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Snyder church experiences turnaround by becoming more ‘gospel-centric’
SNYDER—In just over a year, Avenue D Baptist Church went from about 30 people on Sundays and no one remembering the last baptism to seeing 80 to 90 on Sundays and more than 20 baptisms.
In his initial meeting with the church’s pastor search committee, Charles Lowery, a former church planter, said something he knew could be hard to hear.
“Whether you call me or not, somebody needs to tell you this,” Lowery remembers telling committee members. “Unless you have some significant changes, you’re probably looking at maybe not even being here in the next decade.”
The committee “could have been negative about that,” Lowery said, “but they were so very encouraging.”
Evangelism and discipleship have been the keys, Lowery said, adding, “It’s not rocket science.”
“If you think about it, we haven’t done anything that’s been crazy or has cost a lot of money,” he said. “None of it has been that. I think we have just had a confidence that if you just follow God’s plan and you share the gospel and be gospel-centric, God will take care of everything.”
When Lowery arrived as pastor in May 2023, he asked if the church had ever had a formal discipleship ministry. No one could remember, so he began to form one. He also knew the church would need a missional mentality, so he encouraged outreach events.
“It’s easy to adopt the idea that people are just going to walk through our doors,” Lowery said. “We love it when that happens, but that rarely happens.”
Last October, rather than a trunk or treat, Avenue D hosted a “Dine and Dash” where parents could take their children for a quick meal at the church before heading out together for a night of candy gathering. “It was a huge success,” the pastor said.
During a Snyder festival called White Buffalo Days, Lowery headed out with a backpack full of gospel tracts and found lines of people waiting at food trucks. He projected his voice to share a quick gospel presentation and then passed out tracts with a few church members.
“We led a family to Christ that day,” Lowery said, noting that probably 70% of the people who sit in one section at the church are related to that family in some way.
Another thing the church started doing to create a culture of evangelism was to give a brief gospel presentation every Sunday during the worship service around announcement time. “They hear me say that every single Sunday. I think it helps keep everything gospel-centric,” Lowery said.
The pastor also coaches Sunday school teachers to open each class with an opportunity for someone to articulate the gospel, no matter what lesson they’re studying.
Regarding intentional discipleship, Lowery chose a curriculum which has three sections: found, following, and fishing. In 16 lessons, the curriculum covers such topics as salvation, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.
“Discipleship is a lifelong process. We’re lifelong disciples, but we want to make sure, especially in the beginning, that people get a good foundation,” he said.
Last year, Avenue D had three discipleship classes meeting each week. One met during the Sunday school hour in the pastor’s office, another met on Tuesday mornings, and another on Tuesday evenings.
In May, about 30 people graduated from the first round of formal discipleship ministry. They received a certificate in a worship service, and the church commissioned them to go out and disciple others.
Before launching the discipleship ministry, Lowery taught the congregation about the biblical mandate for discipleship.
“Discipleship is simply the Great Commission,” he said. “It’s not something separate from the Great Commission. … So many of us think the Great Commission is just getting people saved. That’s wonderful. We love that, but until we’re involved in discipleship, we haven’t fully embraced the Great Commission.”
“It’s easy to adopt the idea that people are just going to walk through our doors. We love it when that happens, but that rarely happens.”
Lowery, 51, may have been the youngest person at Avenue D when he arrived, he said, but the church has seen growth in the 30-45-year-old age group. “We recently started a young adult class that our church hasn’t had in decades,” he said, adding that the church recently marked its 75th anniversary.
This summer, they sent a group to student camp, something else no one could quite remember doing recently.
Looking at what has happened this past year, Lowery said he saw the potential when he first considered accepting the pastorate. He knew it would be a revitalization ministry.
“The people had a heart for the Lord,” he said. “I could sense that.” If a church is not resistant to outreach and evangelism, Lowery added, “I think there’s hope for any church.”
