Thirty Years of Gospel Impact in Columbia
Today's post is written by Pastor Hub Smith. He and his wife, Deb, planted Columbia Christian Fellowship in 1995 and served there until his retirement last month.
It's a 30-year story of God's merciful, tender heart for a community.
Elizabethtown Alliance Church, under Pastor Stan Sanger, decided to plant a church. Demographic studies were conducted on three towns in Lancaster county — Middletown, Manheim, and Columbia — and Columbia was chosen.
I lived in Columbia and was serving as an elder and on the church planting committee at Elizabethtown Alliance Church. When we brought the idea to district leadership, I expected pushback. Instead, they turned the question back on me: was God calling me to plant and pastor this church?
I said yes. Deb agreed. In May 1995, Deb and I were credentialed as church planters to Columbia.
Laying the Foundation
We devoted that first year to building our philosophical foundation — vision, mission, core values, name, etc.
In May 1996, God began bringing some folks from the community to our Sunday evening cell group, and we started to grow in salvations and in numbers.
We moved often in those early years.
We started in our living room. Then a fire hall. Then a local school. Then an outbuilding of a local church.
For one month we had no building at all — we met in local parks, and the joke in the church became: "You had to come this Sunday to find out where we'd be next Sunday."
Eventually another church offered us Saturday evening space. In December 2012, we moved into our current location.
Praying for our Community
Along the way, we partnered with other pastors and churches for corporate concerts of prayer, all-night prayer, and prayer walking through the community.
The Mayor of Columbia joined us and later testified that when the church was out on the street praying, his police officers had quiet nights — sometimes with no calls at all. Eventually the mayor began giving us specific hotspots in town to pray over, and we saw God intervene in those situations again and again.
There are many accounts of God's miraculous intervention when the churches prayed in these areas or into these situations. But it's difficult to share 30 years of ministry in six hundred words or less (grin).
CCF Today
One hundred people now gather on Sunday mornings for corporate worship and instruction in the Word at Columbia Christian Fellowship (CCF). Small groups and special focus groups meet throughout the week. God used many people to establish and build this church over the past 30 years.
Deb and I have seen a countless number of lives touched by His love — many are currently active in the church, some are in leadership, some are in heaven, some are scattered throughout the world, and sadly, some have gone back to the world.
Today, many of the current leadership in CCF came to know the Lord through the ministry of our church. And one hundred percent of current leadership had never held a church leadership position before connecting to CCF.
Stories of Impact
"The CCF church plant was the only time I ever answered an ad to find a church," Bob told me. "Especially since I was looking for a 'large church' in which I could be nominal and hide. As it turns out, 30 years later, my whole family has been impacted by your influence."
"Walking into CCF as a new believer, I wasn't sure what to expect,” Rich said. “I was nervous and apprehensive, but since that day CCF has impacted my life in ways words can't describe. CCF has guided me — teaching me how to grow closer to the Lord, strengthen my faith, and live more like Christ. If it weren't for my brothers and sisters at CCF, I don't know where I would be. The Lord used Pastor Hub and CCF to bring me to Him. I am truly blessed."
Looking Ahead
The church now finds itself in the midst of a pastoral transition — its first ever — as Deb and I enter retirement. It is very stretching for us, but God has fostered great hope and faith in CCF for a glorious future. We believe the latter glory will be greater than the former, and the future days of CCF will be greater than the past.
Praise the Lord.