Some of the 42 baptism and profession of faith candidates join hands in praying on Sabbath, Aug. 9, at the Body of Christ Church in Ft. Wayne. Many of the guests were drawn to the church by social media ads and prominent billboard advertising.
Debbie Michel
August 14, 2025At the first board meeting he attended, members were discussing a range of matters — none of them evangelism. The small congregation of 25 to 30 regular worshippers was also wrestling with identity. With members from at least 10 nations, including Grenada, Jamaica, Mexico, Conga, Kenya, Zimbabwe and the United States, some wondered whether the church should be Caribbean, African American, African or something else entirely.
Lindsay knew that before the church could reach its community, it had to come together. He invited guest speakers to help bridge divides. Trudean Scott Elliott, from Andrews University’s Counseling and Testing Services, led discussions on the beauty of unity. Claval Hunter, associate director of the university’s Center for Community Engagement, guided members through a vision-casting process that emphasized mission over labels.
The Lake Region Conference church also hosted “Diversity Days” Sabbaths, celebrating cultures and showing that varied backgrounds could strengthen ministry. Slowly, members began turning their attention outward.
Planning for Harvest
As members learned to embrace their differences and focus on mission, they were getting ready to work together toward a major evangelistic push. For nearly a year, they met weekly to plan “The Plug”, a July 26–Aug. 9 series with Lake Region Conference evangelist Pastor Cody Miller.
In the 40 days before the meetings began, members gathered online at 6 a.m. for prayer and submitted names of people they wanted to see commit their lives to Christ. Husband-and-wife team Paul and Hattie Garrett knocked on doors and gave Bible studies. The church ran ads on social media ads offering back-to-school supplies, diapers and groceries, and even utilized billboards.
The Holy Spirit did not disappoint, and the congregation’s faithfulness was rewarded.
Opening night drew more than 200 people, including 150 children. Attendance averaged at least 70 guests each evening. By the series’ end, 42 people had made decisions for Christ through baptism or profession of faith. Pastor Lindsay said this illustrates God’s challenge is more so the reapers -- never the harvest. “The harvest truly is ripe!” said Lindsay
Among the newly baptized members was the fiancé of a Baptist leader who attended every night and streamed the meetings live on his Facebook page. Another decision came from a man who had spent a decade in prison [More on his story here]. Another was from a young mother and her four children.
Removing Barriers
For the evangelist Miller, the series was about more than numbers. He is deeply aware of the national trend showing young adults are largely absent from churches.
Miller, 34, believes the way to win back anyone, especially youth and young adults, is to show them God’s love.
Although they were giving away groceries, diapers, school supplies and other items each night, there was an intentionality to the plan. “Everything we were doing, drawing people in with different gifts and different items that we were giving away, it was all to connect people to the church so that we could serve them, so that we could laugh with them, talk with them, get to know them," said Miller. “And so one of the key things that we were hearing from our guests was every night when we came into the door, we felt loved. We felt welcome. We felt accepted, and that was our goal.”
He recalled with amusement one evening when a guest had left a dog in the car and one of the security guards went out to take care of it. “He watched the dog and fed the dog,” Miller said. It was an act that didn’t go unnoticed by the visitors with one telling him, ‘I’ve been to other churches and they don’t really care about my dog.’”
To relate on a personal level with the visitors, Miller was intentional about connecting. “My goal is to always sound like we’re just having a conversation. I’m not preaching to you, I’m teaching to you and I want you to talk back to me. I avoid things that are cliche that we say in church that a lot of times people just don’t understand in the community. I talk to people like they’ve never heard it before… and I use the vernaculars of young adults. I try to talk to them like I’m one of their friends.”
A United Church in Action
Meanwhile, Pastor Lindsay said he has noticed a vibe shift in the congregation. “Mission solves all problems,” he said. “The more work the members do, the fewer the problems.”
Now, the church is turning its momentum into ongoing discipleship. Leaders are pairing longer-serving members with new members as “connection partners” to provide support, Bible study and encouragement. "We’re hoping that will keep people connected, so when somebody’s not there, somebody knows, somebody calls, and they feel like they’re part of a family," said Lindsay. "That’s one of the key things that keeps people — that they know they belong.”
In addition, a yearlong discipleship program will cover foundational beliefs, spiritual disciplines and personal growth.
Plans also call for members — both new and seasoned — to go into the community together, sharing the hope they have found.
“We want to focus on keeping people in church now,” Miller said. “It’s about walking alongside people and making sure they know they’re part of a family.”
Miller continues the “Plug Tour” in other cities, including Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis. Your ongoing prayers for this innovative outreach to youth and young adults are solicited.
Continue to share your “Pentecost 2025” stories with us as we plan to feature them in a special edition of the Nov/Dec 2025 Lake Union Herald.
This article is an ongoing series on the North American Division-wide initiative “Pentecost 2025.” To learn more visit www.pentecost2025.com
