41 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com because of “The Church’s service perspective such as our member and missionary outreach, delivering Bibles to share Christ’s role in our lives.” Nearly a century after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established, America began to experience the emergence of megachurches across the country, the first being the Pentecostal Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson. According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, a megachurch is defined as “any Protestant Christian church that draws 2,000 or more people in a weekend.” In 2014, when Josh Surratt took over the role of Lead Pastor at Seacoast Church from his father and Founding Pastor Greg Surratt, he wasn’t looking to build a megachurch, rather he and his wife Lisa Surratt were offering space for “unchurched people.” The goal, according to Lisa, who has a background as a physician’s assistant and also started the East Coast A21 Campaign to fight against human trafficking, was to build a healthy team with healthy families because she and Surratt could see the pacing of the church growing so fast that they needed to set sustainability standards that would allow the ministry to flourish for the long haul rather than burning out in the short-term. Since implementing this strategy, Seacoast has grown from 8,000-9,000 members in 2014 to 13,000 in-person attendees and 10,000 online viewers from across the country every Sunday among their 13 campuses in South Carolina and one in Asheville, North Carolina. While Lisa was busy building the HR division, Josh focused on creating a teaching team so he could cut his preaching time in half and spend the bulk of his time stewarding the staff. “To foster trust with our congregation, it was important to build our leadership rather than showcasing one celebrity pastor,” he said. Now as co-lead pastors, Josh and Lisa agreed they are both better when they’re in the same room. “Women and men are both made in the image of God. We each bring different perspectives,” Lisa said. From the settlement of Mount Pleasant to today, all walks of Judeo-Christian faiths have served as cornerstones of the community. That the vanguards of these denominations support one another in faith, as if echoing Rabbi Refson’s word “kin,” demonstrates that valuing each other as family is at the core of our collective identity, not just during the holidays but all year round. Seacoast Church - Mount Pleasant - Lead Pastor Josh Surratt. our town A Stand-Alone Memory Care Community. Come see what makes us different! Serving those with dementia and other related conditions. Mount Pleasant Gardens is committed to being the leader in providing quality personal services for our residents and their families while honoring the experience of aging. 843.216.1001 1025 Hungryneck Blvd., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464 GardensMemoryCare.com Call for a Tour, Today! 2024 ®
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