I sat down with Pastor Taurus Solomon to talk about his journey of planting a church in Dallas, Texas. Taurus came out of a painful church split in Atlanta that left deep wounds. He did everything he could to avoid planting a church. But God had other plans. What Taurus has built in Dallas is a testament to what happens when you follow God through fear and come out on the other side.
When God Calls You Through Pain
Before Dallas, Taurus was serving in ministry in Atlanta. Then a church split happened, and it broke something in him. He described the experience as painful on levels he did not have language for at the time. He was healing, his marriage was stable, and the last thing he wanted to do was start over.
“I was kicking and screaming. I was mad,” Taurus told me. “I did everything in my power to not plant a church.” But with healing came a new level of trust. He followed God to Dallas, terrified but obedient. And every fear he had turned out to be a lie.
“Honestly, every fear that I had about planting a church was not real. Everything the devil told me about it was a lie,” Taurus said.
Creating a Safe Place for the Hurting
Because Taurus experienced church hurt firsthand, he built his ministry to be a safe place for people carrying similar wounds. His church in Dallas is intentionally welcoming, non-judgmental, and focused on genuine care. People who have been burned by church before feel comfortable walking through the doors because the culture is built on honesty and love.
That focus on healing is something I see in the strongest churches. Pastor Sherman Dumas at Kingdom Culture shared a similar heart for reaching people who had walked away from church. When your ministry is built around restoration, people come and they stay.
How Digital Marketing Changed Everything
Taurus connected with ChurchCandy early on and started running Facebook and Instagram ads. The results were immediate. People in Dallas who had never heard of his church started showing up because they saw an ad on their phone.
One of the most powerful stories Taurus shared was about a woman named Elizabeth. She found out about the church through one of the very first ads they ran. She visited a conference, then joined the church when it officially launched. She and her husband had been through a miscarriage and were in a rocky place in their marriage. Through their connection to the church, their marriage was restored, and they are now in the healthiest place they have ever been.
“Because of connecting to our church through a Facebook ad, she’s now in the healthiest place she’s ever been in her marriage,” Taurus shared.
Overcoming the Fear of Church Planting
If you are a pastor wrestling with whether to plant a church, Taurus wants you to know something: the fear is normal, but it is not a reason to stop. He was honest about how terrifying the process was. Leaving a stable ministry, moving to a new city, starting from scratch. None of it felt safe. But looking back, he would do it all again.
His advice for aspiring church planters:
- Let God heal you first. You cannot lead others out of a place you have not walked through yourself.
- Do not let fear make your decisions. Fear will always tell you to stay comfortable. Obedience requires movement.
- Create an environment of safety. People who are hurting need to know they will not be judged when they walk through the door.
- Use digital marketing to reach people you cannot reach in person. Facebook ads put Taurus’s church in front of people like Elizabeth who would never have found it otherwise.
- Steward the stories. When God changes someone’s life through your ministry, celebrate it and share it.
Final Thought
Taurus Solomon’s story is proof that God can use your pain as the foundation for your purpose. What started as a season of hurt became a church that is changing lives in Dallas. If you are holding back because of fear or past wounds, let Taurus’s journey encourage you to take the next step.
For another powerful church planting story, check out how Pastor Sammy Gomes planted Fray Church and what you can learn from it.
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