March 27, 2025
Five years ago, I stepped off a church bus filled with Baptist pastors into a Seventh-day Adventist Church. (No, we weren’t rethinking our view of the Sabbath.) We were there to meet with the leadership of a new church plant called “Gospel Hope.” They were renting space to meet on Sundays since the building was available. We piled into a “Saturday School” room and listened to Gospel Hope’s pastor, Ryan McCammack.
One of the first things Ryan did was introduce us to a young man they were about to send out as an international church planter. Was I hearing that right? This church was only months old and already raising up someone to plant another church? Who does that?
By the end of Ryan’s presentation, I was convinced. Our church should begin supporting church planting in Atlanta—and our first partner should be Gospel Hope Church.
Fast forward to 2025, and Ryan is now the key leader for SEND Georgia, a partnership between the North American Mission Board and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board to plant churches across our state. Ryan is still pastoring Gospel Hope and continues to lead his church in planting churches, but he is also coming alongside pastors throughout our state to engage more congregations in church planting.
I recently sat down with Ryan to ask how more Georgia Baptist churches can get involved.
Steve: Why does Georgia need more churches?
Ryan: There are many reasons, but let me give you two major factors that make church planting a pressing need in our state.
Population Growth: Our state is growing exponentially. Today, there are 10.7 million people living in Georgia. By 2050, that number will be 13.5 million—more than 3 million additional people in the next 25 years. We need new churches to reach them effectively.
Churches Closing: We all know that, despite best efforts, many churches end up closing. Some estimates put the number of church closures at around 1,000 per year nationally. Think about it this way: If 1,000 churches were to close this year, we would need to plant 1,000 just to maintain the current number of churches.
Praise the Lord that SEND Network helped start nearly 700 churches nationally this past year! But to keep up, we need to plant even more. That same reality applies to Georgia as well.
Steve: What would you say to a church that has never planted a church?
Ryan: Expose yourself and your congregation to church planting. A great way to do that is by taking a mission trip to a church plant in our state. This would give you and your church a clearer understanding of the reality of church planting.
This is exactly how it worked for me. When I was considering church planting, I visited a church plant. It was like a light bulb went off: “Oh, I could do that!” It took the intimidation out of church planting, and I know it could do the same for many others.
Just as churches that take international mission trips tend to raise up more missionaries, churches that engage with church plants tend to raise up more church planters.
You might also consider inviting a church planter to preach in your church one Sunday so the whole congregation can hear about the adventure and opportunity of church planting.
Remember this: When you bring others along to visit a church plant, it could change the trajectory of a person’s life forever as they sense God calling them to be part of this work.
Steve: Where would I go to find a church plant to visit or take a mission trip to?
Ryan: We do “matchmaking” all the time between churches and church planters. Reach out to the SEND Network Georgia team by visiting: gabaptist.org/ministries/church-planting.
Steve: What next step would you give to a church that wants to explore church planting?
Ryan: Georgians know Georgia. They are uniquely equipped to plant the kinds of churches needed to reach our diverse state. You and your church might be the best qualified to reach the next community over through church planting. So take the next step. You can do this! It’s not nearly as intimidating as you might think.
“Sending Lab” is a great place to start. Bring your pastor, missions leader, and key lay leaders with you. It’s an interactive one-day experience that helps your church discover its next step in church planting.
After your experience, you may consider becoming a supporting church, coming alongside an existing church plant. You might start the process of discovering, developing, and deploying church planters from your congregation. You may even find that you are more ready than you imagined to send out your own church plant in the near future.
One Sending Lab participant recently told us, “We came to see about supporting an existing church plant, but now we are realizing we can send our own church plant!”
You can sign up to attend the next Sending Lab at this link.
Steve: Any final thoughts?
Ryan: Biblically and statistically, the best way to push back darkness and reach the 7 million lost people across Georgia is through church planting—multiplying churches.
And here’s the truth: When you commit to multiplication, it actually helps your church! Your people grow spiritually when they engage intentionally in God’s mission.
The future belongs to those who SEND.
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Steve Browning is president of the Georgia Baptist Convention, and lead pastor of First City Church in Alpharetta.
