BBFI President Tim Adrian and BBFI Communication Director Randy Harp visited several pastors and state fellowships from the mid-Atlantic region to the northeast on Monday, June 21 through Friday, June 25. They began in Philadelphia, PA, meeting with Josh Todd. Todd serves as pastor of Radiant Life Church in Glenolden, PA, and is the Pennsylvania State Representative. Todd started Radiant Life Church in 2012 and was able to show Adrian and Harp the many locations where the church has met.
On Tuesday, Adrian and Harp met with the New Jersey BBF in Randolph, NJ. This meeting served as the relaunching of the NJ BBF with Ed Walls, pastor of Faith Family Fellowship in Dover, NJ, appointed as the new State Representative. Pastors from several regions of New Jersey were present. They collectively decided on two primary goals for the new fellowship, including an emphasis on fellowship and a focus on church planting. The next NJ State Fellowship Meeting was scheduled for August 2, 2021, at Liberty Church in Union, NJ, with a church planter as the featured guest.
Tuesday afternoon/evening, Adrian and Harp were in New York City with church planters Ron and Susan Taylor and Elvis and Emily Leon. The Taylors, from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, moved to New York City in 2008 and launched their first church plant in 2009. They launched their second church in 2011 in Brooklyn. In 2013, after Hurricane Sandy, the Lord led them to start their third church in Far Rockaway, Queens. They are now in the process of starting their fourth church in Rego Park, Queens, in their backyard. Elvis Leon is a product of the church in Far Rockaway. He was saved and surrendered to the ministry in this church. After four years at Baptist Bible College, Leon is now back serving in his home church.
On Wednesday, Adrian and Harp met in Baltimore, Maryland, for lunch with a few pastors from the Maryland BBF, including James Clidence, pastor of Freedom Baptist Church in Dundalk and Maryland BBF State Representative, and Clint Highfill, newly approved BBFI church planter in the process of starting Transformation Church in the Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia tri-state area. That evening, Adrian and Harp were in Washington D.C. to meet with Barry White, pastor of Park Valley Church in Haymarket, Virginia, and Mark Brady, who serves on staff. Park Valley hosted the September National BBFI Meeting in 2018.
On Thursday, Adrian and Harp met in Springfield, Massachusetts, with pastors from the area, including John Kerns, pastor of First Baptist Church of East Longmeadow and MA BBF State Representative. Dave Melton, president of Boston Baptist College, made the drive to join the others. Melton shared an update on Boston Baptist as well as the church he pastors, which had its first in-person in-the-building service the Sunday prior (June 20, 2021).
On Friday, Adrian and Harp were in Albany, New York, at Connecting Point Church, pastored by John Westfall, who also serves as the New York BBF State Rep. Several gathered to pray, share, brainstorm, and network.
After they met at the Philadelphia airport, Adrian and Harp traveled over 900 miles together before they flew out of the Albany, New York airport at the end of the week. Their goals were to encourage, show support, cast vision, and pray with as many BBFI pastors as possible. Adrian emphasized three important elements regarding the BBFI. First is a common encouragement. It became evident in 2020 the importance of pastors encouraging one another. This happens best when pastors get together and pray for one another. Second is common information. Communication is an essential part of any organization. Pastors work better together when they can share information back and forth. Third is a common purpose. From its inception, the BBFI has rallied around the purpose of evangelism, both domestic and international. This is seen in the training of future pastors, missionaries, and ministry leaders in our Bible colleges. It is also seen in the sending and supporting of missionaries and church planters.
Adrian and Harp both reflected on takeaways from the trip.
Tim Adrian’s Takeaways
It was wonderful to meet with pastors in several Eastern States last week. Seven times Randy and I shared meals with pastors, and we enjoyed great fellowship at every turn. We knew some of the men we met with, and it was our joy to meet new friends along the way. In every case, we were blessed to listen to their stories and were challenged to hear their passion and vision. Four themes were repeated, and I want to share them here:
- Successful ministry is taking place with people coming to know and follow Christ. We all understand the East Coast is not the Bible belt; however, almost every pastor seemed optimistic about their future. Several of the churches are considering great opportunities for growth and expansion.
- Most everyone admitted their yearning for fellowship with other pastors. Of course, COVID matters have kept everyone separated for more than a year, and distance plays a role in this issue. Some of the men we visited are bi-vocational, and thus schedule limitations exist. Typically, every discussion on this matter brought out the need to be more intentional to simply get together.
- Many of the pastors we talked with said they feel outnumbered by the prevailing secularist mindset of the East. Local or state-wide policies continue to be restrictive towards churches and perhaps towards Christian ideals in particular. This should remain a matter of prayer for all of us.
- Virtually every pastor said they want and need more churches in their area. Church planting and prospective church planters became one of the dominant themes of our entire trip.
Randy Harp’s Takeaways
- There is a strong emphasis (and need for) on church planting. I was both challenged and burdened for church planting. At nearly every stop, this topic was discussed. Both Josh Todd and Ron Taylor showed us around their area and pointed out the various locations their church plants have met and how they have grown. It was great connecting with brand new church planters like Clint Highfill in Maryland and Elvis Leon in New York City. I also got to meet Gerry Dumouldin, a church planter in Monroe, NY. There were also pastors asking the question, “How can we help start more churches in our area?”
- There is strength in networking. The statement is true that we are better together. This was the theme for Fellowship Week at BBC this year, and it was evident with each group we met with. This became even more evident through the pandemic. Pastors were able to work together and learn from one another.
- There is a strong need for friendships. For many people, relationships are the most important part of the BBFI. It was great for me to be with so many personal friends and see where they are serving. It was also great to make many new friends that will last through eternity. On this trip, there were many laughs, a few tears, and a lot of great memories.
- There is clear evidence of God’s work, even during the pandemic. Wow, this is such a true statement. Pastors and churches have been stretched and have experienced challenges, but God has been faithful. There was testimony of hundreds coming to know Jesus as Savior over the last couple of years. One pastor told a story of one Chinese student that visited his church several times and was led to Christ during the pandemic. He was forced to return home to China but continues to grow in his faith and is sharing the hope of Jesus with people that no American would be able to.
- There is supernatural power in prayer. We had the opportunity to pray for each pastor we met with. There is something indescribable about bowing together before Almighty God. We prayed for God’s wisdom. In many instances, we prayed for God’s protection. For each pastor and church, we prayed for God’s blessings.
- There is ample evidence of the work of Boston Baptist College in the northeast. I love Boston Baptist College. I always enjoy visiting the college to speak in chapel and classes. But if I am completely honest, in the Midwest where I live, I don’t meet many people with direct ties to Boston Baptist. But when you visit the northeast, the college has made an impact almost everywhere, and that is intentional. Dave Melton is one of the most intelligent people I know, and he is doing a great job leading Boston Baptist College. I met with several pastors who are graduates of Boston Baptist, and they all spoke highly of their experience.
- There are lots of examples of why you need to know your community to minister properly. On this trip, we visited with pastors ministering in large cities and small towns, and even though geographically they were all generally in the same region, every area was different. I heard multiple stories of encounters with “mob” type individuals. I saw government housing, and I saw multi-million-dollar mansions. Some communities are filled with retirees, and some are filled with young families. Pastors regularly shared detailed information about their communities and what it takes to reach the people living in them.
- There are lots of good places to eat. Ok, I had to add this one. I had too many “friends” giving me a hard time about all the places we stopped to eat along the way. Many of our meetings were held while eating together. From Philly Cheesesteaks to New York style pizza to New Jersey diners to Baltimore crab cakes, it was all good. Now to get back to the gym.
