Church History
The story of our church plots the history of God’s provision and guidance over the years
It seemed God might once again have placed Matt in the right place, at the right time.
Chris looked Matt in the eyes and told him he had not been able to get the city of Austin out of his mind or off his heart.
More than 90% of church plants in Austin fail .
He called Brad with the news that maybe Austin was not the place after all.
When people asked Jennifer if she was worried about their future, she would smile and say that she knew they were called to be there and that God would provide for them.
The growing leadership team became increasingly convinced we were called to be a church led by elders.
Foundations
It was Matt Carter's desire to plant a church for years before the opportunity was provided. God had often used him to begin or help rebuild a ministry. His sense was that his gifts would be used to the fullest by his pastoring a church. Not wanting to go ahead of God, he kept this to himself and simply prayed and waited.
A church planting course in seminary reignited this dream. One section of the course involved an assessment of students and their families that was designed to determine whether they had the set of gifts and skills to be effective as church planters. The results of this assessment had the seminary committee knocking on Matt's door with an offer to plant a church anywhere in Texas. It seemed God might have once again placed Matt in the right place at the right time. Just as quickly, however, some things happened that surprisingly but conclusively shut this door.
Disappointed, he worked to complete his assignments for the course. One of those assignments was to interview the pastor of a recent church plant. He was allowed to choose from a list distributed in class. He selected a church that was on his way home and decided to stop by unannounced to see if the pastor happened to be free. Craig White was in his office when Matt arrived. He was waiting to meet someone who had cancelled at the last minute. His wife and daughter were out of town for the night, so had ample time to talk with Matt. After hearing Craig describe his experiences pastoring Fellowship of the Metroplex, Matt related his recent disheartening experience as a potential church planter. Craig smiled disconcertingly and told Matt something that restored his hopes. It turns out that Craig is the recruiter for the Southern Baptist of Texas church planting committee. He gave Matt the freedom to seek God's direction about which city He would have Matt plant a church in and go there. And so he did.
January-February 2002
Matt was officially invited to plant a church in the state of Texas in January 2002. Within days, he called his long-time friend and ministry partner Brad Cauley to request that he and his family pray about joining his own in the venture. It didn't take long for Brad and Kathy to catch the vision.
Matt also told Chris Tomlin who led worship with him at 'the Harvest' (a contemporary service) at the Woodlands United Methodist Church. At the time, it seemed likely that the church would be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Chris looked Matt in the eyes and told him he had not been able to get the city of Austin out of his mind or off his heart since he had led worship at a Passion event there a few years before. He encouraged Matt to consider planting the church there. Since Matt wanted to go where there was the greatest need for hope and truth, where God could use the church to make the biggest impact, he took the suggestion seriously.
That night, Chris was awake all night as he prayed and dreamed about being part of a church in Austin. He could not escape the sense that this was where Matt was to go or the feeling that he should join him. As someone who was already spending most of time on the road leading worship at venues around the country, Chris knew that being part of a new rather than established church would be no small endeavor. Yet, through the night, he became convinced that it was the right thing. To Matt's astonishment, Chris told him the next morning that he would be joining him if he went to Austin.
Geography - March 2002
Matt began researching possible locations for the new church including Fort Worth, Dallas, College Station, and Austin. Although Chris and Brad believed the church was to be in Austin, Matt wasn't yet confident in this. He had learned that the vast majority, more than 90%, of church plants in Austin failed and that the city was not spiritually sensitive or open. However, as they all prayed for God's direction, Matt became convinced that Austin was the place to be.
Depending on God - April-Sept. 2002
Everyone began preparing for the move. Matt and Jennifer and Brad and Kathy put their houses on the market. Both sold quickly. Chris and his band members also made plans for the move to Austin. In June, several "come and see" meetings were held for those interested in starting a new church in Austin.
These meetings were hosted by Robyn Knocke, a recent graduate working in radio communications in Austin. She grew up in the Woodlands and had attended the Woodlands United Methodist before she went away to college. When she came home for a visit, someone introduced her to Matt with the news that he and Chris were leaving to plant a church in Austin. Matt invited her to be a part of the Austin Stone.
During this time, Matt searched for a place in Austin where the church could meet. He looked in the suburbs and in the city proper. He was told "no" by at least twelve schools and theaters. He began to question their decision. He called Brad with the news that maybe Austin was not the place after all.
Matt also shared his frustration with a fellow associate pastor at the Woodlands UMC who told him that things that were clear from a distance were always more complicated up close. He told Matt that he had been shown a mountain from a distance and was sure that was the one to climb. Now that he was at the base of the mountain, he was recognizing that there were many paths and that choosing the one to take was no easy task. He told Matt that this was not the time to waver in his decision. Matt was encouraged.
He took one more trip to Austin and was turned down once again, this time by Lake Travis High School's principal. On his way back toward the Woodlands, he decided to explore a road he had not yet driven down in the five months he had been exploring Austin. He reached Congress and turned toward the capital. He noticed Fulmore Middle School on his right. In all his poring over city maps, he had never seen this school. He pulled into the parking lot and walked inside. The principal could not meet with him right then so he made an appointment for the next week. Matt and Brad drove down together and explained their desire to plant a church in the Austin area. Not only did Fulmore's principal agree to allow them to use the school grounds, he did so charging far less than any of the others schools had quoted.
Looking back, Matt and Brad are confident that God had a perfect plan during the entire process. Matt believes that God moved them all to Austin to get them to a place in which they were forced to depend on God. As he says, "When you depend on God, God works.
Brad and Matt prayed in the Fulmore parking lot before they left that day, asking that God would fill it up with worshippers. He was to abundantly answer that prayer.
Arriving - Sept-Oct 2002
On September 15, Matt and his family moved to Austin with six-month-old Annie and two year old John Daniel. They lived in a hotel and with a friend in near-by Wimberley for six weeks while they looked for a place to live. When people asked Jennifer if she was worried about their future, she would smile and say that she knew they were called to be there and that God would provide for them. On October 23, Brad and his family moved to Austin. Kathy, too, made the sacrifice of leaving behind a home and friends she loved to follow the call. In addition, even though she had nearly completed her degree in child development, she was willing to transfer to a university near Austin. It meant having to re-take some classes to satisfy their requirements and a later graduation. It was a sacrifice that she firmly believed, and believes, was a worthwhile one. Both families joyfully tell those they meet about God's faithfulness to the Austin Stone and to themselves.
Preparing - November 2002
The two families began to meet with the group of singles they had connected with at the June meetings and with a few young college students who had been part of Matt's youth group at the Woodlands. Every Sunday evening at five, they gathered in an apartment to study the Bible together, worship, and equip them to plant a church.
In the third week of November, as they continued to meet with this passionate and now committed group, Brad and Matt knelt to ask God to bring them some spiritually healthy couples. When they got up from that prayer, Matt checked his email to find a message from Michael Powell asking for details about the church. He and his wife Mandy had been told about the church by their friend Louie Giglio of Passion. Since they were looking for a church home in Austin, they were thrilled. Mandy became the very able (and needed!) church administrative assistant and they both quickly became active participants at the Stone.
Beginnings - December 2002
Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, and Joey Parish of the worship band moved to Austin.
On December 1, the first 'official' church service was held at Fulmore Middle School. One hundred fifteen people were there to worship and hear the preaching of the Word. On December 15, 2002, the Christmas service was attended by 125 people.
Moving to Middle School - Jan-Feb 2003
The Austin Stone Community Church began meeting at Fulmore Middle School at 6pm every Sunday evening. Although the only advertising was done through business cards that could be handed out to friends and classmates, the people kept coming.
In February, Jesse and Janet Reeves moved from the Woodlands with their toddler and newborn daughter, bringing the last piece of the worship band together in Austin.
Planting an Oak Tree
In June, the vision for the Austin Stone becoming a church that is 'an oak tree not a squash' was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The growing leadership team of the Austin Stone became increasingly convinced we were called to be a church led by elders so Matt Carter and Brian Hays took a trip to a friend's church in Arkansas to find out more of what that would look like. As they received counsel while sitting on a dock overlooking a lake, a kind man summing up his wisdom for planting a church told them to remember their goal was acorns and not squash. While Matt and Brian scratched their heads and wondered what in the world that had to do with the topic at hand, he went to explain that a squash grows quickly, puts down shallow roots, produces a harvest, and dies in one season while an oak tree grows slowly, puts down deep and spreading roots, and produces its fruit for decade upon decade. What this man knew is what we, what all churches are called to be. We are to be churches who are founded on the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, and making disciples of Jesus rather than merely converts. If we become and remain a church who does those things, we will bear fruit for a long, long time. And that's God plan.
The church continued to grow spiritually and numerically. People received Christ as Savior and were baptized. Community groups, midweek bible studies and times of fellowship held in members' homes, began to meet. By August, eight different groups were gathering weekly.
By the end of the summer, a group of potential elders and deacons had been identified by the leadership team and were prayerfully presented to the church for their own prayer and consideration. Potential elders included Brian Hays, Michael Powell, and Kyle McDaniel in addition to Matt and Brad. The potential deacons were Cody Bailey, Aaron Lemmon, and Levi Smith. The combined age of these young servants was 76 years at the time. 'Let no one despise your youth' indeed. We also had the first gathering of community group leaders during this time. They came together to be trained to be even better shepherds in their groups and to fellowship with each other and the staff and potential elders and deacons. It was clear that God was unifying those He had called to lead and serve the Austin Stone.