From Athens, to Africa to Mud Island in Mempus: Meet Barrett Bowden!

Barrett and Michelle Bowden

When Barrett Bowden was a student at the University of Georgia he made a tremendous impact on Baptist Collegiate Ministries. As a first year student he lent his talents for music to the Impact Band, playing keyboard as the group traveled around the state leading worship in various churches and for many retreats and events. As a second year student Barrett used his organizational skills to oversee the Impact ministry. He coordinated with churches to supply students for various events - from recruiting small group leaders for Disciple Now Weekends to sending the Impact Band to lead worship to finding speakers for different events. Barrett served as the worship team leader for his last two years, bringing creativity and knowledge of worship to the task that was very much needed. Barrett was very organized and brought an eye toward excellence to everything he did. 

I have always felt a kinship with Barrett beyond that of most students. I knew Barrett's dad and mom from when I was in school. While in High School Clay Bowden served as the youth intern one year at First Baptist Church of Statesboro, Georgia where my family attended. Clay was also involved in the Baptist Student Union (now BCM) at Georgia Southern. My dad was the campus minister there. I was in college with Rhonda, Barrett's mother. The first time Barrett stuck his head in my door and introduced himself I knew he looked familiar. When he told me who his parents were I was floored. We had many a laugh reminiscing together about his parents. 

When I began blogging about alumni from UGA BCM I thought of Barrett. I knew he was serving as the pastor of a church in Memphis (thanks to Facebook). But I did not have all of the details of his story since he left Athens. I emailed decided to interview him via email.

Nathan: We often loose track of students after they graduate. Fill in the gaps for me.

Barrett: After I graduated UGA, I (almost) immediately departed for West Africa. I served with the International Mission Boards short-term program for young adults - "Hands On." I was in West Africa among an unreached people group in the middle of the desert for about seven months. We served as English professors at a local university, focusing on building relationships with our students in order to share the gospel and see a church planted. Honestly, Nate, it was one of the most difficult and amazing experiences of my life. Why difficult? First personal - Well, for the first time in my life I felt completely stripped of everything comfortable and convenient.... no contact with family, no contact with friends, no electricity, no big Christian church to attend full of fellowship and lively worship, no one who knows you and thinks you're pretty great, no TV or internet to entertain or distract you, no food that appeases you, and on and on. In this environment, you come to know yourself and your sin in depths you never cared to know. I realized how reliant I was on so much apart from God Himself. I realized how shallow I was spiritually in so many ways. But, this leads to the amazing part of the experience. These months allowed an experience with God that I never thought imaginable, a new understanding of His amazing grace, and a new realization of how a real relationship and dependence and satisfaction in Jesus should flesh out in my life. When God is all you have, you realize God is all you need. The Lord broke me and grew me so much while I was there. I feel like Africa for me was like the Apostle Paul's Arabia - a place of learning, testing, receiving, understanding, growing, obeying, and preparation. 

Another reason it was challenging, but amazing - the whole time was oriented around missions. The challenge: I had no clue of how lost and broken the world was until God sent me to Africa. Every day, I was confronted with new degrees of blindness, brokenness (in every way), and feeling of despair. I watched young children die in their mothers arms because of lack of medicine readily available to us at Walgreens. I spoke with countless individuals who had never heard of Jesus, much less know anything about him. The people were hardened in their hearts, unwilling and bothered to listen of any truth outside that of the Islamic culture, yet empty in their hearts and eyes. Many nights, I went to bed in tears. How did I not know about this before? What was I supposed to do with this now? God, how will you save these people? God, how will you bring restoration to the broken, justice to the oppressed, help to the poor? Over months, my feelings about it all went from shock to sadness to frustration to burden to brokenness then to prayer. This where the amazing part of that journey came in once again. God was gracious to fill my heart with hope. God showed me His promises and taught me to pray them with faith. God gave me a willing heart, ready to play my role in His awesome plan of redemption. God gave me hopes and dreams for what He would do, and showed me that my life could be used as a part of the story. And, God gave us fruitfulness of ministry - we saw a few young men amazingly saved and changed by the grace of Jesus, a church started, and the beginnings of a movement among that people begin. God taught me in Africa that the world is about Him, not me; my role is to live for His glory among the nations. He is faithful.

I got back from Africa a different man. I knew God's call on my life was toward ministry. I knew the nations had something to do with it. The specifics, I had no clue. About this time, one of my best friends (and prayer partners for me in Africa), Michelle Roark, began to occupy my thoughts and steal the attention of my heart. She was a girl I had admired and respected for some time, but these intensified feelings of interest and desire were definitely new. Over the next weeks and months, I found myself pursuing and deepening relationship with her. Thankfully, she reciprocated the interest and feelings. God grew us together in love I had never before known. The rest is blissful history. One year after we began dating, I proposed. We were married in June 2010. She is everything I could have ever dreamed in a wife and best friend. Her heart for Jesus, people, the poor, and the nations is still an example and encouragement to me today. As my college roommates and I used to joke as we looked for girls - Michelle is a "triple G" : a Godly Gorgeous Girl. We often debated which G was most important... thankfully with her, it doesn't matter....she has them all.

During all of this romantic pursuit and marriage, after I returned from Africa, I began seminary at New Orleans in Atlanta. Interestingly, I returned to the marketing company I had worked for throughout college. But - I returned in a very different capacity (and this is the only reason I would have returned). The chaplain of the company died suddenly while I was in Africa. When I got back to the States, I had many messages from the owners of the company asking if I would consider returning to the company as the chaplain and personal spiritual adviser to them. I agreed. It was an amazing fulfillment of two areas of my life I never thought would collide: my marketing training and background/experience and my call to ministry. It was wonderful to serve in this capacity for several years while I was in Atlanta and in the beginnings of seminary education. God opened opportunities and doors for fruitful ministry within the context of a corporate that I never thought possible. (By the way - there is a huge need for more Christians to see themselves as ministers within their workplace! The fields are ripe!)

After several years of teaching school after her undergraduate education, Michelle felt a strong call to pursue a life of ministry through medicine. Thus, medical school education was necessary. She was accepted to UT Medical School in Memphis, TN. In 2009, we packed up and moved to Memphis. Honestly, I was not happy about moving to Memphis away from Atlanta but thankfully God knows best. Because of the move to Memphis, I transferred my seminary education to Mid-America Baptist Theological. I had the option of continuing with NOBTS online but that format of learning is just not for me. After many years of bi-vocational work/ministry and study, I completed my degree of Master of Divinity last May (2012). We have loved every moment of life and ministry in Memphis.

Nathan: What was the most profound experience you had while working on your degree?

Barrett: Well, honestly, what I loved most about the way God led me to complete my degree was that I was working in ministry the whole time I was enrolled in seminary. This afforded me something that enhanced the classroom experience more than I could have ever planned on my own: a bridge to real life and real ministry. In seminary, I was challenged to learn, explore, and grow in knowledge, understanding, and academics more than ever before. But, I was able to keep my feet on the ground because every day, I would be faced with the questions of our church members or lost friends: What does any of that do with me? Sometimes, conversations, ideas, or strategies in seminary got stuck in the clouds where the vantage point is helpful but the air is breathless. I enjoyed having opportunity to temper that discussion with a realistic view from the ground and experience in the daily battle. Because of my experience and involvement in daily church ministry, I was able to seek real application to the awesome truths and principles I was learning.

Nathan: What were some things you were involved in where you made an impact, but that also made an impact on you?

Barrett: Three things I think back on that made a huge impact on my life: First, my parents. My mom and dad, Clay and Rhonda Bowden, modeled godliness and contentment in the Lord in all circumstances. They taught me to love Jesus and His church. My dad is still the one I think about and turn to when I think of how a pastor should care for the church as a shepherd cares for His sheep. Second, BCM at UGA. Honestly Nate, BCM had a huge impact on my life. It was at BCM that I learned to serve the Lord, to lead in ministry, that God could use my unique S.H.A.P.E. for His purposes in a city, that the nations existed and God cared about them, and that you have to learn to find unity in the church amidst crazy diversity. It was also where the Lord affirmed His call to ministry in my heart. I am so thankful the BCM allowed me the opportunity to grow, explore, make mistakes, find real community, and lead. Third, my marketing experience. I am so grateful I had opportunity spend a few years in the "real world" working as "normal" people do. It has proven invaluable to me again and again. I don't have to wonder or assume I understand what people experience in the workplace..... I have actually experienced it myself! This experience and the stories/opportunities gained from it has given me points of relation to many in our community and church.

Nathan: How did you come to pastor Island Community Church in Memphis?

Barrett: If you had told me 5 years ago or even 3 years ago that I would be pastoring a church, I would have laughed. Never did I dream it, hope for it, or feel qualified to do it. Much less at this point in my life. And, after all, I am a PK. Though I always loved the church, I never intended to follow the footsteps of my dad (one of the best pastor/shepherds I know). I have found that the call of God supersedes all of our thinking and planning. The best thing (and only thing) to surrender to it.  When Michelle and I arrived in Memphis in 2009, we knew no one. It was a city unfamiliar to us and a culture similar but very different than the ones we came from. We didn't have any connections or relationships other than those provided through her involvement in the medical school. We moved into downtown Memphis into a community called Mud Island (literally a large island in the middle of the Mississippi River). A small, tight-knit community of 7,000 but honestly we still felt lonely and disconnected. We began to visit churches (most of them 20-30 minutes away from us in the suburbs) but were not really regular, committed, or involved anywhere. We wanted it but had not found (or worked hard enough to find) the right "fit." One day, we heard about this little church plant that was meeting on Mud Island - Island Community Church. We decided to try it out. We went the next Sunday and walked into find 20-30 people there in a small schoolroom for worship, fellowship, and Bible study. They were real and welcoming - most all of them from our community. They were genuine in their worship and desire to bless and reach the community. The Word was great. We surprised ourselves when we got in the car after the first Sunday of worship and lunch with the church..... "We loved it!" It looked nothing like anything we'd ever experienced but it was a real church! We were excited to commit to involvement and growth there. We did.

In the next months, we got involved.... very involved. With my training and call, I was willing and hungry to serve and learn in ministry. We helped to start Bible studies, lead in outreach, and volunteered on Sundays. The church continued to grow. One Sunday, the church came to us and asked if we'd be willing to take on some formal ministry responsibilities and accept some financial help with our schooling/pay. We were shocked and humbled, but said yes. The church continued to grow. The church came back and asked if we'd be willing to give more of our time. We said yes. This continued over the next two years. There were a total of four of us guys who served on staff as bi-vocational ministers.

About two years ago, our lead pastor at the time announced to us and the church leadership that he would soon be stepping down from church ministry to take on a more full-time role at the seminary as a professor and Chair of Missions Department. The church began a prayerful process of selecting the next pastor and helping with the transition. After a couple of months, the church came to me and called us to serve as lead pastor. Shocked, humbled, confident in the Lord's call, scared to death, and excited... we said yes and stepped forward in faith.

It has been an awesome experience, especially because (a) we had the joy of volunteering as a regular church member before we had the thought of serving as a leader (b) we had the privilege of being mentored in leadership and pastoring within our church before being called to pastor our church.

God's grace is so awesome to allow me and uphold me to serve as pastor of a church in this early season in life and ministry. It is a wonderful privilege and responsibility.

Nathan: Tell me a bit more about Island Community Church.

Barrett: Our church was planted about eight or nine years ago on Mud Island in downtown Memphis. The Island was developed in the 90's and is a planned community. Convenient enough, though, they did not plan for a church. God called a man to start a church on the Island in his home. He did. Initially, it was met with a lot of resistance (our community is not only uninterested but resistant to spiritual things and churches). But, he stayed and continued to share the gospel and invite people in. Over a period of several years, the church grew. People were baptized and changed by grace. They went out and shared with their friends and more came. More growth. More salvations. More change. The has been the cycle of the church over the last years. Today, we are about 160 people on an average Sunday.... many seekers, many new Christians, and lately many downtown Christians realizing they can worship and serve in a church near their home.

We are the only church actively reaching out to the Mud Island community of 7,000 people. We are one of a handful of evangelical churches reaching out to our downtown community of 30,000+. We are a very mission-minded church, both in our community and around the world. We want to share the gospel and live in out in our lives. 25% of our annual budget is devoted to ministries and missions outside of our church.

We are a young church (median age probably 30-35).... we reflect the age and diversity of our community. We have many internationals and professional students who are in Memphis only for a season. We are very relationally-driven rather than program-driven, again reflective of the nature of our community. We strive hard to contextualize the gospel and our ministry strategies to the unique nature of our downtown community. Service opportunities and relationship-building ministries are often our greatest bridges into people's lives, leading to more opportunities to move them deeper into involvement in the church and understanding of the gospel.

We are SBC in affiliation though we don't carry "Baptist" in our name. In our community, people are aversive to churches much less denominations. While we are happy in our Baptist beliefs and affiliation, we don't want that to be aversive to anyone in a community that simply needs a church. Also, we were not a plant of SBC or any other church. We have never received any outside support from outside organizations - we have always been self-sustaining.

Nathan: What is the most exciting thing God is doing in your church right now?

Barrett: One of the most exciting things that has happened to us in the last few months comes in answer to a prayer we've prayed for the last few years. As a church plant, we started in a living room. Then, as we grew, we moved to a school room (in the one school on Mud Island). The school was the biggest assembly space available to us on the Island. When we outgrew it, we moved just off of the Island to a hotel ballroom downtown. Last year, we began to reach maximum capacity again. We knew that each time we outgrew a space, God had faithfully provided. We waited, we prayed. We searched for available spaces in our area that could fit us.... everything was unavailable or out of our range of affordability. We waited, we prayed. Last summer, I received a call from the CEO of ALSAC/ St. Jude. He wanted to discuss something related to our church. I agreed to meet. When I got there, he told me that they had a property they wanted to loan us for the next ten years. It sits one mile from Mud Island on the main road through the area. It is an old warehouse (in need of renovation) but is 11,000 square feet! I asked the price: he told me he wanted to let us hold us for them for $1 / year. Then, "thanks for what you're doing for our community." WOW. Are you kidding me? Shock, amazement, then tears. God you are amazing! So... God has provided a home base for ministry for His church to continue to grow and outreach in our area for the next ten years. Amazing. We are actively fundraising now for renovations (feel free to help us spread the word)..... we have about $150k to go.

The building is really just an asset for ministry and doesn't really describe the core of our ministry itself. Perhaps one of the most exciting things we're seeing right now in ministry is the growth within our people to embrace missional living. God is transforming our understanding of life to be about what He is doing, not about what we are doing. Many people in our church came to Memphis thinking it was about some training or job and are now realizing it is about His work in Memphis and His desire for them to be involved in kingdom growth in our community and around the world. We are seeing huge percentage of the church choosing active involvement in regular community service partnerships (seven weekly or monthly partnerships) and also involvement in global missions. In the last three years, we have gone from no global missions trip to four global missions trips. We went from no one feeling called to missions to two individuals now embracing the call and moving overseas (one already there, another in process). As a church, we are supporting them both financially. This year, we will take four teams overseas to work with our missions partners (total participation in global missions this year is nearly 1/3 of our average attendance!). Honestly, it is amazing to see. For some reason, I never thought I would be able to live in the U.S. and reach the nations. I was totally wrong. God is using us in this season and allowing us to lead others to embrace God's missional heart for all people, everywhere.

Nathan: What can we pray about on your behalf?

Barrett: You can pray for the church and our effectiveness and fruitfulness in our community. Pray the the Lord would continue to draw the lost of our community to treasure and follow Jesus. The need is great. Pray our members would continue to find their identity and purpose in Christ, to live in love with His grace and live on mission for His people. Pray He would continue to provide for and protect the church. Pray we would see a gospel renewal in downtown Memphis that would restore, heal and change our broken city, and shake our world. We believe hope is on the horizon. We are praying that God's renewal will begin with us! You can also pray for Michelle and I and our lead team as we lead our church. It is an awesome privilege to serve and lead the church, but it also comes with burdens and challenges. Pray our faith would remain in the Lord (not ourselves), our identity in Christ (not what we do), and focus on His fruitfulness (not our manufactured measurements of ministry "success"). Pray we would seek and receive the rest God intends for us, protecting our hearts and relationships from overwork.

Wow, what a story of God's grace in the life of an a young man who has been open to his leading! You can get in touch with him on facebook, on the church website, or by following his blog.