An Old-Fashioned Motto

By Brad Ransom

Many years ago, I remember both Roy Thomas and Trymon Messer (former directors of Free Will Baptist Home Missions, now North American Ministries or NAM) used the motto, “A missionary in every state for a church in every city.” A framed picture of a map with this motto still exists and is on display at the NAM office in Antioch, Tennessee.

Although we don’t use their motto today as a guiding principle, the point is still valid. After a few minutes of quick research in the 2019 Free Will Baptist Yearbook I discovered startling statistics that do not match that vision. Free Will Baptists have only 14 states with more than 50 churches. Five states have between ten and 50 churches. Twenty-one states have nine or fewer churches and nine states have zero Free Will Baptist churches.

Those numbers would bother Roy and Trymon, and they bother me as well. More than half of the states have no significant Free Will Baptist presence. This disturbs me because I believe we need more Free Will Baptist churches in every state, including those with many churches. Why? Because more than 140 million unchurched people live in the United States (according to Barna Research). This does not include the rest of North America.

I realize Free Will Baptists are not a large denomination compared to some, but we certainly can continue to have an impact on the Kingdom. Currently, NAM has 50-plus church planters in 26 states and U.S. territories. That is a significant impact. However, over the next year or so, approximately 12 to 15 of existing church plants will reach self-supporting status. While this is a praise item, the reality is we don’t have enough new works “in the bullpen” waiting to step up to the plate. We need new church planters to answer God’s call to plant churches.

As I write this, I am deeply grateful we have seven new churches about to launch, but we need many more. Have you have felt God calling you? Maybe you’d be willing to pray about planting a church. Many of our teams tell us starting a church is both the hardest thing they’ve ever done and the most rewarding. Are you up for a challenge?

Maybe church planting is for you, and maybe it’s not, but it’s certainly worth praying about. If you have any questions or would like more information about church planting, visit www.fwbnam.com or call our office. We’d love to talk to you.

About the Writer: Dr. Brad Ransom is chief training officer/director of church planting for North American Ministries. For the previous 30-plus years, he and his wife Lori lived in Oklahoma where he served as a pastor and state leader. Email Brad: brad@nafwb.org.