This question was the center of a lot of debate a few years ago…and it has been answered very quickly…YES!!!
Yesterday we launched our new location in Florence, SC and had 189 people show up…which is WAY more than we were anticipating.
For those who don’t know…we do not have a permanent facility down there…we do the load in/load out thing…and the service yesterday was a “preview service.” (We will have another one in two weeks.)
SO…after our 11:15 service in Anderson I called Michael Brown, our campus pastor, to see how the service went.
He picked up the phone and said, “Hey man, I am SO sorry—have you been trying to call me?”
I thought that was a weird way to begin the conversation…so I said, “No, why are you asking?”
He said, “My phone has been blowing up but I haven’t been able to answer it because I was meeting with a guy who came to our service this morning.”
I then asked him how things went and he said, “Dude, the MOST exciting thing that took place was the meeting I just had with the guy who showed up today. This was the first time he’s been to church in 20 years…and I just led him to Christ!”
I about ran off the road!!! Seriously…I was so excited that I literally lost my awareness of how fast I was driving! THAT ABSOLUTELY PUMPED ME UP!!!
Because…
You must understand that we are launching Florence in a unique way. Sam, our worship pastor, led worship with just a microphone and an acoustic guitar…no band, no drums…just Sam.
AND…we showed a video of a message I preached at the Anderson campus in January of 2007. (To which Michael said everyone was interacting with!)
All that taken into consideration…and a guy who hadn’t been to church in 20 years met Christ!
Our vision for Florence is to one day see NewSpring Church in a permanent facility; however, the way that a vision is accomplished is one step at a time—and today the first step was taken in planting a church in that area of the state that has a passion to see people far from God come to know His Son and have their life changed forever.
Florence…he’s the first of thousands in your community that are going to have their lives changed!!! Keep on praying, serving and inviting your friends…God has great things in store.
Does video teaching work? There’s a guy in Florence, SC that is now going to spend eternity in heaven because a church refused to believe that church has to be done the way it’s always been done! I am sure he would say he’s thankful!!!
God is doing great things THROUGH technology…and I can’t wait to see what happens next!!!
WAY TO GO FLORENCE TEAM!!!