March 15, 2000
Money not the barrier to church starting many fear
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___It takes a lot less money to sponsor a new church than most Texas Baptists realize, according to a number of people involved in such efforts. And it's an investment that will pay big dividends in the future, they add.
___"One of the reasons people don't start churches is because they think it costs toomuch," said Brian Lightsey, founding pastor of Lakeline Church in suburban Austin. "It doesn't take a whole lot."
Hundreds of new churches needed
___In Lakeline's case, for instance, Lightsey put together support from two sponsoring churches, the Fellowship of Forest Creek in Round Rock and Northwood Church in Keller, along with funding from Williamson Baptist Association and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___The Fellowship of Forest Creek, the primary sponsoring church, gave only $200 a month, Lightsey noted. The association provided chairs, sound equipment, nursery supplies and rent for the first six months while the new congregation met in a movie theater. The BGCT provided a grant that paid Lightsey's salary and other expenses in the start-up phase.
___"I have been extremely humbled by the generosity of the BGCT," said the 1996 graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. "If the BGCT had not been a part of this, it could not have happened. The BGCT was the method by which God chose to work to make this happen. People need to understand they have this great resource out there."
___Whatever money the BGCT puts into church starting is an investment in the future, said Bob Roberts, pastor of Northwood Church and a passionate advocate for church starting.
___For example, he said, the average amount of funding the BGCT gives a new church is between $7,000 and $15,000. In the case of Northwood Church, which he started 15 years ago, such an investment has produced missions giving many times over the amount of the initial funding. "By the time we were 10 years old, we had given nearly $1 million to missions," he said.
___A similar story is told by Lightsey. In addition to the evangelism done on its local front--the pastor baptized 12 adults and two teenagers on a recent Sunday--the 3-year-old church is financially self-sufficient and already has given more than $25,000 back to missions, he said.
___"It will be just a matter of time before we pay for ourselves," Lightsey noted. "That's not the goal, but there is a business aspect of it where you have to see that the work continues."
___If a church will step out on faith with a commitment to expanding the kingdom of God through church starting, God will reward them, added Pete Castro, pastor of Calvario Bautista Iglesia in Corpus Christi.
___Though his church is only 2 years old itself, it has birthed 23 other congregations, and all are growing in attendance and finances, he said.
___"We didn't know where the money was going to come from. We take a core group from our church and send them to a mission site. We started six at one time. Then we rebuild and send out again. God has always given us a congregation. For the last 18 weeks, we have had standing-room-only in our church.
___"If somebody asked me exactly how we do it, I could not tell them. We used to have a budget of $1,500 a month. ... Today, we're at $30,000 a month. People will give when you go out and reach people.
___"Money is the least of our worries, because we have a rich God."
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