{"id":47491,"date":"2024-07-25T15:09:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T19:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=47491"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:21:05","slug":"tallahassee-church-on-its-way-to-meeting-40-40-goal-for-planting-churches-and-developing-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/tallahassee-church-on-its-way-to-meeting-40-40-goal-for-planting-churches-and-developing-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Tallahassee church on its way to meeting 40\/40 goal for planting churches and developing leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE\u00ad\u2013Tallahassee\u2019s Celebration Baptist Church<\/a> had never planted a church when it set an ambitious 40\/40 goal for church planting and leadership development in honor of its 40th<\/sup> anniversary in 2022.<\/p>\n

Celebration\u2019s goal: Plant, replant or revitalize 40 churches and send 40 people into long-term ministry by 2027.<\/p>\n

But just two years in, the church has already reached a third of both goals with 14 church plants\/replants\/revitalizations and 16 people going into long-term ministry. What\u2019s more, the church now believes it\u2019s on track to exceed both goals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dennis and Marty Walker, 40 Sent, living part time in Guatemala.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pastor David Emmert is excited about the progress the church has made, but he\u2019s also excited about the changes that have occurred within the church body.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has changed everything about our church,\u201d Emmert said. \u201cIt has changed how we look at discipleship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Celebration started out as a church plant, Emmert said planting churches seemed like a great way to celebrate its 40th<\/sup> anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had never planted a church before so we began exploring what that would look like. Why don\u2019t we change that?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if we planted more than one? Let\u2019s be about church planting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Celebration leaders and members began to think of helping plant new churches, another side of the issue became apparent \u2013 the need for church leadership.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Becky Pius, 40 Sent, living full time in Guatemala, working with God Said Go.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhat good would it do to plant a bunch of churches and not provide leadership?\u201d he said. \u201cThat is another part of the puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, in honor of its 40th<\/sup>, the church adopted a 40\/40 goal for both church planting and church leadership.<\/p>\n

The church created a budget and really began to work on this in 2023. \u201cWe\u2019re not a gigantic church, but we felt like God was calling us to this. So that\u2019s how we decided what we\u2019re doing to celebrate our 40th<\/sup> anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plants, replants and revitalizations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Church leaders looked at a variety of resources and partners to identify church planting opportunities, including the North American Mission Board<\/a>, the Florida Baptist Convention<\/a> and other missionaries they had previously worked with. They did some networking among local churches and kept ears to the ground for opportunities.<\/p>\n

The 14 churches Celebration has helped plant, replant or revitalize are as close as Tallahassee, Madison and the Panhandle and as far away as Ethiopia, Colombia and Guatemala.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Grady Shafer, Pastor of Woodrun Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida, one of the 40 Churches (revitalization).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Celebration found out via email about Calvary Baptist Church<\/a>, a local church on the brink of closing, desperate for assistance. Celebration sent teams to renovate Calvary, helped find a new pastor, provided leadership and resources and helped find replanting dollars available through the North American Mission Board. Calvary Baptist Church, which had dwindled to five people for Easter in 2021, had 165 in 2023 and is now doing well, he said.<\/p>\n

Another church in Madison called seeking help, and Celebration was able to help with cleaning and painting and sending a pastor. That church had its first service in<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Chase Roberts, Co-Pastor of Morgan Grace Church in Morgan, Utah, one of the 40 Church partners.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January, and is now running 40 to 50 people in attendance each week. A new Spanish-speaking church needed help financially when it took over a failed church, and Celebration was able to assist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little different for each church that we help. Some need leadership; some, physical assistance and some, financial help. Some need all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing church leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early in the process, the church realized it needed to identify not just disciples, but disciple-makers \u2013 those who could help train, mentor and disciple others. It would be from this group that the church would start to find people interested in going into long term-ministry, and some of those would help plant, replant or revitalize churches.<\/p>\n

At any time, there are five types of people attending church, Emmert said. These are:<\/p>\n