An SCBaptist church plant, Redeemer City Church was born out of pastor Philip Smith’s obedience to the Lord. 

“I was on the sending side of Summit Church for a long time, and a fellow pastor asked me if I had put my ‘yes’ on the table. It was a calling that happened over time and in community,” Smith said.  

Sent out by Summit Church in Raleigh, NC, Smith and his core team began meeting in 2021 to develop a ministry plan for the new church plant. After heavily considering various cities, Smith felt the Lord bring Greenville to the top of his list.  

“Greenville is a unique city. It has a lot of amazing, healthy churches. It is growing like crazy. It is a context that is over-churched and underreached. The number of healthy churches helps frame the spiritual need of the city,” Smith said. 

A Lasting Partnership

In a time of need, cooperation led to the formation of a lasting fellowship. Before launching the church, Smith and his team searched for an available space in the Greenville area. Praying that the Lord would provide a location, Smith received a phone call from an SCBaptist partner who connected Smith with Alex Sands of Kingdom Life Church in Simpsonville, SC. Sands, who had previously pastored a church plant of his own in 2003, understood this moment to be a necessary act of obedience. He allowed Smith and Redeemer City to meet in Kingdom Life’s space on Sunday nights rent-free. This kindness permitted Redeemer City to build a solid foundation as a church body in the early days of the church plant. 

“It was a blessing to host Redeemer City because it helped us as a congregation keep focus on the mission. We want to be a blessing to our city, and we were blessed, and now we can pass that along,” Sands said. 

The partnership between Redeemer City and Kingdom Life proved to be mutually beneficial. In the days after the COVID-19 pandemic, when Kingdom Life’s attendance remained low and the classrooms empty, the addition of a vibrant, excited congregation encouraged the staff of Kingdom Life. Additionally, Redeemer City was blessed with a meeting space for the first year and a half of its formation.  

“We would not be where we are without Kingdom Life Church. Our dream, now that we have a facility, is to do the same thing that Kingdom Life did for us with another church plant,” Smith said. 

Witnessing Life Change

Since its launch in September 2022, Redeemer City has seen incredible life change occur within its congregation. Smith shared other moments when God blessed the church plant. Before launching the church, the team needed to buy all of its start-up supplies. Still early in the fundraising process, Smith experienced moments of uncertainty, wondering if the church would survive the initial hurdles. Amazingly, Smith received a call from three different people who gave very large financial gifts that totaled the exact dollar amount needed to move forward.  

“Church planting is not for super Christians. It is for everyday Christians who say yes to Jesus,” Smith said. 

In addition, the partnership between Kingdom Life and Redeemer City has formed a lasting friendship, with the two churches considering one another co-laborers for the cause of Christ. When an ice storm affected Greenville during the winter of 2024, the churches connected once more to support each other in times of need. Both Kingdom Life and Redeemer City alike are open to aiding more church plants in the coming years, as well as training, hosting, and discipling the next generation of church-planting pastors.  

“We need more disciple-making, Kingdom-minded churches, which means we need more church plants. I am thankful for the help of SCBaptists in this process. We can do more together than we can do separate,” Sands said. 

Both Smith and Sands expressed their appreciation for the Janie Chapman Missions Offering, START Network, and the Cooperative Program in supporting church planting efforts in the Upstate.