Meet Your Church Planters: John Rea
Legacy Church in Myrtle Beach, SC
John Rea worked in ministry for a while, and would not have considered himself a church planter. That is, until he became one through the vision of an existing Baptist church in Myrtle Beach. That is what makes the story of Legacy Church so unique.
Before planting Legacy Church, John attended Palmetto Shores Baptist, pastored by Ronny Byrd. Palmetto Shores’ philosophy of ministry shows that they believe the Great Commission calls all Christians to be disciple-makers, and therefore all churches to be missional, church-planting churches. So when Pastor Ronny Byrd approached John about their vision to plant churches to minister to different groups of people, even in their own backyard of Myrtle Beach, it didn’t take long for John to realize that this was exactly what God was calling him to do. He planted Legacy Church in March of 2008.
The humility and kingdom-mindedness of this cannot be overstated. A church sensed the need to meet a different need in their community, so they raised up and sent out a planter to meet that need. And not only that, but they let Legacy use their own building on Saturday nights and even paid John’s salary for the first year. Legacy has their own building to meet in now, but to this day they still hold Saturday night services only because that is what their members prefer and it is meeting a need in their community. They are averaging between 75-100 people each week! They are completely open to launching a Sunday service if needed, but as of now they are filling a needed slot for dozens and dozens of people. It is exciting to see the Great Commission being fulfilled by a church with the humility to plant a church in their own backyard!
John has learned that church planting is a lot of hard work, and that one has to be prepared for the hard work of relationships, as well as the pain of rejection. It has been difficult to find members to fill all the needed ministry positions, but he has seen God work tremendously through calling people to step into roles of higher responsibility. Early on, he was approached by a concerned mother named Missy Gray, asking if they would ever have a youth group. He replied, jokingly, and said, “If you start it, we will!” She said she would do it, and she did! Now they have grown from 4 youth to between 20-25 youth each week, and the youth are very active in the community and ministry activities of the church.
John has also seen a growing heart for reaching out and serving their community at Legacy. They have formed a relationship with a local elementary school, and they provide backpacks at the beginning of the year, as well as Christmas gifts for the students who attend the school. They hosted a Trunk or Treat this past Halloween and many kids from the school attended. In addition to that, a group of people have been serving a local homeless community. God is growing hearts for service and mission through Legacy Church. John has even noticed a greater awareness for the Great Commission in himself as a church planter, where he previously might have been more concerned with maintaining instead of reaching out.
Like many churches in our current economy, financial provision is an issue for Legacy. John would appreciate prayers for struggling members of their church, as well as the ministry of Legacy, to be able to provide more outreach to their community and one day hire additional staff members.
When asked what one thing he would say to other Christians in South Carolina, John replied, “Pray and ask God how you can be used to further the gospel of Jesus Christ.” That is a relevant thought for all of us, and we praise God for what He is already doing to further His gospel in Myrtle Beach through Legacy Church.
