Skip to main content

Clare Jewell speaks to church members and leaders at the GARBC Annual Conference.

To better align Regular Baptist Builders Club with the GARBC’s vision to plant and revitalize churches, Clare Jewell has been asked to serve as both the national coordinator for Regular Baptist Church Planting and the director for Regular Baptist Builders Club.

The announcement was made at the GARBC Annual Conference this June in North East, Maryland.

In his church planting report to the voting conference attendees, Jewell said that 3,700 churches close in the United States every year, with Millennials leaving in droves. The mission of Regular Baptist Church Planting is to reverse this trend by planting 100 churches and revitalizing another 50 churches by 2025.

Jewell believes that the key to this process is raising up leaders through an internship program established in regional “hub” churches across the country. The GARBC desires to develop a series of these hub churches, where current and prospective church planters can get the training and mentorship they need to effectively lead churches to reach people in our culture with the gospel.

The GARBC has a renewed focus on reaching people with the gospel through church planting and church revitalization. With this focus in mind, financial support from churches and individuals will be vital to grow these important ministries while continuing to help churches meet emergency needs due to natural disasters.

Dan Nichols shares an update about Restored Church, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Earlier this summer, Regular Baptist Builders Club approved funding for two church projects. The board approved a $10,000 grant and a $10,000 loan for Calvary Baptist Church in Anaheim, California, for the maintenance and remodeling of its restrooms. The board also approved a $15,000 grant for Immanuel Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, to repair its parking lot. The board is currently considering additional grant applications for church revitalization projects.

During his report, Clare invited Pastor Dan Nichols of Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to give an update on his church’s multiplication efforts. Dan explained that Restored has recently called a Hispanic pastor to lead its church plant in nearby Hazleton, and six community groups from the church are meeting in nearby towns. “It’s great to see a new church already planting another church,” Jewell said. “We want to keep fostering this focus on reproduction.”

Clare asked conference attendees “to pray, give, and network with other churches to initiate church planting and revitalization efforts in each region of our country.”