Dewayne Rembert said over the past few years, he’s gotten the same phone call several times.

“They would say, ‘We really need a Flatline Church in our area,’” he said. “And I would ask, ‘Have you spoken to your pastors about what it would look like to support this type of church in your association?’”

Flatline Church at Chisholm, which Rembert planted in 2018, serves an urban area and relies on the support of other local churches to do its ministry.

“If it were not for Montgomery Baptist Association churches, we wouldn’t make it,” he said. “There’s no way we could be in an impoverished community like we are, serving our neighbors and feeding the basketball team at the high school every week. The pastors have got to buy in to what you’re doing.”

But Rembert said the fourth time he got the phone call, he felt God convicting him and telling him this — “Stop telling them they’re not ready and help them get ready.”

Training

The result is a seven-month cohort called MAWL, which stands for Model, Assist, Watch and Leave. The training helps pastors view urban culture through a different lens and uses the Bible as its guide, Rembert said.

“You’ve got to learn the culture so you can effectively engage,” he said.

He led the first MAWL training at West Central Baptist Association, meeting one Thursday a month for lunch.

“It was a powerful seven months,” he said. “It’s been revival breaking out in Selma.”

Lee Tate, associational mission strategist for West Central Baptist Association, said he and the pastors in his association all agree that it was just what they needed.

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This article was originally published at TheAlabamaBaptist.org.