Great Soul-Winning Churches - Elmer Towns

When Powell wanted to build the church, he went to the local bank and asked to borrow
$100,000. When he explained to the banker that the building would take $150,000, Powell
explained that he would raise $20,000 immediately, gather $10,000 during the building process,
and raise the final $20,000 when they occupied the building. The banker replied that when
Powell walked in with his check for $20,000 he could have the loan. That’s the way it happened.
When the church got ready to build, Powell decided to put in a basement which would
cost an extra $15,000. The bank wouldn’t loan him the extra money. He got 15 men of the
congregation to go and borrow $1,000 each. Next he signed up 125 families in the “100 Club.”
Each of these gave $1.00 a week, making payments of $439.00 a month for the basement. Powell
sees this as a miracle of God, inasmuch as over three to four hundred children are housed in the
basement each Sunday.
The church has never had spectacular growth, just steady growth, increasing by 50 to 200
each year. Last year, the church averaged 1,000. Powell plans to average 1111 during his spring
campaign that will last 11 weeks. The church has 15 bus routes, bringing about 50 percent of the
attendance in; 1,457 attended on the largest day, when the church had an ox roast, in September,
1972. They baptized 218 in 1972 and 180 the year before.
Powell testifies he wants poor kids on his buses, as well as those from middle-class
homes. He wants a church where all can feel at home. He said, “We have Sunday School
teachers on welfare, as well as those drawing large salaries.”
The strength of Reimer Road Baptist Church is people, common people. They have no
unusual ministry, just a steady stream of souls being won to Jesus Christ. When asked what their
special talents are, the pastor replied, “The congregation rallies around the staff to serve God.”
Powell testifies that there are no greatly talented leaders in the church, just average people with a
mind to work and a heart to pray.
The church has sponsored Sword of the Lord Conferences, in addition to having revivals
with Dr. John R. Rice, Tom Wallace, and Dr. Lee Roberson. At present six students from there
are studying in Tennessee Temple Schools. The church does not have a radio program, no
television, and does not use newspaper advertising. Powell states that he just encourages people
to bring lost people to the services, where they win them to Jesus Christ.
Powell spends his days among his people. A nurse from the Akron hospital phoned him
to say that a terminal cancer patient was calling out, “Lord! Lord!” The nurse said over the
phone, “This is the kind of man that you can help.”
The church has experienced opposition from the neighborhood. Powell indicates that
there are a group of neighbors who constantly harass the church about its buses. At a hearing in
the township, one neighbor protested, “This church is too big and has too much activity; it has
more activity than the average factory.” Before the Zoning Board of Appeals would allow them
to occupy the new building, they made the church sign an agreement not to purchase more than
16 buses, to tear down a house on the property that is used for Sunday School, and make other
improvements on the property. One board member stated, “We’ve got to stop this church from