County-seat West Texas church embraces change

SWEETWATER—Even though First Baptist Church in Sweetwater has ministered to its community 127 years, that doesn’t mean the congregation is beyond changing if changes will invigorate outreach and effectiveness.

Pastor Phillip Thomas, 33, said when he came to the church two years ago, the search committee gave him the green light to change some things.

“The church got to the point where they realized, ‘We’ve got to do something different,’” Thomas said.

Because the church was ready for change, Thomas was able to implement a new vision of ministry—and put it on the fast track.

“Normally, my philosophy would be to give it some time, kind of wait for things to start changing. But I really felt, and I know the committee felt, things needed to start happening fast to signal not only to the congregation, but to the community that we were going to try to do things differently,” he said.

Even before Thomas arrived, the church already had begun plans to renovate its 1920s-era building.

“It really helped to bring the congregation together and unify them and give them some excitement,” he said. “And from that, we were able to think about, ‘How is this going to change our ministries?’”

Even though much was changing, Thomas also was careful not to disdain the church’s rich traditions.

“We should honor traditions, but never let the traditions interfere with becoming something different if that’s where God is leading. And I think the church was at a place where it was time to start being different,” he explained.

While the community’s perception of the church is changing, Thomas knows that takes time, particularly in a small town.

Some people in the community continue to harken back to things that happened in the 1980s, he said.

“You have to be very intentional about changing that perception, and it’s a slow process. But you have to be diligent and say, ‘Maybe that’s who we were, but we’re trying to be somebody different,’” Phillips said.

A part of the effort to reach the community is the church’s Praise and Party in the Park, or P3, ministry. The church targeted three areas in the community—two parks and an apartment complex courtyard—for a Vacation Bible School-type experience.

Pastor Phillip Thomas (center, wearing a baseball cap) of First Baptist Church in Sweetwater participates in the church’s Praise and Party in the Park ministry. (PHOTOS/Courtesy of First Baptist Church in Sweetwater)

The advertising was simple—a sign was erected at the location that said, “P3 Ministry is coming next week.” No other explanation was given. A few days before the event started, the ministry team that conducted the event came to the community and distributed flyers with information about dates and times.

The congregation conducted three P3 events in 2009 and three more this year. For three evenings, the church provided a light meal—corn dogs, pizza and chili dogs—followed by singing, puppet shows, crafts and Bible stories. This year, the youth from the congregation wrote the entire curriculum.

Each P3 is capped off with fun at the city pool on the final night.

“It wasn’t planned, but Thursday during the summer is Family Night at the pool. So, what we would do is eat there, … and we’d cook over 200 hamburgers and hot dogs. So, we’d feed all our group, and then we’d make an announcement, ‘Hey, we have hamburgers and hot dogs’ to the other families that were there. We never took any food home,” Phillips said with a laugh.

Church leaders considered the P3 events a great success, he said.

“I view success as making contacts with those families, and where they recognize you and they know you care about them,” he explained.

A trip to a store in town now sometimes includes a hug from a child or a greeting from a parent who was involved in the P3 ministry, he added.

“The biggest definition of success is that we’ve become approachable,” he said.

This year’s P3 events drew more children than last year, and a few families have joined the church through the ministry.

Primarily, though, Phillips is pleased with the ministry connection P3 created. Children register, so the church has their addresses.

Also, during the P3 week, a card is sent home asking parents about needs they have such as school clothes. Expressed needs for shoes, pants, coats and other items are communicated to church members who fulfill those requests.

“That helps those who are not a part of the P3 ministry in the park to be a part of the actual ministry as a whole,” Phillips said.

While the youth wrote the curriculum, they don’t make up the bulk of the workers, Youth Minister Tique Hamilton said.

“When we started, the whole philosophy was that: ‘This isn’t going to be a youth thing. It’s going to be a church thing,’” he said. “We’ve really moved the church to more of a family ministry orientation where we try to focus on families as a whole unit and involve them as a unit.”

To reinforce that, the first P3 was scheduled during a middle school camp so many youth would not be available.

“That forced it to where you had to have other people, you had to have adults,” Hamilton said.

Two percent of the church’s receipts are earmarked for local missions, Thomas noted. So, even while a renovation is happening, finding the $500 each P3 costs has not been a problem.

“I think any church of any size could make it happen. It just takes a little planning. And we’ve got it down to where it doesn’t take a whole lot of work. You don’t want to be consumed with the difficulty of a ministry. You want it to where most of your energy is spent with those kids and those families,” he said.

Hamilton pointed out that the park activities are less expensive than conducting a Vacation Bible School because there is no cost for decorations and curriculum.

While First Baptist is working at changing its outreach, it’s also working to build up the congregation itself through growth groups. In place of Sunday night worship services, the church launched small-group Bible studies that meet throughout the week.

“We went from having 35 to 40 show up on Sunday nights to having that first semester having 117 sign up,” Phillips said.

The growth groups are divided into fall, spring and summer semesters, with classes running from 10 to 12 weeks. Some meet on Sunday night, “and we’ll always have at least one group that meets at the church at 6 o’clock,” the pastor said.

The groups also take at least one night during each semester to play and fellowship and another to do a ministry project.

During the fall, all the groups follow the same curriculum, and Phillips dovetails his sermon topics to fit the theme. During the spring and summer, group leaders are provided a list of curriculums to choose from.

The changes have brought a new energy to the church, Phillips said.

“There’s an excitement in the church,” he said. “You can’t really measure it, but you can feel it.”