creativity and relevance found in the Bible.
The fast-growing Southern Baptist congregation baptized 562 believers during a celebration in its parking lot with more fanfare and excitement than most churchgoers typically expect.
“We invited people to come tailgate before the baptisms like they would before a football game,” said Tony Morgan, chief strategic officer at NewSpring in Anderson, S.C.
“People brought their RVs and set up tents. There were televisions going with people watching football games before the baptism service started,” Morgan told Baptist Press. “People brought grills and they were making food for themselves and sharing with others. It was pretty fun.”
The church, which is about 20 minutes from Clemson University, set up three above-ground swimming pools in the parking lot. Two pastors in each pool baptized 562 people in about 90 minutes, Morgan said.
Because baptism is an ordinance worth celebrating, Morgan said he believes a party beforehand is appropriate.
“It’s acknowledging a commitment that someone has made with Christ, and it’s something to be celebrated,” he said.
The Sept. 8 event was the culmination of a five-week sermon series by NewSpring’s pastor, Perry Noble, titled “Illuminate.” In it, he compared a life without Christ to a life with Christ.
“Through that series we had a-round 800 people receive Christ,” Morgan said. “So the final Sunday of the series, Perry preached a message about baptism. In each of our four services, we baptized someone during the worship part of the service and then Perry taught about that.”
NewSpring began as a Bible study for college students in Noble’s home in 1998, and soon a core group of people cast a vision for the church plant.
In January 2000, 115 people gathered for NewSpring’s first Sunday morning service on the campus of Anderson College. Six years later, the congregation completed construction of a 2,500-seat auditorium and saw more than 900 people accept Christ and nearly 800 follow in baptism last year alone.
“All I can say is that Perry has committed to making the name of Jesus famous,” Morgan said in assessing the rapid growth. “That’s the sole focus for his ministry and for the ministry of NewSpring Church, in that everything we do in our worship services, everything we do through our ministry programming, everything we try to communicate to our community reflects that focus. I think God is honoring that.”
The philosophy of the church’s leaders is that creativity is necessary to accomplish the Great Commission.
“The Apostle Paul said in Scripture that Christ must be preached,” the pastor wrote in a recent weblog entry. “But you also have my promise that church will never be boring. We do not have a boring God—His bride should not be boring either. The Bible is the most exciting book that has ever been written ... and we will present it in its totality, with passion, sincerity and creativity.”
The baptism service and preceding tailgate party is just one example of how the congregation is
pursuing creative ministry.
“I think it’s a great thing when people in the church can come together and celebrate the transformation that Christ is making in people’s lives,” Morgan said.
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Personal Remarks:
Reverence (n) 1. A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration. 2. An act of showing respect, esp. a bow or curtsy. 3. The state of being revered
In my most humble opinion, reverence is lost in many of the churches today. Many "Pastors" are worried about church being boring. I have had a pastor tell me that farmers don't want to sing hymns (implying that hymns were boring) and our music needs to be high-energy and contemporary. These comments are in no way related to my current Pastor that I refer to without quotation marks. The former "pastor's" thoughts were that contemporary music equals contemporary worship. Record companies and contemporary Christian music groups are not helping this matter, either. They are releasing music that sings about "He," "Him," and "You" but sometimes falling short of saying "Jesus Christ" or "Son of God". If our worship were everything we wanted it to be, it could be like McDonald's where we order a contemporary value meal with a side of bright lights and a medium serving of flashy songs.
Moreover, over the past ten years or so, churches with music minsters looking for an edge, began instituting this "radio music" into the worship service. There are a couple of problems with this. 1) Solo-istic music is not meant for group singing. Syncopated rhythms, and elaborate melodies (typically unison) are not meant for corporate worship. Congregations as a whole (children through senior adults are uncomfortable trying these confusing musical styles. 2) Many times this "radio music" only covers a "phrase of praise" or one thought of Christ-centered text. Church music, inspired by God, Himself, is thought-provoking, scripturally sound and relevant, applies to our life, and reaches a multitude of generations at one time. (this paragraph did not need to be included, but I wanted to share an idea asking if music is produced, written, and recorded for radio, should it be in our worship? Just a thought?)
"The philosophy of the church’s leaders is that creativity is necessary to accomplish the Great Commission. " This quote from the article above is incorrect and NOT scriptural. Creativity is NOT necessary to fulfill Christ's commission. Christ said"GO" and make disciples. He didn't say we needed to set up three pools in a parking lot and grill out before jumping in the dunking booth of living waters. To me, the fact that God has entered into our life as personal Lord and Savior demands a little more from me and my church staff than grilling chicken, watching football, and then being baptized.
If we are inspired by Christ, we should be completely focused on Him. I admit that we should do all that we can to reach the lost, but in that same mind-frame, our worship and acts of worship are not for the lost, they are to enhance and enrich our lives while giving us an opportunity to glorify God. The lost are to see us worshiping. We are not to make our sanctuaries more comfortable (ie: chairs, projection screens, movies, no hymnals, jokes in sermons, and no respect for Church/Christian/Baptist beliefs) for the lost. The lost are to see in us the glory of our King so that they may desire to have the love of Christ that we have.
The "pastor" in this article is a lot like many "pastors" today who are seeker-sensitive in the fact that we don't need to be "traditional" or remember that past because it's not cool and new members won't join if we are like every other church. If I've heard it once from a pastor, I've heard it a million times. Isn't our job to come in on Sunday mornings and worship Him? If our attention is on not being boring and doing the next best thing, and topping ourselves from what we did last week, your focus is not on Christ. You are not leading a church with a Spirit-filled heart. You are leading with selfish desires and wants.
I think "celebrate" is a word that is much overused in churches today. Hear me out...there is a TIME to celebrate in each service because the Lord paid the highest price for our sins and we celebrate everlasting life with Him in heaven. But, we should also reflect, give thanks, meditate, grieve, rejoice, sing, hope, and pray with a balanced understanding of all the things God is to us. Not just our Best Friend, but our Redeemer, Savior, Creator, and Almighty God which we should revere. God is a mighty God. His actions are worthy of our praise, our reverence, and devotion.
If church is boring to you, you must ask yourself why. God is not there to entertain us. We are not gathering to entertain God. We are not to put on a show in worship for each other. If praying, singing, preaching, and growing in our Lord is boring no matter what label you put on your worship, you must examine yourself and humbly bow before His throne and ask Jesus Christ to create a clean heart within you. Create a heart that is not focused on popularity and impressing visitors, but a heart that is fully focused on Him, His ways, and His Word.
Final point: God gave us His best by sacrificing all He had. Shouldn't we be required to give our best back to Him? As a church staff member, I am required to use the best available resources to provide quality music and worship for the congregation at HBC. When planning and participating in worship, we should not label what we do as traditional or contemporary. God is bigger than any box we can try to put Him in. More more than traditional...more than contemporary. He will prove Himself to us, if we get out of His way and let Him lead.
ADDENDUM: I first used the word "never" for the contemporary music rarely saying the Name of Jesus rather He or Him. I used the wrong word. This article is not about traditional or contemporary styles...that why I said we should not put Him in a box. I don't want to label worship...its our acts during worship that I like to observe and make as pure as possible. "Never" maybe was not the best word, I agree, but journalism is not my best feature, its my looks.
This article is about more than music...its really not about the music at all. In my experience, I had a pastor who said church was boring (even...dead) because all they sing is hymns. I wanted to prove that is not true and that we need to use all good forms of music. Called music leaders have to determine what is good by what is singable and scriptural from ages 5-155 at one time and in one place...reaching generations at one time.
Have other thoughts? Let me know...it's good to see other's point of view on things like this that I think only matter to me!
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