Church at the Mill, Woodruff Campus

By: Jessica Burnette, Staff Writer

Have you seen a flood of community members in maroon shirts that read “Woodruff Campus”? It is not an advertisement for a new school campus with a fast-growing population. However, it is a newly established church campus right in our community!

You may have heard of Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church. Maybe you’re more familiar with “The Mill” or “Church at The Mill.” The church’s history dates to 1988, with membership and facilities growing over time, along with name changes. After moving into their newest facility, Pastor D.J. Horton challenged his church to share his vision of reaching out into the growing communities and possibly looking into multi-site ministry to reproduce rather than continuing to grow.

Pastor Horton and his church were praying for God’s guidance in his vision. During this same time, Covid hit, which seemed to put a halt to the progression.

Little did Pastor Horton know; God was still at work. Pastor Bill Thomason of Element Church in Woodruff called Pastor Horton and asked that he pray with him and the leadership of Element about the best way to reach the community. Pastor Thomason shared his concerns that the current leadership of Element feared they would not have the resources, nor energy, to serve the growing community as needed. Pastor Horton recognized this was God’s Hands working out the details for his vision, along with an answered prayer for Element. To avoid seeming like a “corporate takeover,” the final decision was left up to Element leadership.

As the two churches began to work together, Pastor Horton and their staff pulled their numbers. They found that over 200 members with Woodruff addresses were currently attending Church at The Mill.

This was encouraging as the staff began to work towards forming their second congregation in Woodruff. At their first vision meeting for the Woodruff Campus, there were 170 in attendance.

With much work along the way, Church at The Mill Woodruff Campus had their first two services at 9 AM and 11 AM on August 22nd. Unlike some megachurches that simulcast their remote locations, Pastor Horton has made a theological and philosophical decision to place young men, trained and grown within the church, in the communities as campus pastors, preaching live so that members can connect and develop their identity as a congregation under a man that is loving on them. Horton believes that by simulcasting new campuses, he would eliminate the opportunity for young men to learn to preach and pastor a church.

Adam Siskey will be the campus pastor at Woodruff. He and his wife have relocated to the Woodruff community from Moore. They have enrolled their three children in the Woodruff school system.

Adam has been at The Mill for eight years and began work as the Middle School Pastor. That position transitioned to become the High School Pastor in 2016. In 2017, God began working on his heart to start transitioning and seeding other churches.

As he was awaiting the Lord’s answer, he became the chaplain for the Woodruff football team in 2018. Siskey has been invested in the Woodruff community for about four years now.

When this situation with Element and Church at The Mill arose, he realized the perfection of God’s plan and timing.

Adam will preach the same sermon Pastor Horton preaches at Church at The Mill, with the same scripture and main ideas, but he will make it his own message. This will allow each campus to develop its own identity. Horton says he wants the new campus to “smell like Woodruff,” “look like Woodruff,” and “feel like Woodruff” so that the community will feel a connection. During their August 22nd launch, they had over 400 in attendance at both services combined.

Pastor Siskey looks forward to growing The Woodruff Campus and continuing to be involved in the community. For more information about The Woodruff Campus, you can visit their website at https://churchatthemill.com/woodruff/.