Meaningful Discipleship in Small Churches
By: Jennifer Huntley
“Hey, are you interested in helping plant the next Pillar Church?”
“Yeah!”
When Dan and Julia Humphries got surprise orders to move to San Diego, they instantly knew they would miss the close, intentional church family they had grown to love at Pillar Church of Oceanside. But God was doing something with this change. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new church was being formed near the military community in San Diego, and He was going to call them to be a part of it.
If you had asked them what being a part of a church plant meant back then, they may not have had a good idea of how to answer. Julia, raised Catholic, and Dan, raised non-denominational, had never been a part of a small church plant before.
In 2017, when looking for a local church to join, they stumbled upon Pillar Church of Oceanside. When they first arrived, they found a tiny church plant meeting in a school. Their first reaction was “red flag!” until a few people warmly greeted them. It was the most receptive experience they had ever had at a church.
Their spiritual development blossomed in the tight-knit environment at Pillar Oceanside. Julia was baptized, and both joined a small group together after Dan had spent some time deployed in Japan. They fondly remember those times as some of the strongest for their growth in God’s Word and discipleship.
And then a familiar plot twist arrives for this military family: a surprise order to move to San Diego. They moved and joined in fellowship at a different church, but missed the tight fellowship of Pillar Church.
Then a call: Daniel Carter would be planting a new Praetorian Project church in San Diego! Would they be interested in being a part of the Core Team?
Dan and Julia were all in.
But it was early in 2020, the year that many church meetings and large gatherings were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The core team began meeting online via Zoom and worshipping together in a home-church model. By September, they were meeting outside in a local park–perks of the San Diego climate!
“We thought Pillar Oceanside was small, but this was only 12 members,” recalls Julia, “It was very character-building, great for spiritual development, because you have to take on that responsibility. You have to be willing and able to put yourself out there to help every week. It was a neat experience for us, and now we tell everyone we meet, don’t be afraid of small churches.”
Dan adds, “Pillar Oceanside kind of showed us what a church is supposed to look like. Pillar San Diego really showed us what discipleship looks like and set the bar high.”
Being on a small core team, everyone was involved. Evangelism, outreach, Sunday setup–it was all hands on deck. A member of this team couldn’t be anonymous, couldn’t coast on the faith of others. Dan and Julia got to put feet to their faith and see it in action in themselves and the brothers and sisters in Christ around them.
You can hear the conviction and earnestness in Dan’s voice as he recounts the importance of this time in his life. “There are so many churches in America where it’s just kinda feel-good messages and surface level…There’s a comfort to cultural Christianity. But once you see what a bible-believing church is, with members who have followed Christ for their lives and have radically transformed their families, there’s no going back.”
The Humphries family stayed in San Diego for 2 and a half years before receiving orders to move again. They explained that as they look for churches to join each time they move, they are looking for that tight-knit, authentic community they found in the Praetorian Project churches.
“Military families are so transient and compelled to move, and we need to have that strong foundation to be able to discern healthy churches and good teaching as we go,” explained Julia.
When you support the Praetorian Project, you’re fueling more meaningful discipleship for military families like Dan and Julia. Thank you for being a part of making Jesus known in military communities across the globe.
