Church planting is the building block of the kingdom of God and continues to be the most effective means of evangelizing unreached people. In this article-interview, three Assemblies of God church planters discuss how church planting is transforming lives and communities.
As Bryan Briggs stood in a lengthy line on the opening night of the new movie theater complex in Colonial Heights, Va., the youth pastor sensed God giving him a vision: start a church on the site that would duplicate the scene of eager attendees.
Briggs knew he had the call and the will, but not the wherewithal, to start a church.
“I didn’t have any money, contacts, or knowledge of church planting,” Briggs recalls.
God soon connected him with Stan Grant, who in a decade of pastoring in nearby Midlothian saw the congregation grow to 1,200 from 20. Grant hired Briggs at Clover Hills Assembly of God, and for the next year and a half the two men, along with help from the district and national offices, began planning for Destination Church to open in Colonial Heights.
With Clover Hills AG as its parent affiliate, Destination Church launched in February 2011 with 450 attendees the first day. Since then, someone has been saved at the church every weekend, and more than 1,000 people have been water baptized.
“Most of those who attend are unchurched,” Briggs explains. “When they get saved, they invite their unsaved friends to church.”
According to Outreach, in 2013 Destination Church was the youngest fastest-growing church on the magazine’s list of 100 fastest-growing churches. Read more
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