Pastor-In-Focus: Blake Martin, Church Planting Pastor

SHAWNEE—What if God asked you to drop everything and move from Oklahoma, a place you have known all your life, to New York City for missions and church ministry?

New York City is a place that needs the Gospel. Out of the nearly 8.8 million people living in NYC, only 6% profess their faith and regularly attend church. NYC is a melting pot of different cultures and religions, and the challenges of church work and church planting are numerous.

A major move from Oklahoma to New York like that would require a leap of faith. That is exactly what church planting pastor Blake Martin believes the Lord has compelled him to do. He and his wife Bryse are pursuing the calling they feel God has placed on them and are moving to NYC to help plant a church.

“The idea of moving away from home is certainly daunting and scary,” said Martin. “It was something we had to surrender over to the Lord and trust that He was going to provide.”

Both were born and raised in Shawnee. Neither grew up in church, but made professions of faith while attending Shawnee, Immanuel (IMB). Blake felt called into ministry and began his journey as an intern at IMB. While attending college at Oklahoma Baptist University, Martin worked as a student minister at Shawnee, New Hope. Ten years ago, he began his pastorate at Shawnee, Wallace Ave. Though, the Lord was working to lead the Martins to NYC before that.

“God started the work in church planting in my life almost 11 years ago,” said Martin. “We have planted churches and sent church planters out of our church for the last 10 years. I’ve been involved with SEND Network church planting training for the past four years as well.”

About four years ago, Martin began going on mission trips to NYC with his church. Each trip they would help church plants in the city and assist in mission work. On every trip, Martin would feel connected to the people there and knew that eventually he’d plant a church in NYC himself.

“8.8 million people live a three-and-a-half-hour plane ride away from Oklahoma, where I live, and of those 8.8 million people only 6% profess faith in Jesus and are connected to a church,” Martin said. “That’s what started it. I didn’t realize the magnitude of the lostness there.”

Last year, Martin received a call from a pastor in NYC asking him to just consider moving his family there and pastoring a church. Usually, Blake would be very open and willing to agree. However, the thought of leaving his comfort zone and Shawnee, Wallace was unnerving. Usually the one to be cautious, Bryse encouraged Blake to consider the offer.

“I knew that this was the time that the Lord had paved a way for our family to move to NYC,” she said.

This endeavor will be a massive change for the family, but they believe that they have been given an obvious path by God and intend to pursue it whole-heartedly.

Blake will be moving his wife and two children to Hope Community, Brooklyn, NY. Brooklyn is the most populous burrow in New York. Neighborhoods have anywhere between 40,000 to 50,000 residents. This change in environment brings its own set of opportunities and challenges.

A church that has 50 members or more is considered large in NYC. This is because the dense population and limited space make finding rooms to host more than 50 people difficult. As a result, the time it takes for a church to become self-sustaining takes longer. The Martins will be relying on the generosity of others to help support the church for the first few years.

Once the church is up and running though, it will have incredible opportunities to spread the Gospel not just to the city, but also to other countries. Since New York is a “melting pot,” churches there can disciple and minster to people from all over the world who can then, in turn, start to proclaim the Gospel to their own family and friends, or even take it back on mission trips to their home country.

The Martins are in the process of relocating to New York this year, ready and willing to serve the Lord. They ask that Oklahoma Baptists pray for them.

“It is among Oklahoma Baptists that I was equipped to serve and understood the call to missions and ministry, so I’m asking my Oklahoma Baptists ‘family’ to pray for us,” Blake added. “I’m grateful for all the support and prayers we have received and will continue to receive.”