New Church Planting Network: Reach South Texas

In South Texas Presbytery, which encompasses a rapidly-growing population of 7 million people, there are currently 23 congregations and missions of the Presbyterian Church in America. What if that number of PCA churches could double in the next 25 years? That is the goal of Reach South Texas, a new church planting network backed by Redeemer and other PCA churches within the bounds of the South Texas Presbytery.

Recently formed as a nonprofit, Reach South Texas aims to plant churches in the greater Austin, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio areas. With the support of the Redeemer session, RPC Senior Pastor Tom Gibbs is serving as acting chairman of Reach and providing day-to-day leadership for the network in addition to his regular responsibilities at Redeemer. Already, roughly half of the churches in South Texas Presbytery have signed on as supporters of Reach, pledging a percentage of their annual church budgets to the network. 

Pastor Gibbs says that the call of Reach South Texas is built right into its name — reaching the communities around us for the Kingdom of God is part of the clear Biblical mandate uttered by Jesus in the Great Commission.

“You cannot speak about the mission of the church and not talk about church planting,” he says. “Inherent in the mission of the church is to be a church planting movement, and whenever the church has thought about itself that way, it has always prospered. The value of a network is bringing the full resources of the body to bear on that priority of church planting — its financial resources, but also resources of gifts and leadership and insight, and people who can be part of those church plants. The collaborative resourcing of a network becomes catalytic.” 

The growing population and vibrant economy of South Texas present another clear indicator of the opportunity for church planting in the region. The Austin-San Antonio corridor is forecast to become America’s next mega-metro area, and by 2030 have a population of more than 5.7 million. Along the Texas Gulf Coast, the Port of Corpus Christi is the fifth largest port in the United States and the leading export port for U.S. crude oil, making it a major gateway for international commerce. Almost 60 percent of Texas’ international trade occurs in the border cities of the Rio Grande Valley.

While all of that growth translates to economic prosperity, other realities such as entrenched poverty in urban and rural areas and migration of asylum seekers represent challenges for the region. Underneath those physical struggles are deep spiritual needs. By committing to the planting of Gospel-preaching churches in the cities, rural areas and border towns of South Texas, Reach can create spaces for a new generation to be welcomed into the life-changing message of grace. 

“We don’t want these churches to be cookie cutter churches in terms of worship or even their vision, but we do want them all to be Gospel-centered, and grace-focused,” Gibbs says. “We want them all to have a welcoming presence toward the surrounding culture, and we want them to be committed to ministry in both word and deed.”

Reach also aims to plant churches that reflect the demographics of South Texas and make  significant efforts to reach Latino communities. That commitment is important simply as a matter of faithfully ministering in the specific context of South Texas, but it is also a step toward cultivating more Latino church leaders in the PCA. Estimates predict that by 2050, one in three Americans will be Hispanic. Out of 4,882 teaching elders, the PCA only has 34 Hispanic teaching elders, according to denominational statistics. 

Redeemer has been invested in creating pathways for Hispanic leaders in the church for years through works such as the Hispanic Leadership Initiative, and Reach is an important way to create more doors into ministry.

“Raising up Latino ministry leaders matters, and one of the key ways Reach wants to be doing that is to be planting churches reaching those communities,” Gibbs says. “It’s going to take many more years before we see the full cycle of the vision, in which one of the keys will be churches planted by Latinos who have been growing up in our churches.”

Among the other distinctive commitments of Reach will be coaching for each church planter during the challenging first years of launching a church. Financial resources are important, and each plant will typically receive a $100,000 commitment over three years. But Pastor Gibbs, who serves as a mentor for multiple church planters, says coaching from a more experienced church planter is just as important as financial support.

“Coaching increases the likelihood of that planter being successful because the coaching relationship emphasizes self care and the pastor having a good work/life balance and attending to things at home and to their marriage,” he says. “There’s also just the strategic value of someone who has been there, done that. Strategy, conflict, experimentation, innovation, all these things can be discussed with an experienced voice.” 

Reach will appoint a board at its first formal meeting at Redeemer in September and hopes eventually to hire an executive director. Redeemer Special Projects Coordinator Sarah Doerfler is providing administrative support as the network begins its work. Reach is assuming responsibility for current Southwest Church Planting Network financial commitments to Trinity Grace Church in Northwest San Antonio as well as a site of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bryan/College Station, and Reformed University Fellowship at the University of Texas San Antonio. Aside from RUF at UTSA, Reach will not fund RUF chapters in the future.

The first Reach plant is planned for McAllen, Texas, and a church planter is in discussions to lead that church beginning in 2020. Please join us in prayer for the leadership and churches involved in this exciting new ministry work.

If you would like to learn more about Reach South Texas, visit www.reachsouthtexas.org.