When God Builds a Church 10 Principles for Growing a Dynamic Church The Remarkable Story of Southeast Christian Church

Introduction A DRAMATIC BEGINNING I'll never forget the first time I met H. W. "Butch" Dabney that afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio, during a break at a conference on evangelism in 1965. "Hi, I'm Butch Dabney," he said. "I'm the chairman of the pulpit committee of a new church in Louisville, Kentucky, and I'd like to talk to you about our church. Do you have a minute?" Butch, who was then in his early forties, was personable, confident, relaxed, and quick-witted. And he had a contagious enthusiasm for the Lord and the new church he had helped start -- Southeast Christian Church in Louisville. Little did I know that I had just met a man who would become for me a spiritual mentor and lifelong friend. "Southeast is going to be such a special church," Butch assured me. "We started just three years ago with fifty members from the South Louisville Christian Church. Among those members were several experienced and devoted leaders who really want the church to honor Christ and grow. Although we're currently meeting in the basement of a house, we've grown to 125 people and are in the process of building a new church building that will seat four hundred." Butch spoke with conviction and enthusiasm as he continued, "We believe that what we do for the Lord should be our very best. We also believe we have the potential to be a powerful church, and we've been praying for the right minister. That's where you come in." The situation at Southeast sounded ideal, but I knew what I had to say. "Your church sounds wonderful, and I'm sure it's going to do great things, but I know it can't be the Lord's will for me right now. In June, I became the first full-time minister of a congregation here in Ohio, and I committed to stay at least a year. It can't be God's will for me to break that promise." Butch and I parted company, and I didn't think I'd ever see him again. Several months later I received a long-distance phone call. "Hi, I'm Butch Dabney. Remember me? I talked with you at the conference on evangelism several months ago. Well, we still haven't found a minister. Two women from our church came to hear you preach last Sunday and gave a glowing report. Sometime in the next few weeks, we'd like for you to come down and look over our situation. If it seems like a good fit, we'd be willing to wait until June when your year's commitment is up. Will you come?" Although I had a lot of apprehension about preaching in the suburbs of a large city, this was obviously an open door through which God was prodding me to walk. "Yes!" I said without hesitation. "I'll be happy to take a look." When I became a part of the ministry at Southeast in June of 1966, I was not quite twenty-three years old! But Butch Dabney assured me that the church was hungry to love a minister and poised to grow. He was right. The people were supportive and loving, and that's why I've been able to stay for thirty-four years. They endured some very immature sermons in those early years and helped me smooth out a lot of rough edges, and we grew together. God Does Immeasurably More Southeast Christian Church was founded in 1962 when the leaders of its parent church (South Louisville Christian Church) felt the need to start a congregation on the growing eastern side of Louisville. After much prayer and planning, fifty people agreed to leave that established and growing congregation to start Southeast Christian Church. The Sunday before the new congregation was to have its first service, Olin Hay, the minister at South Louisville, asked all those who were joining the new church to stand. When he looked out over the congregation, he was a little overwhelmedRussell, Bob is the author of 'When God Builds a Church 10 Principles for Growing a Dynamic Church The Remarkable Story of Southeast Christian Church', published 2000 under ISBN 9781582291253 and ISBN 158229125X.