Perry Noble says he never thought he would pastor again, announces new Second Chance campus

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Saturday, December 02, 2023

Approximately seven years after he was fired from NewSpring Church in South Carolina for alcohol abuse and other "unfortunate choices and decisions," Perry Noble is thanking God for allowing him back into the megachurch space with the announcement of the Greenville campus of his Second Chance Church.

Noble, the founder and senior pastor of Second Chance Church, revealed in a post on Facebook Tuesday that he never thought he would ever be a pastor today after his firing in 2016.

"I didn't want to announce @thesecondchancechurch was going to start a Greenville campus … heck, for the longest time I actually didn't want to start another campus at all!" he wrote, adding that he never thought he would "pastor again." 

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"When we finally did open up the doors at our first location (aka - the liquor store - IYKYK) - I honestly didn't know if anyone would show up!"

After Second Chance Church moved to its current location in Anderson in 2018, Noble said he figured "that was it" and was "content with it all." 

"If Jesus never blessed me with anything else in my life — I've' always been given/blessed way more than I ever deserved! But the Lord kept pressing into me," Noble stated. "[God] kept reminding me that the local church has more to bring change to the world than anyone or anything!"

He said God kept reminding him of the Great Commission and "made a way for Greenville to happen." 

"[S]tepping into this next season I am both excited and a little scared as well!" he said. "I know the accusations of not being qualified are coming — as well as reminders of my past!" he said. "But I also know the grace of God, His mercy to me and His relentless pursuit (He never gave up on me!)"

Second Chance Church did not immediately respond to questions from The Christian Post Friday about how the work of the new campus is progressing.

In October 2016, three months after his firing as senior pastor of NewSpring Church, Noble, who would later divorce his wife, Lucretia, went public with details of his marriage, drinking issues and other aspects of the double life that led to his exit from the church.

"I was a hypocrite — I preached, 'you can't do life alone' and then went out and lived the opposite," he wrote. "I chose isolation over community. … Isolation is where self-doubt dominated my emotions, causing me to believe I just could not carry the weight anymore, and alcohol was necessary for me to make it through another day. I hated myself, literally HATED myself for doing what I was doing, but believed the lie that this was just the way things were, and there was no way it could ever get better."

Though NewSpring leaders voiced opposition to his return to ministry, seven months after his firing, during which time he completed a rehab program, Noble returned to the pulpit with the blessing of his friend and confidante, Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in North Carolina. He also continued preaching at other churches while running a consultancy business, The Growth Company, which teaches churches how to grow.