A New Work of God
I have heard from many people across the country asking questions about what is happening at the church I have the privilege of pastoring, Capital Community Church. This article is my attempt to answer those questions in one place!
As many of you are aware, I have been the senior pastor at Capital Community Church (CCC) in Raleigh, North Carolina, since 2019. The Lord has blessed the church immensely during this time, both spiritually and numerically. The fellowship we share is rich and rooted in the great biblical truths that the Holy Spirit has used to build us up together. Additionally, the Lord has greatly increased our number through new conversions and already born-again believers seeking a God-centered church in which to grow spiritually. This growth caused us to outgrow the facility we had been renting in Raleigh, North Carolina, and to begin looking for a new home to purchase. In 2023, we assembled a building team, comprised of our church’s brightest real estate minds, and started to seek the Lord's guidance for the future home of the church.
Meanwhile, another church in Raleigh, Christ Baptist Church (CBC), planted in the Reformed tradition in the early 2000s by the same mother church that planted CCC (Providence Baptist Church Raleigh), tragically lost their pastor to a stroke the Saturday before Easter in 2023. In the aftermath of that heartbreaking event, CBC reached out to CCC to explore what it might look like for the two churches to come together as one—to form a new God-centered church in the Raleigh-Durham area. Over the next nearly two years, our two churches engaged in discussions, CCC exhausted a building search that met dead ends at every turn, and CBC conducted a senior pastor search process but ultimately decided not to hire a candidate. Through these events, both congregations sensed the Lord’s leading to consider coming together.
“Ponder Anew What the Almighty Can Do”
So, this past Sunday, February 2, 2025, the two churches began a courtship to seek the Lord’s will regarding coming together by worshipping the Lord together. As all this unfolded, I had the unique perspective of seemingly being a spectator. That is perhaps the only way I can describe it. I watched God’s sovereign plan unfold through numerous events as if I were watching a football game in the bleachers (Prov. 21:1; Eph 1:11). I watched as the Lord showed CCC dead-end after dead-end in a building search. I watched as CBC’s pastor search failed to yield a new senior pastor. I watched the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of people at both CCC and CBC, who were once ardently opposed to coming together. Some of these people are now the most resolute in their conviction that it is the Lord’s will for the two churches to come together. It has all seemed very surreal. It has served as an incredible reminder to me that the Lord is still actively at work, building His church (Matt. 16:18). As someone who loves church history, I enjoy studying the mighty works of God in the past—thinking about what the Lord did in the days of Whitefield, Edwards, Spurgeon, and Moody. But now, I have come face-to-face with a new work of God.
In this past Sunday’s worship, the first song we sang together was “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.” As we sang, I was struck afresh with the line from the third verse, “Ponder anew what the Almighty can do…” I suddenly became aware that I was witnessing a new work of God before my very eyes. The God who has done great things in the past is doing another great work in His church today (Psalm 126). Indeed, Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8).
Seeking the Will of the Lord
The plan for the courtship is to worship together through Easter, earnestly seeking the Lord’s will in this endeavor. On the main and most important issues, the two churches are already united. Both are conservative, theologically and ethically. Both are Baptist, adhering to the teaching of baptism by immersion and regenerate church membership. Both are in the Reformed tradition, upholding the great doctrines of the biblical gospel and God’s sovereignty over all things, which were articulated so clearly during the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Both are committed to expository preaching. Both are independent congregations led by a plurality of elders. This past Sunday, I preached a message from Isaiah 6 titled “A Church for the Holy One,” because both congregations are unified behind the vision to honor a thrice-holy God and to proclaim His glory across the entire Earth. On the main, we are united in what truly matters.
Yet, at the same time, each congregation has its own culture and its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Over the next three months, we will seek the Lord's guidance on how these two different congregations might become one, and how the strengths of each congregation might complement the other, so that, for the Kingdom of Christ, an even stronger church might emerge. In this process, we are reminded that each member of the body needs the other members of the body (1 Cor. 12:12–31). And sometimes, individual congregations need one another as well. Sometimes, in the economy of God, one plus one is exponentially greater than two.
Partnering with Us
If the Lord puts us on your heart, I ask that you lift up both congregations of CCC and CBC in prayer. Change is always difficult, even when witnessing the beauty of a new work of God. Please pray for both groups of elders to have wisdom as we seek to shepherd both congregations through this process. Please pray for the staff members of both churches to meld well with one another. Please pray for members of both congregations—that humility, love, and kindness would reign supreme (Gal. 5:22; 1 Cor. 13).
Finally, if you live in the Raleigh-Durham area, and you are not a member of a God-centered church in which you and your family are growing spiritually, I invite you to consider taking part in this new work of God. It is truly a momentous time. And I believe you, too, will have a front-row seat to see what the Almighty will do. It is only just the beginning. All glory be to Christ. SDG.
