February 17, 1999
Patterson sees big church in Big Apple
___ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Paige Patterson wants Southern Baptists to buy an entire city block on Manhattan Island to start a new megachurch.
___Patterson, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, outlined his plan during an address to trustees of the SBC's North American Mission Board Feb. 1-3.
___Patterson said he is praying God will provide between 12 and 20 businesspeople "with enormous resources" who jointly could buy an entire city block in the middle of New York City.
___The property would be given to NAMB for 10 years, Patterson suggested. The agreement from the benefactors would stipulate that "if you (NAMB) don't do anything with it in 10 years, then we're going to take it back and sell it and get our money back. But if you do something with it in those 10 years, then it is yours and we have no claim to it."
___NAMB's challenge during that time would be to start a large church from the ground up, Patterson said, initially supplying a complete staff of effective leaders.
___"I believe we can have a church in New York City running 5,000 or 6,000 in Sunday school in a matter of two or three years at the most," he said. "And you say, 'Why would you want to do that, particularly there?' Because almost every visitor from around the world who comes to this country comes to New York City. ... And folks, we have little witness."
___Reaching residents of America's cities with the gospel will be the focus on this year's SBC annual meeting in Atlanta, Patterson said.
___Baptist associations of 60 or more churches will be challenged to adopt another city in the nation of similar size, Patterson said, "and make a commitment that within 10 years they will see to it that there are as many churches in that city as there are in the sponsoring association."
___He noted Dallas has about 365 churches in its association, while some other large cities may only have four or six.
___"How on earth can we stand before the judgment seat of Christ having been given the resources that we have and report such a thing to God?" he said. "I don't want to be a part of that report. We have got to do this, and it's going to take the associations to do it."
___The convention's mega-churches also must play a role in these partnerships, he said. "I'm going to challenge the megachurches of our country to be more missionary, not only in their giving but also in their direct missionary involvement," he said, adding, "In so doing, I am going to risk some friendships, but I am going to do it anyway."Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!