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From Zero to 4,500: What's the Problem?
By Craig Pinley
GRANITE BAY, CA (June 7, 2002) - You've got a church that has gone from zero to
4,500 worshipers in just 72 months. So what's the problem?
That's not a problem now for Pastor Ray Johnston at Bayside Covenant Church
in Granite Bay, California. But, 72 months ago, it was a different matter.
He still wonders exactly how it happened, especially considering how
opposed he was at first to becoming a full-time pastor.
Johnston moved from Chicago to northern California in 1992 with his wife,
Carol, and two boys after having served as a youth ministry administrator
for the Department of Christian Education of the Evangelical Covenant
Church (ECC) and as a youth ministry professor at North Park University and
Theological Seminary. Based in Folsom, California, he started a leadership
development consulting service as twin girls arrived on the scene.
During his three years of consulting work, Johnston served part-time at
First Covenant Church in Sacramento. The Johnstons helped Pastor Ron Short
plant Lake Hills Covenant in El Dorado Hills, California. But even as
Covenant administrators encouraged Johnston to start a church on his own,
he was still convinced, "I did not want to be a pastor."
Dave Olson of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism was
persistent, however. Late in 1995 Johnston assembled a group of people for
two prayer meetings with the idea that if a church could be started, he at
least could help the denomination find a suitable pastor to lead the new
congregation. It wasn't long before Johnston became convinced that people
in the Granite Bay area were interested in a new church start.
In 1996, the group that would eventually become known as Bayside Covenant
rented a tennis country club for its first preview service, expecting fewer
than 100 people. About 160
people attended the service, however, filling the club's meeting room. A
second preview service one month later attracted 226 people at a local
elementary school. Soon after, Johnston flew to Chicago for the ECC
Midwinter Conference. It was at that conference, Johnston says, that he
became convinced God was calling him to lead the new Bayside Covenant
congregation. Increasing enthusiasm on the part of the people affirmed
Johnston's conclusion - by the spring of 1996, the church had multiple
services on a weekly basis.
"I was afraid I would be a total failure," Johnston said in describing his
fears about becoming full-time pastor at Bayside Covenant. "But we started
meeting at this school and it just started filling up. It was like putting
together a car while it's going 65 miles an hour on the freeway."
Johnston admits that his church would not be the prototypical model for
church plants, but he believes that practical subject matter and versatile
ministries are key to the congregation's
growth. A six-week series titled "Raising G-rated Kids in an X-rated World"
attracted 800 people who hadn't been attending the church. A marriage
seminar, "When Your Dreamboat Turns Into a Shipwreck," enjoyed a similar
overwhelmingly positive response. He currently is preaching about a more
balanced lifestyle (based on Psalm 46:10) with the catchy title "Strangled
By Stress."
The Bayside Covenant congregation is active in spreading the word about the
church to its community. Stylish invitation cards - five each - are given
to attendees each Sunday with the request that they share them with
friends, co-workers and neighbors and invite them to visit.
"We teach biblical truth, but we title it and introduce it with Christian
and non-Christian things in mind," Johnston said. "We bring people into our
congregation to talk about topics. And we sweat blood over our sermon
titles.
"Outreach is a legitimate thing we're called to," Johnston added.
"Leadership development is also what we're called to. But basically, 90
percent of churches are doing things only about spiritual growth. If I
could hit (challenge) Covenant churches in some way, I'd have every church
have a
vision of outreach, leadership development and spiritual growth."
With a rapidly growing congregation, Bayside Covenant is planning to move
from its temporary home at a local high school. The church bought 34 acres
of land for $1.5 million with the help of National Covenant Properties and
over the Memorial Day weekend broke ground for a new $20 million
94,500-square-foot facility that is expected to be completed by fall 2003.
Bayside Covenant hasn't done it alone, however. Conference support has been
important, particularly during a draining negotiating process with city and
county governmental agencies concerning the size of Bayside Covenant's
proposed building plans. The building project has regularly been the
subject of numerous media reports in and around the Sacramento area.
Denominational support also has been an important factor, Johnston says. He
praises Steve Dawson of the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism for
his diligent research during the land search process, crediting his
expertise in helping Bayside secure property that has quadrupled in value
during the past five years.
"A big surprise has been the stress level - three or four times higher than
I'd ever expected - with managing a staff of 80," said Johnston. "Being
responsible for a yearly budget of $5 million and a $20 million building
project is amazing. During our building (county) battle, we had television,
radio and news media every Sunday. I would have an interview with a TV
station often. And there were people in the audience who were opponents
that were taping my sermons because it might be something that could be
used in court.
"But the bigger surprise is that so many adults have been open to become
Christians," Johnston continued. "We've had adults become Christians every
week for six straight years. I used to hear, as a youth pastor, that adults
didn't become Christians. But the majority of the people we've baptized
have been adults.
"The last six years have been the best and scariest years ever. And I
almost missed out on it because of my fear."
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