LAVON, Texas – God has chosen to bless First Baptist Church in Lavon with numerical and spiritual growth as the congregation has emphasized prayer and discipleship to make Christ known in the community.
The church had seen its best days during the 30-year tenure of a pastor who retired when the small, rural community in southeast Collin County began to grow as a bedroom community of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The years that followed were a struggle, and the congregation of 200 dwindled to 75.
In 2016, the church called Brad Patterson to his first pastorate out of seminary. FBC Lavon had not baptized anyone in the two years prior, but they baptized eight people that first year.
After pressing through some transitional challenges during the first two years, Patterson began to see fruit, he said. At the beginning of 2020, the church set a 10-year-goal of giving away $1 million, baptizing 500 people, and launching 25 community groups in local neighborhoods.
“We are in the fifth year of that vision in 2025, and we are on pace to accomplish that goal,” Patterson said. Attendance has grown to around 500 on Sundays.
As the population booms with housing developments and the area grows in diversity, FBC Lavon has been in position to reach out.
One way it does that is through a strong partnership with the local school district. The superintendent is an active member of the church, which is intentional about building relationships with teachers and other school leaders.
“We seek to enter into what their need and their vision is for their school district,” Patterson said. For example, if a principal says he would really like his teachers to feel loved, the church puts its emphasis on honoring teachers at that school.
“There’s one school where we pick up a Costco cake every month and take it to celebrate the teachers’ birthdays that month,” Patterson said. The church also takes meals to schools monthly and has started a program at Christmas to make sure students receive gifts.
Multiplication in action
A strong discipleship culture has developed at FBC Lavon, where expositional preaching is emphasized. A man named Bryan started watching services online during the pandemic and emailed Patterson with an interest in meeting him.
“He ended up coming into church, and when I met him on Sunday morning, he had interests that [another man named] Michael would have,” Patterson said. “I asked Michael to go to lunch with me and Bryan that Sunday, and I shared the Gospel with Bryan. Bryan got saved. I said, ‘If this is serious, then I want you to start meeting with Michael every week.’”
Bryan and Michael met weekly for two years for discipleship, with Bryan showing tremendous interest in theology. Bryan became part of a community group in the pastor’s home.
“Then there’s a guy named Daren that came to our church,” Patterson continued. “He was a skeptical atheist. Daren and I met at the church at 9 o’clock one night. I shared the Gospel with him, and he came to faith in Christ. I said, ‘Daren, if this is real, then I have a guy I want to disciple you.’ I wanted Bryan to disciple Daren.”
Daren and Bryan started meeting at a local coffee shop for discipleship, and people started listening in on their conversations. Bryan invited people to join them, and that group has grown into a regular Saturday morning Bible study.
“That all happened because I discipled Michael, Michael discipled Bryan, and Bryan is now discipling Daren. There is a group of unbelievers meeting and studying the Bible together because of it,” Patterson said.
In 2021, God placed on Patterson’s heart the idea that the church needed a stronger prayer emphasis. FBC Lavon now starts each year with corporate prayer and worship nights weekly beginning in January and monthly for the rest of the year.
Ami Roddy, the pastor’s executive assistant, believes seeking God’s face may have something to do with the health the church has experienced.
“We have seen His sovereignty in the way He has expanded our reach to proclaim His name through allowing us to launch a preschool where we can boldly proclaim truth to little hearts, to those families coming to our VBS, then those families coming to church, to parents being saved.
“We know that it is true that although He has given us different tasks to do, planting or watering, He is the one who causes the growth,” Roddy added. “We do not take any credit for the growth we are seeing, but thank the Lord that He has invited us to be a part.”
This article originally appeared in the Southern Baptist TEXAN.
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