Monday, September 10: Unique Partnership Assists New Church
Water of Life Community Church, led by Pastor Phillip Cole, held their first worship service in October 2006 at Southside Baptist Church in Greensboro. They are a new church start, assisted by Piedmont Association. That’s not too unusual, but there is an interesting twist. Water of Life is a black congregation meeting in the facilities of a predominantly white congregation.
In Cole’s hometown it is rare to find a partnership like that of Southside and Water of Life. But black or white makes no difference to these pastors and their congregations.
“We’re their friends,” said Patrick Fuller, Southside’s pastor. “We eat together, we pray together – it’s like they are part of us.” Southside provides Cole with worship space, office space, and funds and joins with his church in community outreach.
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina also partners with Cole, and the NCMO provides funds for new church starts like Water of Life. Cole attended a weeklong BSC Basic Training session for church planters to help them structure the first year of the church plant. Piedmont Association—which like other associations, receives about 10 percent of the North Carolina Missions Offering funds its churches contribute—helps equip church planters by providing startup funds and scholarships to attend church planting conferences, and by connecting new church planters with mentors and church sponsors.
Cole recognizes God’s leading and direction in all this and knows he is part of something special. “This didn’t just happen,” he said. “We’re amazed, and we’re blessed.”
Pray for Water of Life and Southside Baptist churches:
- Pastors Phillip Cole and Patrick Fuller
- Both congregations’ outreach efforts
- Both churches’ growth and strength