Church Planter Conversation: Howard Varnedoe
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone, and welcome to the Mark Prater podcast - where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace Churches with our executive director. Mark, we have another guest.
Mark Prater:
We do.
Benjamin Kreps:
And very interesting, recently we had Josh Varnedoe on who recently planted Christ Community Church in North Knoxville. Well, we have a distinct privilege on this episode to have his dad with us. We have Howard Varnedoe, who, interestingly enough, also just planted a church, Hope Community Church, in Columbia, Tennessee. We're so glad that you've joined us, Howard.
Howard Varnedoe:
Great. Thanks for having me.
Benjamin Kreps:
So let's get right into it. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family. Give us some of your background.
Howard Varnedoe:
My wife is named Dawn. We've been married for 34 years. We have five children. Josh, as you referenced, is my oldest and our youngest is at Sanford. She's 20 and we're scattered everywhere between three boys and two girls. The boys are all married. One of my daughters is getting married in January, and so we're excited about that. And three grandchildren.
Mark Prater:
Three? That's great!
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah. And more to come. I told each of 'em, I said their quota is three a piece. And if somebody has five, it takes pressure off somebody else, but I need to average three a piece. So we're off to a good start.
Mark Prater:
That's great. How old are the grandkids?
Howard Varnedoe:
Let's see - 3, 1 & 1.
Mark Prater:
That's great, Howard. That's great. Howard, you've been a pastor and Sovereign Grace elder in two different Sovereign Grace churches. Knoxville, Tennessee, at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, and also at Redeeming Grace Church in Franklin, from which you were sent to plant Hope Community. So you've been a pastor in Sovereign Grace for years. When did your desire for church planning first begin to grow?
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, it's an interesting question. Obviously, church planting was a huge value for both churches. It was part of the culture, part of Sovereign Grace culture from the very beginning when we joined Sovereign Grace in 1995. But apart from really a fleeting thought, probably in 2008, I really never saw myself planting a church. It was not as if when I went to the pastor's college, I was thinking I wanted to plant a church when I got out. It never was a category, honestly. But until about three years ago, my wife and I were having just a random conversation about Redeeming Grace Church, planting a church down in Spring Hill, Columbia, which is where we always wanted to plant. And I just offhand just mentioned to her, "Hey, well that'd be great. I think we'd love to do that, but we don't have anybody who can plant it. That's always been the issue." And she just looked at me and said, "Well, why don't you do it?"
And it is one of those comments that was honestly, it was like a rock skipping off water, as in, yeah, whatever, not going to happen. And we just kind of moved on, and a few weeks later, the conversation came back around, and she said the same thing. And this time, surprisingly, it stuck. Just something kind of wedged in my heart. And I just started thinking about it. And from that point, I guess it was probably three years ago, faith began to grow that maybe the Lord is calling me to do that. And I just started meeting with people. One of the first people I went to was Bill Kittrell. He knows me better than anybody else. And I thought, I'll talk to Bill. He'll shoot me straight and tell me, “Bud, you got a lot of gifts. That's not one of them.”
And that wasn't the case. And I obviously met with the elders of Redeeming Grace, and it was just green lights. And I'm a little bit like Gideon. I just said, “Okay, I need one more person to tell me this is a good idea,” and God just kept doing that. And as the time progressed, my heart and desire and faith to lead this church plant grew, and the Lord just could kind of confirm that through multiple ways. So that's how it happened. And then we just decided to do it. So it was just an interesting process. I think in my life, as I think about how God has led me, it feels like I've kind of backed into more rooms than I've actually gone through. All of a sudden, I end up here. How did I end up here? And that's kind of how this has felt. But it's just fun to see God providentially working.
Mark Prater:
Well, shout out to Dawn. My goodness. I mean, another evidence that all guys marry up.
Howard Varnedoe:
I think I'd be in really bad shape without her. So grateful for my wife.
Benjamin Kreps:
Wonderful. It is such a gift that God can and does use our wives to speak faith into our lives in really important moments of our lives. So you served in Knoxville, then you helped plant a church in Franklin with Dave Odom, whom I went to pastor's college with, shout out to Dave! And so you have a lot of experience, you mentioned pastor's college, and so forth. How did all of that experience prepare you for this church plant?
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, I've learned in the past four weeks since we've planted that, I'm not sure you're ever fully prepared to plant a church. But when I look back, honestly, on my pastoral ministry experience, it's really simple for me. I've seen the truth that God is faithful to his people and he's happy to use weak and imperfect people to accomplish his purposes.
I just see that - just situation after situation after situation - I've been a part of that. I've seen from a distance that God gets done what he needs to get done and desires to get done. He uses people like me and you to do that and it gives me a lot of faith moving forward. I think prior pastoral ministry has given me a greater anticipation for church planting because I think, as a pastor, and you guys have experienced this, there's just a joy and privilege of seeing God's work in people's lives up close. There's a faith that he's going to do that, then there's an anticipation, and I have a front row seat to watch how he works in different ways than people's lives that he's going to bring to Hope Community.
Mark Prater:
That's wonderful. That's wonderful. So tell us a little bit about, you mentioned you'd always talked about or hope to plant a church down in the Columbia, Spring Hill, Tennessee area. So you're there now as you go and plant this church. What is your hope and vision for planting Hope Community there?
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, that's a great question. I think our mission statement really captures what our desires are and what we'd love to see the Lord do. Hope Community Church exists to treasure Jesus Christ and proclaim the hope of his gospel together. The initial part of that is our heart, is that people would grow to treasure Christ, that he would be honored, that he would be praised and every member of Hope Community - starting with me - will by the Holy Spirit, every time we're together, every small group, every interaction, we'll see the glory of Christ more clearly. That sight of Him, it would capture our hearts, it would capture our affections, and we want give our lives away for him. And I think obviously proclaiming the hope of his gospel, and we have the best news on the planet. And whether you're in Africa, whether you're in Russia, whether you're in Columbia, Tennessee, the world's in desperate need of hope
And our desire to plant this church is that we would be an evangelistic church that proclaims the hope of his gospel. We love community, and we pray for that and we desire that. The Gospel is meant to go forth and my heart would be that we would be a church like a beacon of hope, if you would, for individuals in Murray County who just don't have any hope. And they would be able to come and hear the hope of the gospel. And I pray that the Lord would create a gospel community, and just a sweet gospel community. I think about Jesus when he was washing the disciples' feet, and it's part of the application. He goes, go do likewise. And he says, by this, they will know you're my disciples. And they see your love for one another. And I just pray that the Lord would just do that in the midst of Hope Community, that we would just be a church that really reflects the very gospel we preach in our lives as we love and care for each other. That's what I'd love to see and trust that the Lord would. One of my verses I pray is 2 Thessalonians 1:11 - "that the Lord would fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,” and so the name of Jesus would be glorified.
Mark Prater:
Amen.
Benjamin Kreps:
Amen. That clearly is a biblically informed gospel center vision and hope that you have in planting Hope Community church. I'm sure it resonates with everyone who's checking out the podcast. So, how is it actually going? You've had some public services. How have the services gone, and what book of the Bible did you use to preach on first?
Howard Varnedoe:
Good question. They have gone great! Our first public service was four weeks ago.
Benjamin Kreps:
You’re an expert now!
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, I'm actually working on my first book and got my speaking website all set up now. In all seriousness, it's been generally very encouraging. We're very thankful for the space that God's provided for us. We're meeting in a high school, and as far as high schools go, I think people have different experiences with administration so forth, but the people there just really seem to be happy that we're there.
They are going out of their way to help us. So we're grateful for that. I think, honestly, one of the things that has struck me the most is that I remember walking in on the first Sunday, and we got there early, obviously, to set up. As I looked around, I saw the number of people that were serving and helping, and I think almost every single individual on the church plant team was there working and serving and joyfully going about setting up this space so that we could hold a church service. And I distinctly remember one mom, and she's still there, she still comes, she comes to, gets there by eight o'clock, 8:30, she rolls the stroller up and she gets her baby out. She sticks the baby in the little front carrier, and then she sets up the sound, and she does that every Sunday. It's just that kind of thing, that's not normal.
That's just the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And so those sort of things are starting to happen and it's just a joy to see that. We've had some guests come, and so we're excited about that. Honestly, at this point we're just trying to pull off a Sunday meeting and just figure that out and our liturgy and so forth. But yeah, I think it's gone really well. I'm really thankful for Steve Shank and Caleb Hancock, the other elders. And they've just been wonderful. I can't imagine myself doing this by myself. So I'm just grateful for those men.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent! Book of the Bible you're preaching on?
Howard Varnedoe:
Colossians.
Mark Prater:
Colossians? All right!
Benjamin Kreps:
Supremacy of Christ!
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, that's right, that's right. Honestly, I was thinking Philippians would be my first book, but we just walked through Philippians at Redeeming Grace, and I just thought, okay, Colossians, that's going to be a sweet book. And it has proved true. I'm preaching this week, finishing up chapter one, and it is, it's the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things, and it seems to really fit well with our mission. And of course, can you go wrong with any book? Maybe Leviticus probably wouldn't have been a good choice, but we're a loving Colossians.
Mark Prater:
That's great. That's great. You mentioned Redeeming Grace, the church you were sent out from, how many folks came from Redeeming Grace as a part of your church plant team?
Howard Varnedoe:
The core group was 26 or so people. And then there were another 8 to 10 that weren't members of Redeeming Grace that had started to come, who lived in the Columbia area. Our team was about 34, 35 people that came, and most of those folks already lived down in that area. We have two community groups. One of the community groups is basically really continuation of the community group that met as part of Redeeming Grace.
Mark Prater:
That's great. Thanks to Redeeming Grace for their sacrifice and for sending some of their best. That's so good. Alright, so someone checking out this podcast who might be living in the Columbia, Spring Hill, Tennessee area, or they know a family member or friends that do. How could they find out more about Hope Community and where you meet?
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, I think the easiest thing to do is just go to our website, hopecommunitytn.com, and it's pretty user-friendly, and it has what to expect on Sunday morning and so forth. It’ll direct 'em and there's contact information that they can contact me and get more information.
Benjamin Kreps:
Well, thank you for joining us and for sharing your story and your heart for this new church plant, Hope Community Church. How can we be praying for you? So a lot of people who check out this podcast are committed to praying for the folks who come on here and for different burdens and needs. How can we pray for you and your church plant?
Howard Varnedoe:
Yeah, thanks for asking that. Yeah, I thought of a few things that I would love prayer for. Keeping what I've said so far, the Holy Spirit would be actively present and continue to help us see Jesus. That he would open our eyes every day, every moment, and clear away the film, if you would, and the fog. That we would see Jesus more clearly and behold Him in his glory. If the Lord does that, I'll be a happy camper. I also think that God would open doors for evangelism.
He would give us opportunities for evangelism, and then he would just give us boldness and courage to share the gospel. It's hard at times to share the gospel and there are just so many things in our own hearts. Even when a door's opened, we need courage. We need boldness to walk through those doors and share the hope that we have and that every member of our church, in some way, would just do so, they would embrace this call to evangelize. And then, finally, that the Lord would just create a people that just deeply love and care for one another, and if individuals walked in, they would see, “Hey, this is a community that I really want to be a part of. I need this, I'm tired of the world. I want to come into an authentic space where people are really deeply loving and caring for one another.” And again, that's the work of the Holy Spirit. I just ask that he do that in our midst.
Mark Prater:
Amen.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes. Well, we are celebrating with you and Hope Community Church. A new church has been established, a new part of our family of churches, a new member in our family of churches. So thank you for your faith in doing that. But also, Howard, thank you for your compelling example. Simply put, for any older guys, maybe some older pastors who are checking out this podcast, grandpas can plant churches, too. And guys who've been in pastoral ministry for many years who maybe never thought about a church plant. Well, God may have another plan for you, so let's lean in.
Howard Varnedoe:
I did tell my wife the other day, we came home after church. I said, I think this church plant is a young man's game. But we're in too deep now, so we'll keep pressing forward.
Benjamin Kreps:
Wonderful. Well, thank you for joining us, and thank you, everyone, for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week. Lord willing. Bye for now.