A Plea for Church Planters

 Note: Today's post is by A. J. Potter. He pastors Pleasantville Baptist Church in Pleasantville, Iowa. He has organized a network of Iowa pastors to financially and spiritually support church planting here in our state. Knowing his burden and dedication in this area, I asked him to write a post about the need and opportunity here.

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What would you do if you had to drive one and a half hours one way to get to a solid Independent Baptist Church? If you are like me, you would pray that God would send someone to plant a church in your community. The above scenario is a scene that was played out at our church several months ago. A family looking for a church with specific convictions and standards would drive 90 miles one way to attend our church. This is not an unfamiliar weekly occasion in the state of Iowa. Every Sunday, families will get up early and plan to drive many miles to attend a church that will feed them spiritually and meet the needs of their family.

Only a few years ago, when I would have a conversation about church planting, my mind would go to the need of the western states or maybe to the void in the northeastern part of our country. After doing some research, I found that the state of Iowa, the state where I pastor a church, presented a great need for new churches as well.

There are approximately around 70 Independent Baptist churches in the state of Iowa. With a population of about 3 million people, this leaves many spiritual needs in our state and there are entire counties without an Independent Baptist presence. I am not insinuating that there is no gospel presence in some of these communities, because I am sure there is a gospel light in some cases, but the greater concern is for additional Independent Baptist churches to be established in the state of Iowa.

When I realized the lack of churches in our state, I automatically assumed I knew the answer to the dilemma. I wrongly thought that the reason there were not more Independent Baptist Churches in our state was because of the many smaller towns out in the rural communities. In my mind, I pictured little towns scattered all over the state with only a few hundred people in each community. This had to be the answer, there was no population base to support more churches in the rural communities.

It was only when I and a few others in our church started researching my theory that I found something that shocked me. I found that there were communities, towns, and cities in the state of Iowa that numbered in the thousands for population that had no Independent Baptist Church. Through research we have identified over 20 communities ranging in size from a low of 3,400 to a high of 9,800 in population that have no Independent Baptist Church. This knowledge created a burden in my heart for these communities without the presence of an Independent Baptist Church.

Let me give you some quick statistics about the state of Iowa. The state of Iowa is split up by two main interstates: I-80 running east and west and I-35 which runs north and south.  About 50 miles north and running parallel east and west with I-80 is Hwy 20. North of Hwy 20 is approximately 1/3 of the state of Iowa with a population of just over 770,000 people.

There are three main cities that are located right on the Hwy 20 corridor, Sioux City in the west with a population of 170,000, Waterloo toward the east with a population of 170,000 and Dubuque on the east border with a population of 96,000.  This leaves a population of over 334,000 outside these large cities in the top third of the state of Iowa.

The distance from the border from east to west is about 300 miles and from Hwy 20 to the north border of Iowa is about 70 miles.  In this entire area there are only a small number of Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches.

The area to the west of I-35 in the state of Iowa is also an area with a small scattering of Independent Baptist Churches.

We need laborers in the state of Iowa to come and start churches in these communities which have a need, not only for a gospel witness, but a strong witness for truth without compromise. 

There is also a great opportunity in the population centers of our state for more churches.  The Des Moines metro has around 700,000 people with about 5 IFB churches to reach them.  Statistics tell us by percentage, Greater Des Moines is growing faster than several large Midwest cities, including Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. (businessrecord.com)

There are 258,000 in the Cedar Rapids metro with only 4-5 IFB churches.  There are 150,000 + in the Iowa City metro with only 3 churches.  Davenport has over 100,000 in population with only a couple churches and there are close to 400,000 in the Quad Cities metro area with just a handful of churches.  Ames has a metro population of 90,000 with one known IFB church.

As you can see, there is a great need in the midwestern state of Iowa for church planters to come and establish Independent Baptist Churches. Thousands of souls without a true gospel witness are waiting for a preacher of the gospel to come to their community with this life saving message.

After seeing some of these surprising statistics, the result became a burden to see more churches planted in the state of Iowa. The formation of the Iowa Independent Baptist Church Planters was the answer to this burden for our state.

With the help of many other established Independent Baptist Churches our goal is to:

·       Establish

o   Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches in the state of Iowa 

·       Equip

o   Supply the resources needed to let the community know about the church plant

§  Mailers

§  Brochures

§  Flyers

§  Door Hangers

·       Enable

o   Help church planters shorten deputation by assisting to schedule meetings with Iowa churches

o   Introducing church planters to Iowa pastors looking to support church planting efforts

o   Sending regional churches to help canvass and door knock for new church plants 

·       Encourage

o   Two year church planter training course available

o   Church planters get practical training on how to plant a church

o   Church planters get involved in a local church to serve

o   Iowa pastors available to help mentor church planters

I am encouraged that there are churches excited about getting involved in the church planting process in Iowa, but there is a definite need for men and families to surrender to the call to start a church in this midwestern state.

In sharing this burden with others, I often use the example of a man named Cornelius found in Acts 10. This was a man searching for God through religious activity. God intervenes in his life through a vision first to Cornelius and then to the Apostle Peter. God sends Peter to give the gospel to Cornelius. We are told in Acts 10:24 that Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends. I believe that there are many Cornelius’ that are waiting for someone to come to their community and share the gospel. They are searching for God, they are hungry for truth, and they may even be crying out to God for someone to come meet their need.

This was the case for a city in the suburbs of Des Moines called Waukee. There was a three generation family that began to pray for God to send someone to start an Independent Baptist Church in their community. They were driving to the opposite side of Des Moines to attend church. When they began to pray, God began to call. It was about the same time that they began to pray for a church planter that God called a young man and his wife from our church to start a church in that same city of Waukee. Through God’s providence, three years later, Grace Baptist Church began, and that praying three generation family became charter members of that church.

Someone has a Cornelius to meet in an Iowa community. Someone is waiting for them to answer the call of God to become a church planter in our state. I am excited about several church plants in progress or to be started this year in our state. The need is still great, will you join us in praying for God to send more church planters to our state to meet this great need? Will you consider asking the Lord if Iowa is your calling?

If you would like more information about the need for churches in the state of Iowa, please contact Pastor AJ Potter. Cell #: 641-226-0490. Email: pleasantvillebaptist@gmail.com.