Imagine you're a pastor in your late fifties, leading a small church as a solo pastor, and you've begun praying for one thing: Lord, send me someone I can pass the baton to.
Now imagine a young church planter pulls up from South Carolina with a U-Haul, a wife, and two small boys. He isn't there to take over. He's there to plant.
That's the setup for this week's conversation, where I sat down with Steve Savage and Bryce Harrison of King's Table Church in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The short version
Steve moved to Nova Scotia from Ontario to pastor LifeBridge Community Church. Within months he saw the need for revitalization, and he began praying, with his elders, for someone younger to walk alongside him. When Bryce arrived, the goal was clear: serve the church well, then be sent to plant.
But over about two years, something shifted. Bryce fell in love with the community. A Monday-night Bible study in his living room grew to 30-35 people. And Bryce eventually asked: What if we plant together instead?
Steve's first answer was no. He didn't want to take Bryce's calling away. He went home and told his wife, who gave him a response he describes with a laugh as, well, not exactly gentle. A week later he went back to Bryce and said, "Tell me that idea again."
What stood out to me
Humility on both sides. Steve was open-handed with his church. Bryce held back from putting his fingerprints on everything because he didn't want to leave a mess for whoever came next. That kind of restraint is rare, and it made trust possible.
They didn't rush. Months of conversations with small groups, the seniors group, and leaders. A vote in spring. A summer of teaching the new vision. A relaunch as King's Table in September. Steve's phrase: "We move forward with a definiteness of purpose."
One church, not two. Some asked, "Weren't we supposed to be multiplying?" Bryce's answer: this may be the slower path to two churches, but it's the stronger path to five, ten, or twenty. With two pastors sharing the load, a church of 60-70 members is already running a pastoral residency and an internship and developing leaders for worship ministry, revitalization, regional church planting, and cross-cultural missions. As Bryce puts it, they "punch above their weight class."
Two lessons worth your time
From Bryce: Own the ordinary. Jesus chose fishermen, mustard seeds, and donkey colts. "Look for ways that you can serve your community in small, unnoticed, uncelebrated ways, and then you'll be surprised at what the Lord does with it."
From Steve: It's Jesus' church, not mine. "This is not my legacy that I'm leaving behind." That's what frees him to call Bryce "my pastor," not "my associate."
A question for you this week: Who are you praying for God to send alongside you, and what would it cost you to say yes when he does?
GUEST BIOS
Steve & Debbie Savage have been married since 1989 and have three adult children: Sydney, Dustin, and Bryce. Steve graduated with a BRE from Covenant Baptist Bible College in Mission B.C. in 1985, but decided to pursue a marketing career. After 20+ years working in the corporate world, the Savages were called to enter full-time vocational ministry. Steve has since pastored three different churches in three different provinces across Canada and is also serving as Chaplain to the RCMP in Dartmouth NS. They enjoy watching sports (especially football), love their coffee (especially with friends), and appreciate any opportunity to travel and experience other cultures (especially with family).
Bryce and his wife, Elizabeth, have three boys – Coleman, Gilbert, and Lewis (with Baby #4 coming this fall!). Bryce and Elizabeth both grew up in missionary families before graduating from North Greenville University. Bryce earned his Masters of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Harrisons moved to Nova Scotia in 2021 to pursue the Lord's calling to plant churches. They love Atlantic Canada and are so thankful for the team and community that the Lord has gathered around them. Bryce enjoys sports, Shark Week, and all things Tolkien. If he's not watching episodes of Bluey or being used as a human climbing gym, he may also be spotted in his natural habitat coaching youth baseball.
LINKS
King's Table Church: https://kingstablechurch.ca/
Generation Link: https://generationlink.org/
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