Trailside, we’ve got a (great) problem.
We spent years praying for moments like these. I always felt like what God called us to do at Trailside was going to be special. Truth be told, I (Sean) never wanted to plant a church. Makes sense right? I remember looking at other pastors with stars in their eyes and wondering why I didn’t feel the same way.
They were going to change the world, and they were excited about the prospect. We sat at tables together and I remember looking at Lane and while we knew we were called undoubtably, I didn’t have that same level of security that this ‘church planting’ thing was going to work out for us the way it had for the pastors our training network had brought to speak, encourage, pray, and help facilitate our training onward. It was… odd to say the least.
Then the first year came. I’ll save those thoughts for another time, but needless say hanging out in a Middle School cafetorium wasn’t ideal. Then, a new building – and one that Lane and I had spent time in the parking lot praying and asking God to quite literally give us, dropped in our laps… and as things were moving forward, the pandemic and staff attrition struck hard.
We were one of only a few of that original training class that made it through Covid, and while there are so many reasons why, I will forever know that God had His hand and calling on this beautiful and imperfect place called Trailside Church. Fast forward to 2024, and what He is doing here is, in a word, wild.
Trailside Church is exploding. And not the bad kind — we have been in this terrifically challenging and exciting period where we have seen our church grow year over year at the average pace of 40%. Forty percent! If you don’t already know, yes that is not normal, but even more so not normal in our context — a town connected to a mid-size city in the northern end of a massive county in the southeast area of the United States.
We are, however, not a numbers driven church. You won’t find us focusing on how many people are here each Sunday or equating people’s presence with church success. We are numbers informed however, because that is how we (Elders and staff especially) make great and wisdom filled decisions. In that effort, we keep track of things like baptisms (going to cross 50 into 60 very soon!) and attendance (so that we can continue to celebrate God’s moving and work at TSC), and in all honesty, for a little church in Travelers Rest, SC that information has been humbling and phenomenal to watch grow. Our mission to be a refuge for the hurting and a refinery for the saint is shifting people’s hearts, including my own. I can easily say that Lane and I have shaken our heads time and time again lately in the best kind of disbelief — “how often did we pray for this?” we continue to ask ourselves, humbled and blown away that once we got ourselves out of the way and watched God move… He has.
All of this to say, we now find ourselves with an incredible problem: Our 10:45am gathering is dang near capacity week to week. While the time change and spring break always mean families out of town and a few less people, Palm Sunday and especially Easter Sunday bring the best challenges any church like ours can face:
We are running out of room, especially at the 10:45, and on Easter Sunday we need your help! I’ll get to the how in just a second, but I wanted to explain the why first.
I wanted to share with you some decisions we have made, especially regarding the Easter Sunday gatherings, and hope that you may be able to help us out with 2 main needs. We typically have 142 chairs plus 2 wheelchair access spots in the sanctuary. This Easter Sunday we will have a similar setup to Christmas where we will place pretty much every chair we have in the sanctuary, which equals out to around 160 plus 2. If you’ve been here the last two weeks, it may seem like a bit of unbridled optimism, but the reality is that we are, by being numbers informed, anticipating more people to walk in our doors than ever before… which is a GREAT “problem” to have. So here’s what I am asking of you, if you are able:
- Definitely still plan on being at Trailside Easter Sunday! We are preparing and ready for your family to join us for an incredible Easter gathering! We will have plenty of Coffee, and our Trailkids area will be fully open at both 9 and 10:45am. While we are planning on opening TK up in the fall for both gatherings, this is a special week where we are open for both times. Kim and her team are so excited about this growth! If you may be able to help, email Kim@trailside.church today!
- With that said, we need help in 2 major areas: Trailkids and Greeters! We are hoping for 2 more Trailkids volunteers for our 2 older classrooms at both 9 and 10:45 and are looking for 2 greeters on Easter Sunday as well. Please note, if you aren’t ready to commit to joining the teams regularly yet, that this is not a coup to get you secretly on the team! If you’ve already said yes, THANK YOU! We’ve filled 9 of the original needed spots in Trailkids!
- If you are able to, we are asking for some families who typically attend the 10:45am to join us for the 9am gathering instead. Both gatherings, as always, are going to be exactly the same and our hope is that while both gatherings will be full, those families planning on attending TSC for the first time on Easter Sunday will know that we are thankful and ready for them to experience the power of the Gospel in their lives.
Trailside, I can’t reiterate enough how exciting of a time it is to be at TSC. Our team and I are constantly blown away by the community that calls TSC home, and God is surely moving in Greenville County. We are so thankful to be a part of it all, and that you love this place too. God is good — and this ‘problem’ we are incurring is the culmination of The Gospel’s presence, great people, vision, and lots of prayer.
My final ask for you, whether you call Trailside home or support us from afar: Please join us in praying daily for our church and the people who will be walking through our doors on Easter Sunday. Prayer matters! I’d be overjoyed if you and your family would commit to praying that God would continue to move us in His will and plan for not just our church, but for Greenville County as a whole. What a joy it is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus together as a church family.
It is an absolute honor to be your Lead Pastor. I love you all.
-PSG
Here are some other churches you can join me in praying for this Easter season: Greenville Community Church, First Presbyterian Church of Greenville, BluePrint Church in Texas, Newspring Church, Griggs Memorial Church, The Foundry Church, Together Church in Moncks Corner, Emmaus Church in KC, and Harmony Church in Sumter SC.