Meet Your Church Planters:
John "Phud" Chambers
Remedy Church in Rock Hill, SC
After a season of prayer that lasted around two years, Phud Chambers planted Remedy Church in Rock Hill, SC. The church launched on January 25th, 2008, so it has been going strong for around three years now.
Phud has been married to his wife Christie for over twelve years now, and they have four wonderful children—three girls and one boy. Personally, Phud is always striving to be a better husband and father because he knows that is his first priority and first ministry, and that he is not qualified to be a pastor unless he leads his family well. This is his most pressing personal prayer request—to continue to grow into the mature pastor for his family that God has called him to be.
God has been very faithful in growing Remedy Church in the gospel. Phud knows that especially in the South, the gospel can quickly be supplanted with a works-based religious mentality that is no longer based on God’s mercy and Christ’s righteousness, but on our own ability to perform. He has seen this danger in his church, and he is thankful that God has continually pointed his church to Jesus for their standing with God and away from anything they do in and of themselves. God has grown them tremendously in this gospel-centeredness, and that is something Phud is extremely thankful for. The gospel is shown to be bigger and more glorious when it is the foundation of every step of Christian growth, and not just the beginning point.
One story that Phud is particularly excited about deals with a husband who moved with his wife to Rock Hill from Pennsylvania. Their pastor called Phud and told him that they needed a church family and marriage counseling because they were about to split up, so Phud called the man. Miraculously, in their first conversation over the phone the man accepted Christ and now Phud meets with him regularly to disciple him and teach him what it means to be a godly husband and father.
The two most significant areas that God is growing Phud in are trust and humility. He is learning to trust God and depend on Him to lead his life and church family, instead of relying on his own understanding and being anxious. God also is growing Phud in humility and teaching him how much of a destructive force pride is in our lives and in ministry. God is constantly showing him areas to repent and ask Jesus to mold him into His image. Ministry can lead to very sinister forms of pride, and it is such an encouraging thing to see Phud be a pastor who is willing to own up to and repent of pride. God will do work amazing things through a broken and repentant leader—and Remedy Church has already seen the Holy Spirit moving through the leadership of Phud.
God has provided for Remedy most importantly through many spiritually mature men and women who are serious about the gospel and walking with Jesus. However, He has also kept them financially stable in a tough time, and they have been able to get very low rent at the building where they meet. Church planting is much more difficult that Phud thought it would be, but he has found great joy in following Jesus in the call of planting. His greatest joy in ministry is being a part of the community that has been raised up at Remedy Church in Rock Hill.
God has been good to Remedy, and we pray that He will not only continue to grow their church family in Rock Hill, but also use them to spread gospel-centeredness to other churches and Christians around them.
