HATBORO, Pennsylvania (BRN) — The Baptist Resource Network extends a welcome to Pastor Charles Blachford, the new pastor of Bux-Mont Baptist Church in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Blachford, who is executive vice president at Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, previously served at Streamsong Church in Doylestown, a church plant out of Riverside Community Church in Horsham.
In a Zoom interview, Blachford shared he became interested in church planting when he and his wife, Brittany, lived in Washington, D.C. There, he heard Southern Baptist Pastor Joel Rainey talk about church plants planting churches.
“He piqued my interest. And it helped us transition our mindset from a consumer-based Christianity,” he explained.
Blachford credits a difficult time when his wife and his son were really ill for pointing him to the ministry.
“Praise God, we were able to get through that,” he said, but it “really stripped us down’ and taught them that the only thing that matters is Kingdom growth.
“Our lives can change at the drop of a dime. And so the only thing that matters … are the things done for eternity, things you do for Christ and his Kingdom,” he said.
Over time, Blachford focused more on church revitalization, which eventually led him to Buxmont Baptist Church, where he had occasionally filled in the pulpit. When he considered applying for the pastorate, he spoke to both of the pastors at the nearby Streamsong and Riverside churches. Both pastors encouraged him to move forward.
So Blachford did. And then COVID-19 hit.
Suddenly, the congregation couldn’t gather together to meet and vote on their new pastor. So the church got creative. They invited Blachford to what they called “a provisional pastorate,” several weeks in which he would try out the church — and they would try out him — before a final vote would be taken.
During that time frame, Blachford preached and researched the church. He got to know the church members and did the best he could in the pandemic. When the church finally started meeting again, in late July outside on the church’s land, the church voted him in unanimously.
All along, his two priorities have been to focus on preaching the gospel and loving the people, he said. He is excited to see the people of the church just love God so much that it overflows into other parts of their lives.
“And then the Kingdom grows, evangelism happens, and we impact our community.” He added, “I want to be all about the Kingdom. So if there’s ways that we can help plants in the area; if there’s ways that we can partner with other churches or anything like that, we want to be all about that. We want to be working together for the Kingdom.”
How to pray for Pastor Charles:
Please pray for his family, which includes three boys, that they can balance everything while serving in this covocational pastorate.
Please pray that they will be able to prioritize things, “loving God first and foremost” and to spend time on the right things.
