October 17, 2024
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – A pioneering church planter who grew one of Georgia’s premier congregations from humble beginnings in a one-room plankboard building says the key was simply trusting the Lord.
Dennis Watson, pastor of the 2,500-member Harp’s Crossing Baptist Church, said he vividly recalls the anxiousness he felt when he was considering the move from Augusta to Fayetteville to lead what at the time was a tiny group of believers.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “I wrote in my journal, ‘I don’t think I can do this.’ And at that moment it was like the Lord said, ‘OK, good, now you’re ready.’ The next thing I knew we were here, and it’s been an incredible journey.”
Under the leadership of the gregarious man with the ever-present smile, Harp’s Crossing experienced rapid growth, doubling every few years after he arrived in 1982. During those periods of growth, baptisms were every Sunday events. Year’s with more than 100 new believers baptized weren’t uncommon.
Over Watson’s 40 years at the helm, Harp’s Crossing has baptized more than 2,000 people, according to records at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
Those same records show the church’s impact extends around the world through its support of missionaries. Harp’s Crossing is one of Georgia’s biggest financial contributors to the Cooperative Program and a variety of special offerings that support national and international missionaries.
Watson, who has preached more than 4,000 sermons since he arrived here, credits the Lord for the success of the church. The congregation met in a home for a year before moving into the rustic, one-room Water’s Chapel building, which was a short walk from where the expansive campus is now located.
“The church grew rapidly in those first few years because people were excited and enthusiastic about serving the Lord,” he said. “Nobody went out and invited their friends and family and said you have to come see our beautiful worship center, because it was a dump. It wasn’t the music. It wasn’t the building. It wasn’t the preacher. It was the incredible zeal and excitement among the people.”
The takeaway for modern-day church planters, Watson said, is that they don’t have to be supermen. “I tell folks at church all the time, ‘God uses donkeys,’ and, I go on to say, ‘I are one and so are you.’”
“Just be yourself,” he advises. “The Apostle Paul said, ‘By the grace of god, I am what I am.’ I would encourage today’s church planters to be who they are and not try to imitate someone else.”
Who Watson is has endeared him not only to members of his congregation but also to his pastoral staff. They have tended to have long tenures with him. Minister of Education Keith Turner has been at the church 38 years. Associate Pastor Ken Helms has served 34 years; Minister of Music Steve Owens, 32 years; Student Pastor Paul Allen, 10 years. Watson’s son, Chris, has been on staff 17 years and is currently the lead pastor at Harp’s Crossing’s Hollonville campus.
“The combined tenure of our six pastors is 171 years, not counting any years in ministry prior to coming to Harp’s crossing,” Turner said.
Watson also advises today’s church planters to be pastors first and foremost.
“My daddy, who wasn’t a pastor, told me a long time ago, ‘Son, wherever you go, be a pastor to the people,’” Watson said. “And I said, ‘well, can’t I be both a pastor and a preacher?’ He said, ‘yes, but if you have to choose between being a preacher or a pastor, be a pastor.’ His advice still rings in my ears.”
That’s precisely what Watson has done through the years.
“The thing that I love doing most is preaching, but it didn’t take long to discover that the most important thing I did was to work with the people, to love the people, to guide the people, and just be available.”
Georgia Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Thomas Hammond Jr., who attended Fleming Baptist Church in Augusta when Watson was on staff there, said what the Lord has achieved through him at Harp’s Crossing is amazing but not surprising to those who knew him back when.
“Dennis overflows with love for the Lord and for his people,” Hammond said. “Everything he does flows naturally from his intimate relationship with Christ and his genuine love for the Word of God. He is filled with passion and energy and a driving desire to see people saved.”
Friends say Watson’s energy hasn’t subsided over the decades. If anything, they say, it has increased.
In fact, Watson said he has no intentions of stopping at 40 years. He said he hopes to celebrate 50 years as pastor in 2032.
“That’s in God’s hands,” he said. “I’m enjoying being pastor more than ever. People sometimes ask when I plan to retire. And my answer is, ‘I hope I never have to.’ I’ve told people for years that I want to preach till I die. In fact, I’d like to be preaching when I die. It will be a traumatic experience for you, but it will be glorious for me.”
