Memories of Planting a New Congregation at Lake Norman

Dateline: Tuesday, November 12, 2024:

Memories of Planting a New Congregation at Lake Norman

Dateline: November 12, 2024

Winter of 1979

Lake Norman was the third congregation launched within 18 months in the Mecklenburg Baptist Association in Charlotte, NC during 1979 and 1980.

Three was not a big number. But it was significant progress in a short time. Keeping up this pace could mean an increase of 20 congregations within a decade. Thus, resulting in 100 congregations in this growing metropolitan area.

I began as Missions Ministries Director for this Baptist association on January 1, 1979. I only remained a little over two years. Soon I was called serve on the national missions staff of my denomination.

Our Executive Director was a bold leader committed to significant Kingdom progress. It was a joy to work with him.

My first day on the staff, the Director shared with me my initial assignment in church planting. I was to organize the core group for a new congregation and begin leading worship services by the end of my first month.

Then lead them until a pastor was called to serve this congregation. The search took five months. A recently retired minister served as pastor for the first several years.

Their permanent location was already secured in a new community in a southeastern suburb of Charlotte. Five acres had been set aside by the developer for a church.

The association pulled together a financial package to purchase the land. Five acres was too little land. It definitely impacted the future of the congregation. But the land decision was already finalized. Sponsoring churches had committed to that location.

To launch this church, we used the sponsorship model of having a lead church and two supporting churches. This provided a broad base of spiritual, leadership, and financial support. It was a model with many good things about it, and only a few traps to avoid.

Summer of 1979

My next church planting adventure helped a Korean congregation launch. We connected with an experienced Korean pastor who had a vision for planting a Korean congregation in the Charlotte area.

He needed sponsorship and financial support. We recruited three congregations to support his work. This new congregation nested in the facilities of an existing church who had the room and could provide spiritual, strategic, and financial support.

The congregation launched at the end of the summer when the pastor moved to the area. He spent valuable time finding and cultivating the Korean population in the area.

His key growth accelerator was when he cultivated a relationship with the leader of the Korean community. This leader became a Christianity and joined the congregation. From this, the pastor gained entry into every Korean household in the area.

By Christmas around 50 people became Christians. Amazingly, the pastor and his key leaders apologized because they had not been more fruitful. As for me, I was ecstatic at their growth.

Spring of 1980

We had a secret weapon in planting congregations in the growing and shifting population areas of the greater Charlotte area.

A commercial real estate agent was a member of one of our churches. He helped us know where growth and development were projected in the metropolitan area. Including where land and buildings that might be available.

He told us there was land available along Sam Furr Road and Route 73 on the southeast side of Lake Norman which was north of Charlotte. Several miles west of the town of Huntersville.

But that was not the most important thing he knew. He knew the projection for the two-plus miles of Sam Furr Road from Interstate 77 to the land near the lake. It included major commercial and residential development.

He was right. We bought the land.

We asked Charlotte’s First Baptist Church to serve as the lead sponsor. We recruited other congregations as supporting sponsors.

A core group of families came together to serve as founders for the congregation. Group meetings and worship services began by the fall of 1980. Our location was the recreation building a congregation in the Baptist association owned on Lake Norman.

I led the core group, the worship services, and other activities for the first eight months before I moved to Atlanta to work for the national missions agency of my denomination.

Forty-Four Years Later

A couple of months ago, I served as the guest learning stimulator on a videoconference for a pastors’ group. I got online a few minutes early and was talking with the host when the first pastor came online.

The host introduced us. He knew I once served in the Charlotte area. He said I might know this pastor’s church—Lake Norman Baptist Church.

“Yes, I do. I started the church.”

The pastor did not know this.

I now have the opportunity this weekend to spend three days with this congregation for a Founders’ Weekend. I am looking forward to it.

I will have other things to share following this weekend.

OR