A New Church Desires to Grow Disciples Through Church Planting
Christ the King in Savannah, GA was organized as a church on Sunday, November 13, 2022. The church planter, Rev. Soren Ko- rnegay, was installed as the pastor. He has already expressed a desire for Christ the King to help plant additional new churches in Savannah.
“Savannah is a city of contrasts and tensions: conservative/liberal, black/white, religious/irreligious, traditional/creative, rich/ poor, historic/innovative, manicured/wild,” Rev. Kornegay explains. “People are drawn to this city for one half of these para- - with (let alone love) those who want to be our enemies? Is there an overarching story that can set each side of these tensions in its proper place? Believing that only the biblical story of God’s love for us can reconcile us to our neighbor, Christ the King grew as a church that exalts Christ as King while training disciples to love those who are different from them.”
Describe your journey to starting Christ the King. Rev. Kornegay: My journey to plant Christ the King began when I was the RUF campus minister at the Savannah College of Art and Design, in an unexpected place: at a St. Patrick’s Day party. St. Pat’s in Savannah is a huge deal- we have the third largest party in the world after Dublin and Boston- and my friends and I had camped out for two days to preserve a spot for our families to view the parade. All around us, the sounds of the bacchanal were ongoing, and it struck me: we felt like the only Christians those same friends who had sat with me for the parade, when he said that the pastor of the church he attended told a joke about never having been to the St. Pat’s parade, despite living in the city for 20 years. That, to me, is a problem. Those same friends and I began dreaming about planting a church that loved the city. In order to keep us from syncretism (being squeezed into the world’s mold) we need formation by God’s Word and spiritual disciplines as well having thick relationships with fellow believers. But we would be betraying our roots in the party if we didn’t hold fast to another value as well: the fun of being a follower of Christ!
Tell us about your vision for Christ the King to help plant other churches. Rev. Kornegay: Some ideas don’t scale, and I think our church is one of those things. You cannot be a family formed in joy for the city, and be a large church. At some point in time, the intimacy and relational connection that enables substantive disciple- ship gets exchanged for a performative and consumerist mindset. From the moment people join as members at Christ the King, they are being given meaningful jobs to keep our community running. This is an important part of training the people of God for the work of ministry, but as we grow larger, it becomes harder and harder to provide the meaningful connections and mission that people long for, and have a personal stake in. We are preparing to plant more churches, not because it will be easy, but even though it will be hard. Planting churches is going to the front line of Kingdom expansion. God is faithful and equips us when we do hard things for His glory.
What are some prayer requests for Christ the King going forward? Rev. Kornegay: Pray that God would keep us humble. Pray that God would protect us from comfort. Pray that God would pre- serve a sense of mission in our people.
Helping You Reach Your Community 14 The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Outreach North America
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