By Brad Dupray
For 26 years Tim Halstead served on the staff of the a cappella Spring Woodlands Church of Christ, just outside of Houston, Texas. For 15 of those years he was youth minister, and later he served in ministries of administration and outreach. This past year Tim and his wife, Melinda, felt a calling to plant New Life Church on the other end of Texas, in Odessa. New Life was planted in an unprecedented partnership of Christian church and a cappella church of Christ ministries.
Why church planting?
I think it was the youth minister in me that always liked a new project. Church planting fed into that same bug to watch something new. I caught the bug about doing a healthy church plant.
So how did you get started?
I did some research into it and Lynn Anderson, a mentor of mine, recommended that I look into Stadia. I went to a Stadia assessment and felt good about it. They recommended I work with the Golf Course Road Church of Christ in Midland because they were looking to plant a church.
Stadia would be considered a Christian church ministry. Were you uncomfortable with that connection?
I don’t remember having a real issue with the Christian church; I moved past that years ago. I would have been comfortable planting an instrumental church, except I don’t know the network in the Christian church.
How did your friends in the churches of Christ react to your decision to plant a church in conjunction with the Christian churches?
As I raised personal support from my church of Christ friends, I explained I was working with the Christian church. When I told the story that this was one of the first Christian church/church of Christ joint efforts many of them got excited about it.
Have you received criticism?
Some, but not from the circle of church of Christ people that I hang around with. I’ve had a strong sense for decades that the kingdom is a lot bigger than the church of Christ. It’s fun just not to say it, but to see it happen.
What does a church of Christ/Christian church joint venture mean?
It’s pretty historic that we have come together, whatever the perceived barriers are. There’s a pretty big trust level to start a church without a lot of strings attached. New Life Church is our name, not Church of Christ or Christian Church. We’ll govern more like a Christian church, but we are an a cappella church. What’s cool is that we agree on so much that there is not a whole lot of adaptation.
Beyond Stadia, what is the Christian church connection?
Jim Phillips (Mountain View Christian Church, Highlands Ranch, Colorado) had committed to Golf Course Road church minister Ronnie White that his church would commit one third of the funding $50,000. No strings attached. It’s not just talk about unifying; here’s a church that put their money where their mouth is.
Now you’ve got a new church. How’s it going?
On launch day we got there at 6:30 a.m. and set up everything with about 20 guys. It was brisk air, quiet, and dark. At about 9:00 we hit a pause, in anticipation of what was going on. At 9:20 there was not much movement. Then at 9:25 here come the cars. We had about 270 that first Sunday and averaged about 165 in the first eight weeks.
Those early Sunday setup times can really build a core, can’t they? Gary Gaines, coach of the Permian football team that was featured in the movie Friday Night Lights, had just moved back to Odessa to be the athletic director, to revive the Permian football program. He came the first Sunday and has been back to help us load and unload each Sunday since. His wife said she thought they had come back to help Permian football, but found they had come back to help New Life Church.
Sounds like people are getting connected.
We’re letting people belong before they believe, so they can feel like they’re a part of the church with the expectations that relationships will bring them to a belief in Christ.
Brad Dupray is director of public relations and advertising with Provision Ministry Group, Irvine, California.
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