Total Community Involvement leads to new church plant in Eastern Kentucky

Through the outreach efforts of the Red River Outpost, a faith-based wellness center and training school, members of the Winchester, Ky., Church have started a new mission group in Stanton, Ky. The church had a dedication service on December 3, 2022, with more than 35 people in attendance.

The Red River Outpost began its ministry in 2018 with the goal to demonstrate Christ’s healing love through service one community at the time. In addition to a wellness program, training school and plant-based bakery and restaurant, staff and students also wanted to focus on Total Community Involvement (TCI) – an initiative that is designed to find and meet the needs of people in Stanton, where the ministry is based.

“So, we were basically going out into the community and offering real physical help for free, like cleaning people’s gutters and helping people fix their floors,” said Narlon Edwards, Red River Outpost Director. “We also started doing Bible studies, but when invited those people to the Winchester Church it was a struggle because they saw it as a long drive.”

For six months, Stanton Church pioneers, with the support of the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference (KYTN), created a strategic plan for the growth of a new church plant. As they were in the planning stages, their Red River Outpost’s connections led them to the Shiloh United Methodist Church who were willing to rent their building.

“The biggest concern was, can we afford to do this?” Winchester and Stanton Church Pastor Kevin Burk said. “By God's grace, the Red River team had some funds that had been donated to them for evangelism. And so, we had the Red River Outpost contribute half [of the funds] and the Winchester Church contributed the other half. Now we have a year's worth of rent in the bank.”

On December 3, 2022, the Stanton Church had a special service to dedicate the new church plant. Attendees included KYTN Publishing Director Rocky Davis and incoming Stanton Mayor Willy Means. Many community members also came to support.

According to Edwards, a big focus of the Stanton Church will be service and health paired with evangelism. They want to continue encouraging TCI by creating a model where every member is participating in ministry. Burk adds that they want to replicate this strategy for future growth.

“My desire and prayer are that God will richly bless this new effort, because it's His power that makes things go,” Burk said. “I pray that a year or two from now, there will be another story talking about another church plant somewhere out in this area.”