Ken Davis, a church planter and church-planting mentor to many, died May 27. He was 75.
Ken served with Baptist Mid-Missions from 1975 until he retired in 2020. His ministry focused on planting multicultural churches. In 1976, Baptist Mid-Missions asked him to pastor Trinity Baptist Church in Indianapolis. During his pastorate, he joined two other men in founding Baptist Bible College of Indianapolis (now College of Biblical Studies). He taught and served in administrative roles at the college from 1980 to 1999.
Ken loved encouraging and teaching the next generation. In 1999 he became the director of church planting at Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. During his 20 years there, he coached and mentored many men who desired to plant a church. Two of those men were Tim Walker and Dan Nichols, who planted Restored Church, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Tim calls Ken his “friend, mentor, and church-planting coach.” And on Ken’s 70th birthday, Dan thanked Ken for “believing in me when many didn’t. Thank you for being Paul to this very raw Timothy. It’s an honor to learn from you. . . . You’ve championed the name and fame of Jesus to Northeast Pennsylvania in powerful ways, and NOTHING could be more impactful than that!”
The last year of Ken’s life he wrote Foundations for Fruitful Church Planting: Essentials Before You Launch, available on Amazon in July 2023. He previously wrote “Planting Daughter Churches” in The Pastor: A Guide for God’s Faithful Servant and cowrote The Y.B.H. (Yes But How) Handbook of Church Planting with Roger McNamara, a fellow BMM missionary.
In 1987 Ken and Roger launched the School of Church Planting. For the next 35 years the school trained nearly 700 missionaries and church planters.
Ken is survived by his wife of 53 years, Sharon; four children, Timothy, Philip, Joanna Young, and Susan Lehman; and 17 grandchildren.
