Eric House, pastor of First Baptist Church, Hokes Bluff, couldn’t sleep. God was keeping him awake because there was something he needed to do.
It all started when House began talking to a North American Mission Board (NAMB) official in 2012 about Send North America, a coordinated national strategy through NAMB to reach people through new church plants in 32 specific cities in the U.S.
First, Hokes Bluff, was no stranger to missions efforts — it had seen several missionaries come out of its church in the past and had ongoing involvement in short-term missions trips. But the church hadn’t had anyone serve on the missions field long term in the past 15 years.
While gaining information from NAMB about Send North America and realizing the importance of planting churches in the Send North America cities, House began thinking of someone who stood out as a potential church planter — his church’s youth minister, Steve Renner.
Renner is originally from St. Louis, Mo., which just happened to be one of the 32 Send North America cities. “I knew his skill set would be excellent for church planting,” House said.
Convicted that he needed to talk to Renner, House said God wouldn’t let him sleep one night. Renner, who at the time had only been at First, Hokes Bluff, for a year and a half, was doing a great job in his role at the church and it would be hard to let him leave. But House knew that Renner had the “heart of a pastor,” House said.
And Renner said “church planting had been on my heart for a long time,” noting the discussion with House further confirmed what God had already placed on his heart.
Renner and his wife, Katie, then prayed about it and soon after traveled to Atlanta to talk with NAMB officials about the possibility of becoming church planters.
In September 2012, the First, Hokes Bluff, congregation was informed of what the Renners were led to do and was asked if they would be the couple’s sending church.
As the sending church, First, Hokes Bluff, committed to give 3 percent of its budget for three years to help the new church plant. In addition to the financial component, the church also had 34 people travel to St. Louis in July 2013 on a missions trip after the Renners moved there in June. The missions team partnered with the Renners to clean the yards of senior adults and hold three backyard Bible clubs, along with other outreach projects. Seventeen people accepted Christ during that week, House said.
“We want to take one or two missions trips each year to go up there (to St. Louis) and help [the Renners],” House noted of the church’s ongoing involvement. “We’re excited to be a part of this.”
Steve Renner, who is currently a church planting apprentice with NAMB, is working to start the church plant in Overland, Mo., a city in St. Louis County with a population of about 16,000.
During the week, he works with a church in a neighboring suburb for 25 hours and also puts in about 25 hours of church planting work. The Renners have started a Bible study on Wednesday night and in April 2014 they hope to begin conducting preview services in preparation of officially launching the new church plant — slated to be called Family Life Church — in September 2014.
“We’ve been doing outreach, (the) Bible study (and) we just did a community barbecue at a park … as an outreach event,” Steve Renner noted of their current work in the community. “(We’re) just trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people.”
He said one thing he has learned about church planting is to be flexible, noting there’s a tremendous amount of excitement involved with the work but challenges that come with it as well. Through it all, prayer is key, he said.
“The No. 1 priority that we put forward in this walk is prayer,” he noted. “We could have a million dollars to build a nice facility … to hire the people … but in the end only God can change a person’s heart. … If we’re not praying, it doesn’t matter how much money we have.”
Steve Renner noted First, Hokes Bluff, has been “so supportive” as the sending church and serves as an example of what Send North America is all about. It’s a regular-sized church “yet they recognize they have a part in what is going on” with church planting, he said.
He added that if every church got behind Send North America, there would be many new churches planted. “Everybody can have a part in what’s going on,” he said.
For more information on church planting through Send North America, visit www.namb.net/overview-why-send.
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