Hill Country Bible Church

Church Planting on Campus - Some Lessons Learned

Posted: Jan 26, 2010 by Denny Henderson

It was about 5 years ago when I was presented with the opportunity to consider planting a church for college students at the University of Texas.  At the time, I was a teaching pastor and young adult pastor at a very large, influential church on the east coast. The thought of leaving the luxuries of a mega church and going on a new pilgrimage in church planting seemed just about insane. I had never considered church planting because quite frankly, I didn't believe I had the natural DNA of a church planter.  

But the prayer process began, along with many interviews and discussions with the leaders of our mother church about having a strategic church plant that would focus on 50,000 students who call the University of Texas home. My wife, Bridget, and I prayed. I mean we prayed relentless, risky prayers that part of me did not want God to answer. Specifically, we prayed: 1) That God would call us to a risky commitment that would stretch our faith; 2) That God would allows us to have life-long ministry and 3) That God would send us to a ministry opportunity where the gospel needed to take root in the heart of a lost generation.  As we prayed, God began to solidify that a church at The University of Texas is where the journey would lead us.  

The last 5 years have been a journey and God has taught our church so much. It seemed that every fear/concern I had about starting a college church may still be present in mind, but God continues to show His faithfulness.  Here are a few lessons I have or am learning: 

God sends the right people, at the right time to do His mission.  

Back in the early days of Hill Country UT (and they weren't that long ago) I remember thinking - who in their right mind would want to be part of a church that is intentional in reaching a secular, lost campus? More specifically-what adults would give up their comfortable church experience to drive down to the campus and sacrificially invest themselves in the lives of college students?  

Now it is no secret - we don't have an overwhelming amount of adults or even young adults at Hill Country UT. In fact our 100 adults that we do have comprise only about 17% of our overall congregation.  But you know what - God continues to bring the adults we need to ensure that every college student has the opportunity to be discipled by an adult. Of course, we would love more adults because the more adults we have, the more ministry we can effectively do.  

I can remember the first day we opened up for “business”.  We had an office space right off the drag that was composed of a meager 1,000 square feet.  The only folks employed by Hill Country UT was myself, Joshua Tullis (worship leader) and Erica “Haug” Tullis (office admin).  But now our team consists of 3 pastors, 3 directors, 1 admin, 3 PT creative arts positions and 16 interns. Sometimes I wake up and think to myself, where did all these people come from and how in the world can we afford them all? Which leads me to the next lesson I am learning.  

God has a storeroom of resources to ensure His mission is accomplished 

I would say that the most common question I receive from church-planters or others who are praying about doing a similar type church plant is: How does Hill Country UT afford to do the ministry that is does?  This is a fair question - one that sometimes keeps me up at night.  However, I am learning - that God ultimately holds every resource for His mission and He uses the blessings of others to meet our every need.  

To give you a picture of our fiscal picture -- Currently Hill Country UT has an annual budget right at $800k .  Sure, in comparison to some churches it may not seem like a big budget.  However for a church that reaches the poorest demographic of our society (college students), it takes a lot of risky commitment to the mission. Our church family (college students and our 100 adults) gives sacrificially to our church, providing roughly $300k a year.  However, that leaves us with half a million more dollars that we have to trust God with.  

Sure we try to strategically raise this money from outside donors. There are many processes that we work to do the best that we can.  But here is the deal - at the end of the day, God just shows up.  I am constantly amazed how God provides our daily bread and meets our every need. Over the course of the last 5 years we have never been in want. Sure there has been a time or two that we came into inches of the bottom of the checking account. But right when you think there may not be a way out of the jam - God shows up!!  This has personally taught me a great deal about faith.  God wants to stretch our faith and build in us a complete reliance upon Him.  When it comes to the area of finances and resources for us at Hill Country UT we recognize that God is our only hope.  

The younger generation can upset the world  

I remember when we started Hill Country UT. Let me give you a setting - our founding members consisted of 98 adults and 12 college students.  I thought to myself, “How in the world are we going to reach 50,000 students at the University of Texas with only 12 students?” But something unique took place.  12 college students caught a glimpse of what God could do if He had His way in their life. These students began to surrender their lives to Christ and He used their willingness to start a movement among their peers.  What started with 12 students eager to make an eternal impact on their campus to now Hill Country UT reaches over 750 students weekly with the life-transforming message of Jesus Christ.  

The scene of Acts 17 describes what our desire is in the life of our students. That our students will be people who will be described as, “these men who have turned the world upside down”.  I truly believe that the younger generation can be a generation who can “upset the world”.  

We have an interesting demographic. 30% of our student body leaves Hill Country UT every spring semester when school has ended. They go back to their hometowns, they get jobs in Dallas, they go on to graduate school, etc. I guess for the normal church this statistic can be discouraging.  But for us at Hill Country UT it is great news. First, it means we have open seats to fill up with new students in the upcoming fall semester; and secondly, we find joy in sending our students prepared to live for God's mission for the rest of their lives.   

I am learning if you can harness the passion of the younger generation and couple it with the wisdom and mentoring of older, wiser saints - the next generation can “upset the world.”  It is a privilege to serve the students of today who will be the leaders tomorrow.