A conversation with Michael Sanes, lead pastor of the Harbor Worship Center (Kingsland, Georgia) since August 1995.
How did you get started in the ministry?
I served four years in the Air Force. During the first year, I finally surrendered to the call to preach. I had been running from that call since I was a freshman in high school.
I served as associate pastor of Forest Street (now Abundant Life) Church of God in Valdosta, Georgia, for two years, and then pastored the Claxton Church of God from 1990 until 1995. There were maybe 1,200 people living in Claxton and about 2,400 in the county.
One night, the Lord woke me up and impressed me to go to the sanctuary to pray. I prayed for an hour about going to a city. The Lord led me to a Scripture passage that says David “went into the sanctuary” and heard from God (Psalm 73:17). When I got home at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, my wife, Kelly, was sitting on the couch with her Bible. She said, “I want to show you what God just showed me in Psalm 107.” Verse 7 says the Lord led the children of Israel “by the right way, that they might go to a city for a dwelling place.” I knew God was leading me to go to a city.
Two years later, after W. F. Williams became the overseer of South Georgia, he asked me to consider going to Kingsland. I visited the church; it was about two hours away. The grass was knee-deep, and the building looked like cornflakes—it had not been painted for years.
I told Brother Williams no, but then Kelly and I dreamed about going to a church in Kingsland with a parking lot full of people. The next day, I went to a revival. At the altar, an evangelist I had never seen told me, “Pastor, your dreams are in order. Don’t worry about people or money. The Lord has plenty of people and plenty of money.”
A day or two later, an old man ran out of gas in front of our parsonage. I drove him two miles to get gas. On the way back, he said, “Don’t ever worry about where God might send you. The Lord has plenty of people and plenty of money.”
In July 1995, I heard a national news report saying that Camden County (where Kingsland is located) was the fastest-growing county in the United States. The Lord reminded me that He had said two years earlier that He would send me to a city, so I called Brother Williams, and we went.
The Kingsland Church of God, which started in the early 1950s, had once reached 300 in Sunday school attendance but had fallen to 19 people. God has done an amazing thing here.
I knew God was leading me to go to a city.
You have been in Kingsland for three decades. How do you explain the church’s ongoing growth?
You’ve got to be willing to do what it takes to grow. I talk to pastors who say, “I know what it’s going to take; I’m just not willing to fight that battle to grow my church.” That’s especially true if they’re at an age where they can coast into retirement. So, it has to start with the pastor.
More than 10 years ago, Scott Clevenger came to our town and started a church in his home with two or three couples. They soon rented the Camden Community Recreation Center, and then fixed up an old Methodist church and were running 200 people. Their attendance reached over 400, and they rented out the local aquatic center for baptisms. I had been here 17 or 18 years, and we were running 200 if you counted the cats and the dogs.
I told my wife and two church staff members, “They are probably not preaching the Gospel. No way a legitimate church can be growing like this.”
One day in prayer, the Lord asked me, Why are you talking about my servant this way? I want you to call him, take him to lunch, and apologize.
I took Scott to lunch and told him what I had said. He laughed and answered, “You need a coach.”
I said, “We’re not playing football; we’re leading a church.”
He said, “That’s why you need a coach.”
He introduced me to a book by Nelson Searcy, a genius in church systems. I promised God I would learn how to assimilate people, recruit volunteers, teach stewardship, do small groups, and learn ministry strategies. It made me stretch.
Explain your church’s emphasis on four values: salvation, life groups, serving, and generosity.
The emphasis on salvation is obvious. In John 15:16, Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved.
Our life groups system is one of the great contributors to people assimilating into the church. We will typically have 35 to 55 small groups.
We meet with all the group leaders before a semester starts. We have groups on homesteading, bicycling, parenting, single-adult living, hiking, praying, Bible study, and more. This spring semester in our education groups, we had a theme of spiritual warfare, “Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table,” based on Psalm 23. We have one fun night and a service opportunity in every group. Sessions last 90 minutes.
Seventy percent of our church’s adults are involved in a small group.
When someone attends our church for the third time, we invite them to attend Harbor Track 101, the gateway into the church. Kelly and I present the church’s vision—why we do what we do.
In Track 201, we teach how to get involved with the church’s vision. We want to see people saved, serving, giving, and involved in a life group before they join the church. We teach tithing and giving, and we emphasize serving. We believe in putting on the apron and picking up the towel.
One Sunday last May, we had a huge “serve day.” For the first time, we didn’t have church in the sanctuary. We had 20-something projects going on over two counties with over 400 volunteers. We did everything from feeding people to paying for laundry at laundromats, working with the Salvation Army, cleaning school buses, hosting a pastor appreciation day for a church, cleaning up the highway and local parks, and cleaning school facilities. People saw us in the community with actions, not just words.
We believe in putting on the apron and picking up the towel.
How are your family members involved in the church?
Kelly is very involved behind the scenes. She has a say in everything décor-wise. We are building another sanctuary right now, to be finished in January, and nothing will get in place without her input.
We got married right after I graduated from high school, and we have been married for 40 years. We have four kids and ten grandkids, and all of them go to church with us.
Adam, our oldest son, 38, is our worship pastor. He has been on staff with me for 21 years, beginning as a high school senior.
Who else is on your pastoral staff?
Joshua Cribbs has been our executive pastor for 10 years and on our staff for 20 years, first serving as our youth pastor. He is 38 and oversees most of the church administration.
Jared Lee, 25, student pastor, has been with us for three years. The ministry, Youth Culture, has 150 students anytime they meet. He is a great musician, playing anything with keys or strings. He is also gifted in video and graphic design. We reserve 10 rows up front for the students when they join the adults for worship.
Annason Campbell, 20, is our children’s pastor. Her only big adjustment has been going from a church with 30 to 40 kids to 200. She is getting more parents involved in Harbor Kids.
So, we are covering the generations. I am 58.
How has pastoral ministry changed over 35 years?
I have to deal with things I didn’t have to deal with then. Number one, the Internet. I didn’t have a cell phone when I started. Now, everybody has social media. Anything you say can and will be used against you almost instantly.
We live in a fast-paced world. It’s only been six years since we started live-streaming our worship services. We thought we would just be doing it for the sick and the shut-in, but now some people don’t feel they need to come to the building but watch online instead. I tell them, “This is the second-best thing you can do.” I heard a pastor say, “The next time your family has a family meal, why don’t you attend it online!”
There are cultural shifts. Back then, communities seemed more together. Now, we have some people who drive an hour to come to our church, driving past all kinds of other churches to get here.
Back then, people typically attended church services at least three or four times per month, but now, they might come once or twice.
You recently preached a series of messages called “Under Construction.” Why do you preach sermon series’?
Normally, I meet with my staff on a retreat twice a year and talk about addressing a well-rounded faith in preaching. Not just evangelism, yet people need to be evangelized; not just doctrine, yet they need to know doctrine; not just money, yet people need to give. Even in a series, I can shape a message for whatever the Holy Spirit might lead me to do. And I preach some stand-alone sermons.
Occasionally, we’ll announce a spontaneous night of worship. Once, God laid it on my heart to have a miracle service. Numerous people were healed. That night, an alcoholic was set free. That was four years ago, and he is still part of the church.
God has done amazing things here. Like Bishop Williams told me, “Someone’s going to go to Kingsland and build a great church. It might as well be you.”
Interview by Lance Colkmire, Editor of Evangel Magazine