Hold All Things Loosely

In January 2010, Central Baptist Church faced an impossible decision.

They were about to send 350 of their core leaders across town to plant the Journey Campus. Young families. Committed leaders. Financial supporters. The very people who made Central Baptist what it was would be leaving.

Don Blackmore, Adult Discipleship Pastor, remembers the weight of that moment. “We were sending our best,” he says. Would Central Baptist survive losing so much of its foundation?

The decision came down to a principle that had long guided the church, taken from 2 Corinthians 9:6: “If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. If you sow generously, you reap generously.” Central Baptist believed in this principle. Instead of hoarding their best, they were willing to give them away.

At first, they were discouraged. “We sent 350 people over there. A lot of our core families left, and it seemed like Central had lost a lot of momentum,” Don says. Then came God’s response. Don marvels at what happened next. “God said, ‘I’ll see your 350 and I’ll add another 700.’”

The results proved a simple truth the church had long lived by:

I have learned to hold all things loosely, so God will not have to pry them out of my hands.

Corrie ten Boom

The willingness to hold all things loosely would also take on personal meaning for others at Central Baptist.

Never Too Old

The moment that changed everything for Ceila Torres came at a missions conference in 2021. There, she found herself standing before a missionary’s booth covered with photos of children, and something broke inside her.

“I looked at those pictures, and it shredded my heart,” she says. She was staring at dozens of faces, children from around the world. “They’re all lost. I’m looking into the eyes of lost children.”

Then she heard the call clearly: “God said, ‘Okay, you’re mine, you’re going.’”

At 61, most people her age slow down. They pick up hobbies. Spend time with grandchildren. Go antiquing on weekends. Not Ceila. Despite having deep roots, three loving daughters, and a 22-year teaching career in Jonesboro, she left everything to become a missionary in Cape Town, South Africa, through Send Relief, a crisis response and compassion ministry.

Her daughters were “taken aback a little bit” when Ceila told them. But they had seen her heart for missions before. “They said, ‘If that’s what God has called you to do, we’ll support you,’” Ceila says.

Before her departure, Ceila reflected on her life-changing decision. “When you’re serving God, it’s the most exciting thing in the world. It is so empowering to know that you’re in God’s will,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s scary to be leaving everything that you’ve ever known. But He goes before me, and I’m not worried about that at all.”

Ceila’s story shows what happens when Central Baptist’s culture takes root in individual lives. The same principle that led them to send away 350 core leaders compelled a 61-year-old woman to cross an ocean to serve.

“I want everyone to know that you are never, ever, ever too old to serve God,” she says. “The older you are, the more life you’ve experienced. God has empowered you to help others in more and more areas because you can relate to people on so many different levels.”

Finding Purpose

As an older widow, Ms. Peggy felt sidelined at Central Baptist. She watched others serve while she wondered about what she could do.

One day, Senior Adult Pastor Jay Jacobs invited her to help prepare a local school for the new year. Ms. Peggy spent the day alongside thirty other senior adults, hands busy decorating bulletin boards, moving chairs, and assembling office furniture.

After they finished, Ms. Peggy sought out Jay. “I want to thank you for finding me something to do,” she said. “Most of the time we get put on the shelf, but you found something that I could do, and for a whole day I got to serve Jesus by loving on that school.”

Jay had watched this transformation happen repeatedly among senior adults who felt sidelined. “To me, that’s the home run when we connect people,” he says. 

For Ms. Peggy’s generation, there’s no expiration date on finding your purpose.

Every Generation on Mission

Jacob Simmons arrived at Central Baptist as a college student. He met Jonathan Freeman, Central Baptist’s NextGen Pastor, who started mentoring him. “Jonathan was very instrumental in my life, walking with me through a very dark season,” Jacob says. In one of their conversations, Jonathan helped Jacob see a different future. “He told me, ‘You can’t take away the past. But if you’re going to pursue Christ and look forward, you’re going to be a disciple who makes disciples.’”

That mentoring relationship gave Jacob a new outlook. It also captured the kind of culture that marks Central Baptist as a church on mission. “Being a disciple who makes disciples has been embedded into everything,” he says. “As people get raised up, it just leaves room for them to leave. We’ve developed that culture really well as far as having great Senders and great Goers.”

Now Jacob serves as Young Adult Pastor, leading over 100 young adults every Tuesday night at The Gathering. Soon, he will leave to plant Central Baptist’s church plant in Columbia, Missouri. The college student going through a dark season has become the sent-out church planter, a complete embodiment of Central Baptist’s philosophy.

For younger leaders like Ethan Glenn, the pattern continues. He came to Central Baptist in 2019 when his girlfriend convinced him to visit. Wrestling with his calling, he found a church that saw potential where others might see inexperience.

“What I saw coming in as a young guy was if you wanted to get involved in some area of ministry at this church, you had every opportunity,” Ethan says. “If you show up wanting to serve, there will be a place for you.”

After serving as an intern at the church and teaching at a local high school for two years, Ethan returned to join the 320 Network residency program, which builds future leaders and plants multi-generational churches.

The Harvest Continues

Central Baptist’s willingness to build up leaders and send them out has created a multiplication effect that extends beyond Jonesboro. They’ve planted churches in Spokane, Washington, and are preparing to plant one in Columbia, Missouri. The Paragould campus, launched seven years ago, now averages 1,800 people on Sunday mornings and has already outgrown its building.

But the real measure of success isn’t in numbers. It’s the people. While they baptize around 300 people annually, each one represents a changed life. It’s in the transformed lives of people like Ceila Torres, who proved you’re never too old to serve God, and Ms. Peggy, who found purpose later in life. It’s in young leaders like Jacob and Ethan being raised up as church planters.

This summer alone, 29 college students embarked on six- to eight-week mission trips. Five are now in the process of becoming career missionaries through the International Mission Board.

The generous sowing continues. Through their marriage ministry, they’ve led over 30 marriage retreats, helping strengthen marriages before they reach crisis. Through their 320 Network residency program, they’re developing the next generation of church planters and leaders.

“We’ve been blessed at Central Baptist with how much missions has mattered in our church,” says Kenzie Flippo, Missions Pastor. “It really is a church of obedience.”

What began as a leap of faith in 2010, sending away 350 core leaders, proved that their long-held principle works even in the most challenging circumstances. They do, indeed, hold all things loosely. And over the years, they’ve learned that you really can’t out-give God.

We are grateful for the exceptional work of Central Baptist Church and other churches in our cities that are equipping leaders to live on mission wherever they are. They are helping the whole Church grow.

Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:15-16