When I first heard this question, I didn’t realize the optics of “We’re planting a church,” particularly in an area with many congregational churches (stand-alone/autonomous). To some, church planting often means splitting from a congregation to form a new congregation, often as the result of a disagreement, or being sent by a church to create another campus in a new town.
We are not the first two, but sort of the last one.
The Diocese
We belong to a Diocese of 31 churches, called the Diocese of the Southeast of the Reformed Episcopal Church. This is a collection of about 1500 seasoned saints, many of whom have been worshipping as Reformed Episcopalians their whole lives, including in the bellies of their mothers, and under the prayers of their grandmothers. As a new “extension” of the Diocese, we are working to become church number 32, all under the Spiritual and executive leadership of our Bishop, The Rt. Rev William White, a pastor with over 30 years of experience. Bishop White won’t pastor Emmanuel, that will be my job, but he will pastor me and ensure that I’m in compliance with the Canons and Constitutions of the Reformed Episcopal Church and the ACNA, and that spiritually I am seeking God always so that I am not serving from empty.
So no, we’re not by ourselves.
The Reformed Episcopal Church & Anglican Church in North America
Our diocese is one of four in the Reformed Episcopal Church, each with its own bishop. We are led by the Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Ray R. Sutton. (Yes, my Bishop has a Pastor as well in Bishop Sutton.) These Bishops oversee their respective Dioceses, pastoring hundreds of pastors, who in turn pastor local congregations.
The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) is a gathering of like-minded people across the continent, which expands the Reformed Episcopal network by 24 additional dioceses, each with their own Bishop who pastors the pastors under his care.
Yes, there is something called GAFCON, the Global Anglican Fellowship Conference, but I didn’t want to blow your mind with the global connection…yet. 🙂
So no, we’re not by ourselves.
The Upstate of South Carolina
So what does that mean locally? Well, by now you know that we’re not alone. That’s actually one of my favorite parts of my church. It’s this small step towards global, national, and local unity. It’s a collection of people who are worshipping the same way, yet unique to their culture, be it Chile, South Carolina, Nigeria, or Rwanda.
Emmanuel is simply one of many, with the charge to care for a particular set of people whom God feels are special enough to be cared for. (By the way, that’s all people.)
In the Upstate, we are surrounded by three other Anglican congregations, with all of whom we have a good working relationship. We’ve been blessed to receive support from these congregations through prayer, resources, wisdom, and referrals of friends and family local to us.
We’ve also been blessed with a church planting coach and a community of other church planters, to ensure that we aren’t making mistakes that others have already learned from. Until we’ve reached a certain amount of people on our core team, our finances and resources will be centrally managed by the national church, ensuring that those who support us initially, know that this isn’t the “Robinson” show, rather there are systems of accountability in place. When we grow to a full Parish, with a certain amount of families, we then begin to transfer much of that responsibility locally to those trained to uphold the integrity of the Canons and Constiutions of the National Church, while caring for our local community through responsible stewardship of God’s gifts.
So no, we’re not alone, and I’m oh so thankful.
An Invitation
I understand that a new church can sound weird. “Where are they going to worship?” “Who is this guy?” and the list goes on. I can tell you that my heart’s desire is to graft you into a body of God’s children who globally worship just as the church has for over 2000 years, wrapping that ancient practice in our local culture. The ultimate desire is to witness you begin again with God, and we plan to do that responsibly through discernment of God’s voice and responsible management of the gifts He has given us each for the work of His Kingdom.
So no, we’re not alone, especially if you join us.
