Video summary
In this episode of the Radiant podcast from the Rise Shine conference, host interviews Pastor Rich Butler of Hope Church in South Carolina about a significant spiritual shift his multi-site congregation made over the last year. For thirteen years at their current location and nine as a multi-campus church spanning thirty years total, the leadership had been bound by strict operational models that prioritized efficiency, precise timing, and standardized service lengths. However, they began to feel a distinct tension between these rigid structures and the Holy Spirit's desire to move freely during services; specifically, campus pastors reported receiving anointing for specific ministries or messages that their existing protocols prevented them from pursuing. This created a situation where the church felt it was inadvertently grieving the Spirit by deferring more to human systems than divine leading.
The turning point came when Pastor Butler and his team leaders decided to intentionally "make room" for God, choosing to prioritize the Gospel over their established model even if it meant deviating from strict schedules or service durations. They realized that if a system was designed to inherently limit spiritual movement, they needed to change that system rather than force the Spirit into an unnatural box. The result of this decision has been immediate and tangible growth; by extending services slightly longer and allowing flexibility for children's ministry and altar calls, lines formed at their altars in ways previously unseen. Contrary to fears that such changes would cause attrition or chaos among a large membership base, the church experienced significant expansion while maintaining its multi-site structure, proving that God fills every space created for Him without needing perfect control over logistics.
Pastor Butler emphasizes that this experience has fundamentally altered their view on leadership and growth strategies within the church community. He notes that they still plan to expand further in their region but now operate with a new blueprint that trusts God's presence above rigid metrics like timing or specific formats. This shift encourages leaders who feel constrained by "trusted models" to look directly at Jesus rather than relying solely on proven systems, which can sometimes stifle spiritual vitality. The conversation highlights the importance of being flexible enough to adapt when the Holy Spirit indicates a need for more space in one's ministry, demonstrating that true growth often comes from surrendering control and allowing divine timing to supersede human planning. Ultimately, this journey serves as an inspiring example for other pastors facing similar dilemmas between organizational efficiency and spiritual freedom, showing that making room for God can lead to incredible breakthroughs even within large-scale organizations.
Read the full video transcript
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>> Everyone, welcome back to the Radiant
podcast here at the Rise Shine
conference, sitting down with Rich
Butler. You are the pastor of what
church? Hope Church in South Carolina.
>> Okay, yeah. And you said I think I met
you earlier, you said been there for
like
I've been there 13 years.
>> Yeah, 13 years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And
so,
uh, I was kind of asking you earlier
like, what what is God doing in your
church right now over the last last
year? Yeah, we've really kind of gone
back to a simpler way of doing life,
just prioritizing the gospel, Yeah.
>> opening up the altars. We're a
multi-site church,
>> Okay. uh, which means that timing and
being tight and all that stuff matters a
lot.
>> Yeah. But as we moved into this year, I
just felt like the Lord said, "Make more
room."
>> Yeah.
>> And so we met with our team leaders and
we said, "Hey, we're going to make more
room. We're not going to defer to the
model as much as we are to the Holy
Spirit." And we've just seen God do
incredible things. Salvations, Yeah. So,
what what were you feeling? Just like
maybe there's another pastor leader
who may might might be in that similar
position. What were you feeling leading
up to that moment of decision where you
felt like we need to actually make more
room. Was there Was there something that
you were feeling? Yeah, we our campus
pastors were talking where we would feel
an unction in a service that the Lord
wanted to do something, Yeah.
>> but our model would not permit that.
>> Yeah. And so we we got together and we
said, "If our model is designed to
inherently grieve the Holy Spirit, then
we probably should change our model."
Yeah.
>> what we've done is we flexed and we're
still multi-site,
>> Yeah. but just creating a little more
room for God to move. He fills every
space that you create for him. So, So
you're saying that you changed something
and half your church didn't leave and
stuff?
>> No, in fact, [laughter] we grew. Yeah, I
know. You know, we were so intentional
about being 75-minute services
>> Yeah.
>> and now when we go 85 minutes,
>> Yeah. the kids ministry, they're not
mad. There's lines of people at the
altar and I'm like, you know, what if we
have thousands of people and the Lord's
not there? Yeah.
>> Um and we just it was a slight shift of
just make a little more room Yeah. and
God's just done the rest.
>> Oh, come on, man. So, like how is this
maybe this little bit of trusting the
Lord in this area? How has that affected
maybe things you see in the future with
your church? Well, we still want to
continue to expand our campuses in our
region. Yeah. And for a long time we
thought if we were going to do this, we
couldn't do that. Wow.
>> now we're seeing another blueprint. I'm
a trusted model guy. Yeah.
>> So, when I hear from the Lord, I'll
instantly find leaders like Pastor Lee
or someone else and I'll fly out to meet
with them
>> Yeah.
>> and I'll say, "Hey, tell me to tell me
how you do this."
>> Yeah. And in this season I just felt
like the Lord said, "Take your eyes off
the trusted models and just keep your
eyes on me." Wow. And so he's really
unfolding this Yeah. this way of doing
church that we're now growing. Wow.
That's so cool, man. I'm excited to see.
Yeah. This is just recently? Yeah, this
is just in this last 6 months.
>> Wow. Okay, that's that's pretty cool,
man.
>> Yeah. That that's big I think for for a
multi-site church. How long have you
been multi-site? We've been multi-site
for 9 years. We were one church, one
service for 30 years. Wow.
>> we went multi-site and now we have three
campuses and
>> Yeah.
Yeah. So, so to make that shift and then
to see the immediate growth, that's
exciting. To see like, okay, God like
obviously God cares about his presence.
So, it's like cares more about presence
than timing and so it's like to see what
he's going to do. So, that's sweet, man.
Yeah. Rich, Pastor Rich, thank you so
much, man.
>> Thank you, man. Appreciate you having me
on. Yeah, man.
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