Small Churches Face Same Challenges As Larger Mainlines
by Randall Murphree
June 10, 2004
(AgapePress) - Rev. Greg Williams, pastor of Clyde's Chapel Southern Methodist Church (SMC) in Batesburg, South Carolina, is going into full-time evangelism because of his burden for the declining membership and decreasing commitment he perceives in his denomination. His new role will begin August 1.The small SMC denomination stands in stark contrast to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation's largest Protestant group. Yet Williams believes the SMC's concerns reflect a parallel with what is happening in many larger churches and mainline denominations.
"I will be the only evangelist in the whole denomination," Williams said. "I really feel that God wants me to go and help the churches that are struggling to regain the vision and to preach the Gospel. I know that if we would challenge people with the truth of the Gospel, people would respond. Unfortunately, the church is not communicating that to people. It is the church's responsibility to lift up Christ."
His decision to go into evangelism is a big step of faith. There's no salary, only the gifts of those who want to support his ministry and from the churches where he'll preach. He hopes to find a home near Clyde's Chapel because the congregation there has promised to look out for his family while he's on the road.
"Yeah, it's sort of scary," Williams admitted. "I celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary, and three days later I step out into a fully faith-based ministry. I don't have money in my pocket, I don't have a home. But at the same time, it's exciting." He says his family has been nothing but supportive.
His wife, Donna, brings a unique touch to the Williamses' ministry. "She came from a Jehovah's Witness background," Williams said. "When she saw me get saved, she said, 'Hmmm, this is different.' About six months after I gave my life to Christ, she did too."
The couple have a 20-year-old daughter, Jennifer, who is a college student. Their sons Matthew and Caleb are 17 and 12, respectively.
Williams served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church before joining the SMC, where he has been a pastor for eight years. When he began to look at the possibility of moving to the SMC, he met with their leaders to talk about issues and beliefs in the denomination. "They all believed that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible very Word of God," he said.
That satisfied Williams. He says he's always had an evangelist's heart. In regard to his new calling, one of the Scriptures he relies on is 2 Timothy 4:5 in which Paul admonishes the young pastor, "Preach the word and do the work of an evangelist."
The SMC has 110 churches and approximately 7,500 members scattered across the Southeast, Maryland to Florida and South Carolina to Texas. Some SBC local churches are larger than the entire SMC denomination.
The SMC separated from the larger Methodist denomination in 1940. The denomination seeks to continue the doctrinal heritage of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and to spread the message of salvation and Biblical holiness that John Wesley preached.
