NEW CASTLE, Del. (BRN) – Forty-two years of ministry, specifically in starting churches.
Seven church plants, five of which are still active.
Yet, a current six-hour, roundtrip, three-days-a-week drive to New Castle, Delaware, is what Pastor Ron Larson is describing as “more fun” than all of his previous years of standing in the pulpit.
“There’s a lot of good people, a lot of good churches, [and] a lot of good pastors – a lot better pastors than me – but I don’t think there’s very many churches that have the passion for God that our people have,” said Larson about his latest church assignment, First Baptist Church of Delaware, where he initially served as part-time pastor of multiplication.
“When I saw that passion among these mainly older people…how could I say no to that? How could I walk away? Because you can’t manufacture passion…you just can’t…that’s what makes me drive every day to come back here.”
Larson cites this rare passion as what motivated him to take on the lead pastor position at First Baptist, after the church’s former pastor was asked to step down—even though Larson had vowed to himself that he would never again be a senior pastor.
“It was God at work, I mean, that’s all I can say. God was leading them; God was leading me. I made it very clear when the former pastor left, I did not want to be pastor of the church…and I made that clear at every deacon’s meeting, until December a year and a half ago. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, ‘This church needs you and you need them,’” he shared.
However, serving as the church’s lead pastor gave him a whole new perspective on the people and their relationship with God.
“Even though the people went through a very bad situation losing their pastor two years ago, and the church was declining – it was massively in debt – it was the passion of the people [saying], ‘We are not going to give up on God. We may lose our church, we may have to sell the building, we may not have anywhere to meet, but we’re not gonna give up on God.’”
Larson continued: “That’s what made me go, ‘Wow. This is not found in a lot of churches.’ I think that’s what has been key for this church to get into this spirit of revitalization…because God always responds to passion.”
And at First Baptist Church of Delaware, God responded in a big way – or, rather, 72 ways. One Sunday, as Larson was preaching, he felt the Spirit move him to set down his Bible and open up the altar for prayer. So, he closed his Bible and started the invitation, expecting the usual five or so people to walk up front.
To his surprise, 72 people came to the altar, seeking close, intimate time with the Lord.
Larson said there was “weeping, wailing, crying out to God…we were laying hands and praying for people. It wasn’t anything weird or strange that took place, it was just God showed up.”
From that moment on, transformation continued within the hearts of congregation members and the church as a whole.
“This church has always been very pastor centered. So, the pastor has been it, he made most of the decisions and that goes back probably several pastors…it has always been very stage-oriented on Sunday. I think when the former pastor left, God said to all of us, ‘Become passionate about me.’”
Larson continued: “The transformation was away from the dominate pastor to a God of dominion. When that happened…now the people come to church because they want to meet God. They don’t just want to hear a sermon.”
The people of First Baptist have continued to seek God and witness His anointing upon their church in many ways, including within the demographics of their congregation.
“We’ve had more baptisms during COVID than the previous two or three years put together… It’s just the hand of God, that’s all I can say. God’s got an anointing on this place, because He’s not done with it yet,” said Larson.
Of those baptisms, more than 60 percent have been people under the age of 35.
“God’s brought us all these young people…I think what they see is the energy of the Spirit of God in the people that come to First Baptist,” said Larson.
“Even if they don’t believe in God, or don’t believe very well, they wanna meet God – whatever God in their mind is – they wanna meet something transcendent beyond themselves. So, what we try to do every week is bring people into the presence of God, through everything that we do.”
On a personal and pastoral level, Larson shared how the church’s thirst for God and passionate transformation has impacted him.
“So, what it’s done to me [is] it has reenergized me with a fresh love and appreciation for the local church….what I have is a deep love for the people, a deep love for this community, and a deep love for Jesus.”
Listen to the podcast interview.
The “50 Stories of Transformation” series, told in honor of the Baptist Resource Network’s 50th anniversary, highlights the many ways God has moved throughout Pennsylvania, South Jersey and beyond. Your generous support of the Cooperative Program makes this ministry possible and fuels evangelism and outreach in our local churches and all over the world! Thank you!
