LEADERSHIP MATTERS by Roger A. Yancey, D.Min.
Church Planting is a critical pressing need in the TEBA.
Please understand, I acknowledge we are blessed with many healthy churches. We also have churches in the Association who have plateaued or are declining. We need to help churches stay healthy, get healthy, and recover to their God-given potential.
But that doesn’t change a core reality in the TEBA. We need member churches to plant more churches so the people can be reached who are presently in the Association, as well as those who are moving into our area. If every evangelical church in the TEBA held 7 Sunday services packed full – more than half of our present population would not be able to find a seat.
Add to that number the approximately 2880+ new people who move each month into the Association. This translates to 96 people a day or 4 new people per hour. Of those, approximately 3 out of 4 added each hour don’t express an evangelical witness.
In summary, 3 out of 4 people moving to the TEBA don’t know Jesus. With more than half of the TEBA already not knowing Christ, in relation to church planting, it means we could plant a church of 2,000 people each month and not keep up with lostness in the TEBA.
In response to this need, your Association has been actively engaged in supporting, facilitating, and training church planters within the TEBA. Recently, we hosted a North American Mission Board (NAMB) Church Planter Training Map which is designed to train the trainers who lead Church Planter Training Cohorts to train present and future church planters. We had 7 TEBA Senior Pastors who trained for 3 days and to the churches they serve for their investment. Thanks, Rodney Woo of Kingwood FBC, Josh Henry of The Trail of Life Cowboy Church, Alec Brunson of Pillar Church, Joshua Crutchfield of Emmanuel Church, Garrett Bowman of Willis FBC, Richard Rogers of University Heights, and Scott Young of The Fellowship!
To help gain a greater understanding of the Church Planting needs within the TEBA, the Missions Team led out in a focused effort called “Explore,” where they toured growth areas in the TEBA with other member church staff members. This led to a greater understanding of needs beyond the immediate ministry areas of local congregations to other areas in the TEBA where churches can partner together to assist in church planting. This effort included nine of our churches and will be the forerunner to an Association-wide “Explore” effort in the fall of 2027. Be in prayer about how you and your church can be part of “Explore”.
The pressing needs within the TEBA are why we have the TEBA Golf Tournament for Church Planting. While it’s a great time of fellowship, ultimately, the purpose is simple. We are raising support to help fund more churches. This year was the 21st anniversary of the tournament. To date, the tournament has raised more than $120,000.00 and helped support more than 35 church plants. We are thankful to all our sponsors, churches, and the teams who play in the tournament for the impact they make to church plants. Special thanks to the TEBA ministry team who made this tournament possible, including Darrell Ingram, Stephanie Cuilty, and Kay Hunt.
Thanks for allowing us to serve the churches of the TEBA. Together, churches make the difference!
In Kingdom service,
Executive Director, AMS
