Revitalizing Tigerville Baptist Church: Joshua Gilmore steps into a daunting role
Photo courtesy of Joshua Gilmore
Samantha Meyeres, Contributing Writer
“How could I live with myself if given the opportunity to help a struggling church, I didn’t?”
These are the words of Joshua Gilmore, senior director of church and community relations at North Greenville University. Gilmore recently accepted a position serving as the interim church revitalization pastor at Tigerville Baptist Church located in Tigerville, South Carolina.
When he was first approached and asked if he would be willing to serve as the revitalization pastor, Gilmore hesitated. He was worried because his experience was in college ministry, not in church revitalization.
As he wrestled with whether or not to take the offer of revitalization pastor, Gilmore said that though he hesitated, he had a lingering thought in the back of his mind.
“I say, of myself, I’ll help every church in this area, so why wouldn’t that apply to this?” he said.
Gilmore accepted the position, and the challenge. He had two weeks to learn all he could about bringing a church back to life.
The first thing to do was research. He began to compile a “to read” list of books by various authors on church revitalization. But as the list began to grow and time began to dwindle, Gilmore realized he would have to approach this research in a different way.
He said, “I got on social media. I reached out to the authors of the books I had put on the list to read on social media to see if they would talk to me on the phone. I reached out to 100 and around 30 got back to me. It was insane.”
Gilmore said this as he reached into his bag to pull out a large, three-ring binder filled with pages of written notes; highlights and margin notes visible as he flipped through them. He had collected notes and ideas about how to preach to a struggling church from the authors he was able to reach and interview.
The first week Gilmore went to observe the church, there were 20 people in attendance. The following Sunday, the first one he preached at, there were 44.
Gilmore said that although the numbers had doubled, it was hard to gauge the church’s engagement as many people had come just that Sunday to support his first time preaching there.
The following Sunday, there were 46 people in attendance. Gilmore said that he saw many new faces that week and felt that the general spirit and attitude of the church seemed lighter.
The following week, Gilmore describes as one of the wildest in his church revitalization journey. That week, Tigerville Baptist Church held a service of 77 people. Even NGU President Gene Fant was in attendance.
The increase in numbers was largely due to the hurricane. Many churches were without power, Tigerville Baptist included, but they decided to hold a service regardless. That decision proved to be a powerful one.
Gilmore said, “It was like a Hallmark movie. Everybody was coming in unshowered because there was no hot water and using their limited gas to drive to church, but everyone was made to look as nice as they could and it was a really special time of worship.”
The large number of people brought in by the hurricane did not carry over into the next week, as most went back to their home churches, but Gilmore said that even with only 34 people, it was still a sweet service of glorifying the Lord.
The revitalization of Tigerville Baptist was taken on by a ministry of Rocky Creek Baptist Church in Greenville called the Recommission Network. This ministry is instrumental in the revitalization of two other churches: Woodside Baptist Church and Grove Station Baptist Church.
Bryce Staggs serves through the Recommission Network as a part-time pastor at Woodside Baptist Church and works with Rocky Creek Baptist Church. He explained that the Recommission Network is set up to help a church that is in need get on its feet again, both physically and spiritually.
“We believe that any revitalization first and foremost has to be spiritual revitalization,” said Staggs.
The Recommission Network chooses where in the Bible the churches will be studying and then the respective pastors craft their sermons based on that.
The physical needs of the church are also taken care of through The Recommission Network. This could come in the form of providing meals for church members or organizing mission teams.
Staggs said, “It’s a daunting task for a church to have to say, ‘Okay, we know that mission is important, but we don’t know who’s going to plan all this stuff for us.’ So that’s where Recommission can come in and do the groundwork of planning for that.”
A church’s connection with The Recommission Network lasts as long as it is in need. In some churches, the revitalization process takes root and is quickly effective, while in others it is a longer and harder journey.
Gilmore’s position as the interim revitalization pastor will last through December 2024. In January 2025, the church will come together to evaluate the progress made and the next steps.
Since Gilmore’s background is in college ministry, he has built many connections with college students and loves when they step forward to offer the help they can in revitalization.
He said that any way that North Greenville students can get involved is helpful. Whether that be leading worship, taking photos to share on social media or just being there. He said ultimately the church needs prayer.
“We really need the Lord to work in this area,” Gilmore said. “And I think he is.”
Gilmore’s goal is to fill as much of the 400-seat auditorium as possible with people that are ready to worship the Lord and revitalize Tigerville Baptist Church.
