ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
More than a decade ago, the name of what was then known as First Assemblies of God Church in Liberal was changed to New Beginnings Church.
The name of the church is somewhat appropriate considering there have been plenty of “new beginnings” for the church since then. Recently, another start took place, as NBC acquired the Plains Methodist Church (PMC).
That church is now New Beginnings Church of Plains, and NBC Senior Pastor Phillip Dow said PMC’s advisory council had approached leaders with the Liberal church about becoming a campus of the church.
“We went through our process,” he said. “Our board prayed, and we felt it was worth bringing to the body. They did the same thing. They prayed and talked about it. Several of them came and visited over a few months, and they voted Oct. 12.”
Leaders at PMC had to notify the Global Methodist Church of the desired change, and 90-day period of prayer and discernment were also required. Dow said the process was much shorter at the Liberal campus.
“We prayed about it amongst ourselves,” he said. “We felt it was the right thing for us to do. The red tape was really on their side, not so much on our side. Our side doesn’t have much red tape.”
A resolution was posted in advance at the Liberal campus, and after NBC’s deacon board voted to adopt the resolution, they took it to the church’s membership body for approval. A two-thirds majority was required for passage, and Dow said the resolution was approved unanimously.
Dow said the service order at NBC’s Plains campus is changing completely, as is their staffing.
“Their pastor’s already gone,” he said. “He’s in Kismet. He’s pastoring there. We will hire a campus pastor in the next few months to serve there.”
As for the vote at the Plains campus, Dow said it was not unanimous, but with few voting against the move, it was overwhelmingly in favor of the merger. Going into the vote, he said he felt confident the change would happen.
“Anytime there’s a merger like this that happens, there’s always going to be a couple of people who are hesitant until they see how it works out,” he said. “In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen their attendance has gone up significantly. They doubled on week one, and we’re continuing on that trajectory.”
Before the merger was completed, Dow and church deacons examined the building now home to the Plains campus, and he said he was quite pleased with what he saw.
“It’s a great building,” he said. “It’s set up well for ministry. They have a thriving Wednesday night ministry for kids and youth. They’re pulling large portions of the community’s teenagers and kids, serving them a meal every Wednesday and doing Bible study with them. They have a great ministry.”
The votes to approve the merger took place in October, and the Plains campus has already hosted Sunday services. Dow said the attendance there has doubled since the vote.
“I think we’re projecting a pretty quick growth for them as they continue to serve Jesus in Plains,” he said.
NBC’s Liberal campus hosts 9:30 and 11 a.m. Sunday services. Dow said the Plains campus will be limited to 11 a.m. on Sunday. He said he does feel the merger is great for New Beginnings.
“It lets us expand what we’re doing here,” he said. “It lets us expand into other communities. For them, it’ll be a huge impact. It’s a new thriving church in Plains. More people get to hear the good news about Jesus.”
Likewise, Dow said the merger will benefit both churches.
“There’s a lot of partnerships we’ve already talked about,” he said. “We do Operation Christmas Child. They do Operation Christmas Child, and we’ll be able to work together and make it even more effective.”
Dow said he is looking forward to what becomes having campuses in both Liberal and Plains.
“It’s great,” he said. “I did this in Texas a couple times. We merged with churches, had other campuses, and it’s always good. It’s always a fresh, new thing, when it goes into a town.”
