6 days Ago
One of North Augusta’s oldest and largest churches – it has a history that goes back more than a century and a congregation that numbers almost 900 – has a new pastor. First Baptist Church of North Augusta in February confirmed David Sons in the position of senior pastor; Sons started in the role March 24 and gave his first sermon there the following Sunday. “I have a love for this community [.
..] it's a community of people that care about one another; it's a community that cares about the things we would say are important to us,” Sons said.
The previous pastor, Stephen Cutchins, left in April of last year. “Healthy local churches” are big part of what make somewhere a good place to live, Sons said, “and really my desire is that First Baptist North Augusta would partner alongside those other churches to see the Gospel go forth and to see North Augusta be an incredible place to live and to work.” Though the nine-person search committee received more than 100 applications for the job, Sons wasn’t one of them – he was approached by First Baptist and asked to feel it out as an option.
Sons grew up here, having moved from Cincinnati in 1997. His first full ministry job was at First Baptist, fresh from college in May of 2008 and, as he tells it, “flip-flopping” in shorts around the campus (he led the middle school groups). So, it was homecoming for Sons who most recently served as senior pastor for Lake Murray Baptist Church in Lexington.
In between, he helped to found the Church at Cane Bay in Summerville. A career in ministry but that wasn’t his intention early on, despite growing up as the son of a pastor (Sons’ father, Herb Sons, has been pastor at Bath First Baptist in Warrenville for 28 years). “My goal was to do baseball on the radio,” David Sons said.
He was a broadcast media major when he studied at North Greenville University. “My joke is there wasn’t any real ‘lightning bolt moment’ for me,” he said. Between his junior and senior years of college, Sons took on an internship in student ministry at Sumter First Baptist Church.
“It was kind of through those 12 weeks of being in local church ministry and having a guy that I was working for that really invested in me,” Sons mused. The seed was planted then that he might have a talent, that “maybe God was calling me to do this.” After graduating, he went on to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
“It was just kind of a series of small events and guys that were ahead of me in ministry that encouraged me to think about it, and then there was just this sense all along the way that this was something the Lord had for me,” he said. Twenty years into it now, and “I can't imagine doing anything different.” Miriam King and Seth Babb were both on the pastor search committee for First Baptist North Augusta.
The process started with a survey among the congregation: what was wanted in the next pastor? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the church itself? “Anytime you’re in a period of transition that means you’re experiencing change,” Babb said. “And change is really hard for most people. For some people, they thrive on change, right? Look for it, seek it out.
But the majority of folks, they really struggle with change, and it creates uncertainty.” Babb said it was “a vote of confidence” in First Baptist’s leadership that congregation numbers and giving numbers didn't really flux during the transition. “We could really see his heart for God, the people,” King said of Sons.
“That was huge to us, that not only was he a phenomenal preacher [...
] but he’s just a solid leader who loves the Lord and loves people. And that’s exactly what we were looking for.” Babb nodded.
Sons is “very mission-minded,” he said. Sone, he added, wants to continue prioritizing First Baptist’s worldwide missions but without losing sight of what can be done here. The mindset, he said, is one of, “We have to think about and realize and know and act as if, right outside of here is the mission field as well.
” Sons and his wife, Allyson, and their four kids are still in the moving home stage. Boxes and boxes of books are yet to be unpacked (and this just the theological volumes; a big reader of history and novels and narratives, Sons said he has a like number of boxes for his personal library). But one thing is fully accomplished: Sons gave his first sermon at First Baptist North Augusta on March 30.
His approach, he said, is that every sermon must point to Jesus. “The Bible..
. every good sermon is derived from the word of God; that’s what gives a sermon its power. A sermon can be persuasive, it can be poignant, but it doesn't have any power if it’s not derived from the word of God,” he said.
And when he’s not preaching or filling the other duties of pastor, he’s keeping active in various sports or engaging with what his wife and kids are doing. And he might not be commentating, but he is following it: baseball. Especially if the it's the Cincinnati Reds.
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