When Steve Renfrow came to Bluffton in 1979 the Bluffton Baptist Chapel met on Sundays in the Shannon Theatre. The congregation was two years old at the time; its regular attendance was 12 in Sunday school and 13 in worship.
Today the congregation has its own building on County Line Road, is known as Bluffton Baptist Church and has an active congregation of around 100 members.
The congregation marks a major milestone on Sunday, March 28, as Pastor Renfrow, Bluffton's pastor with the longest tenure, will preach his final sermon there. On April 1 Renfrow launches a new "career." He will become the associational missionary serving 29 Southern Baptist congregations in Fairfield and Hamilton counties, Ohio.
As a result, the congregation of the Bluffton Baptist Church will do something it is not used to doing: form a search committee to find a new pastor.
"In my new role I will work at strengthening existing Southern Baptist churches and will help them to cooperate with other Southern Baptist churches to start new churches.
During Renfrow's tenure in Bluffton, the congregation not only grew and built its own building, it experienced two additions to the building.
"Bluffton is a wonderful community to raise a family," said Renfrow. He and his wife, Carol, have two sons, Michael and Matt, who are Bluffton High School graduates.
While pastoring the Bluffton church, Renfrow became active in community events. He is a past president of the Bluffton-Richland Township United Way, past chaplain of the Bluffton Fire Department-EMS, and is currently on the board of the Bluffton Child Development Center, located beside the church.
In his denomination, he recently completed a two-year term as vice president of State Convention of Southern Baptists in Ohio.
During this interview, youth from the BCDC held a surprise visit to Renfrow. During the visit they gave him "going away" thank you cards that they created. Through his relationship with the Center, students have visited the church to watch "Veggie Tale" videos, and the students have come to know him that way.
Perhaps the most significant community event that took place while Renfrow served the local church was during the August 2007 flood. Immediately after the flood, the church became local headquarters for relief efforts.
"I think our congregation impacted the community during this event more than at any other time," he said, recalling when the entire congregation volunteered to help those flooded to get back on their feet.
Moving from a pastor's role to a missionary's role, Renfrow says that while he looks forward to the opportunity, he will miss the ministry of the local church.
"I may never have this opportunity again," he said, referring to the moments of ministry, worship and fellowship with a congregation that his is own.
In his new role, he will touch 29 different congregations. "My work in Bluffton has been a great learning opportunity. Now, I'll be able to share 30 years of ministry experience in my new position."
Asked about the title of his March 28 sermon, he responded this way, "Arrangements have been made; provisions are in place." The sermon is in reference to Psalm Sunday, however, in a way, it becomes a specific message to the Bluffton congregation.
"We don't know the future," he said. "Only God does. I hope that our ministry has communicated the love of Jesus for people. My encouragement is to lead people to become disciples and to go and make disciples of Christ. That's my pilgrimage. That's where I'm at."
Renfrow's final worship as Bluffton Baptist Church pastor is during the 10:45 a.m. Sunday service. A lunch follows the service. A reception follows the lunch at 1 p.m.
