Clint and Sara Byars

Founding and Lead Pastors of Forward Church

A Welcome from Pastor Clint

Sara and I were not churched people, but we knew we wanted to spend our lives helping people experience God’s radical love. I was not raised in church. I had only been to church about a dozen times before the age of 21. Those sparse visits were usually for Easter or some other special occasion. By my teenage years, I had adopted the idea that we merge with the collective consciousness of the universe when we die, and there is no personal afterlife. I stumbled into drugs in my teenage years, which opened the door to all sorts of occult and mystical beliefs.

As detailed in my book, Devil Walk, I learned that God was real in 1991 because I had an encounter with dozens of demons. I reasoned, “if the devil is real, then God must be real.” This sent me on a journey to first regain sanity and then to know God. 

During the first 5 years of my journey, while in college at Georgia State and UGA (GO DAWGS!!), I simply developed a relationship with God, as if he was discipling me personally. I read my Bible, but I still didn’t go to church. It wasn’t part of my upbringing and I had no real value for it out of ignorance. I wasn’t against church, I just had no compulsion to go. At the end of those 5 years, I had read the Bible many times and had an intimate relationship with Jesus. I thank God I had this experience before “going to church.”

Just before Christmas of 1994, I got a call from my Mom, who invited me to the church where her friend’s brother-in-law was the pastor. This was Pastor David Michael of Faith Cornerstone in Dunwoody, GA. I visited there and shortly realized that God was calling me to eventually do what Pastor David was doing. I didn’t know what a calling was; I just wanted to get people saved and talk about Jesus for the rest of my life. 

Around this time, Sara and I met at UGA and fell in love. We moved back to the Atlanta area at separate times and began regularly attending Faith Cornerstone. We knew we eventually wanted to launch a church in the Atlanta area because we are both from here and love the area. By the way, I grew up in Tyrone / Peachtree City, attending McIntosh, and Sara grew up in Marietta, attending Walton.

I took to the streets in Atlanta early in my conversion just to tell people that God loved them and wanted to have a relationship. I never took an evangelism class, I just wanted people to know God loved them. I knew that God was real, Jesus had died to save them from an eternity apart from him, and people needed to hear about it. I saw nearly 200 people come to Christ in the first year of ministering on the streets of Atlanta, this was around 1996. Sara and I were also building a graphic design company, we’ve been entrepreneurial for most of our lives.

Around that same time, Dr. Jim Richards spoke at Faith Cornerstone. Once Sara and I heard him, we knew we wanted to move to Huntsville, AL, to be trained at Impact International School of Ministry. Dr. Richards' books have influenced people such as Joseph Prince, Andrew Wommack, and hundreds of more leaders who are now promoting the true Gospel message. In 2000, we packed up and moved to attend IISOM with the plan to move back to Atlanta and start a church.

While at Impact, I completed school and served in multiple roles: Graphic Designer, Website Developer, IISOM outreach leader, Youth Pastor, Small Groups Director, Young Married’s Pastor, Associate Pastor to Dr. Richards, and IISOM Instructor. I held these positions at various times between 2000 and 2006. Sara and I moved back to Newnan, GA, in October 2006. We took some time off and rebuilt our graphic design business, while we planned the launch of Forward.

After we bought a home in Newnan, we started meeting in our home in October 2008 with 3 other families. In less than a year, we could no longer fit in our house, so we rented a few different spaces before settling into our current location in Sharpsburg, GA. We truly feel that God has gathered a family of people who genuinely care for one another at Forward. We are excited to keep moving forward and bring the Gospel to the South Atlanta region.

Our focus is on setting people free from the bondage of legalistic religion and laying them in the lap of a loving Father who absolutely adores them. We trust the Holy Spirit for people much more than we trust in our Pastoral gifts, it’s much more fun and effective that way. 

As of 2024, Forward has existed for 15 years. In this time, we have seen thousands of people experience wholeness from knowing God’s love. We’ve seen many experience transformation through discovering the power of God’s grace. We keep it simple but we’re fiercely devoted to making disciples and equipping people to step into the assignments God has for them.

If you’re reading this, and you’re looking for a church, consider this a personal invitation to connect with us. We want you here! We have a thriving local community and a far-reaching online impact. There’s a place for you! Give us a call or join us this Sunday for worship and community. We’re glad you’re here!

Grace and Peace,
Clint Byars
Founding and Lead Pastor of Forward Church

Clint has a practical yet profound teaching style that focuses on the New Covenant identity and authority of the believer. “I believe that when you experience God’s love, you will allow him to transform you.”

Clint Byars is the founding and lead pastor of Forward Church in Sharpsburg, GA. Clint is the author of 8 books. He has released over 80 teaching series. Clint has created a series of prayer and meditation resources titled Tools for Transformation. Clint is also the creator of Forward School of Transformation.

Clint is a graduate of Impact International School of Ministries, founded by Dr. Jim Richards, where he served as a youth pastor, outreach coordinator, and ministry school instructor. In addition to pastoring Forward Church, Clint is currently a regular guest speaker at Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, Colorado, founded by Andrew Wommack.