Stadia: Every Child To Experience Love of Jesus Through a Local Church

Stadia, a national church planting organization that places children as a priority, is working on its tenth collaborative church plant in the Los Angeles area, said executive Nathan Hawkins."I get to visit a lot of great cities and there's something unique about Los Angeles," said Hawkins during a recent Together LA Facebook Live video stream (below). "I do believe it's an epicenter of culture. It's a place where people come to make things happen and it's a space where church is needed. There's a lot of great churches already here in Los Angeles and there's a need for more."In a previous interview with TLA, a Stadia representative said that simply discussing the problems and issues facing America today, even from a Christian perspective, is not enough.“We really don’t have to look much farther than social media and news outlets [to see] everything going on in our culture — the racism, the injustice…,” said Jeff Bennett, who is a Stadia executive for its U.S. Church Planting and South Region divisions. “We can talk about the injustices, we can talk about the discouragement we feel, or we could do something.”Leaders said the organization has had the honor of helping hundreds of great leaders start new churches. "With these leaders, we share a passionate desire to see a world where every child will experience the love of Jesus Christ through the local church," Stadia said on its website. "Are you ready to invest in the next generation by partnering and/or planting with Stadia? Do you know someone who is? Stadia is ready to help! Because we won’t stop … until Every Child Has a Church."Hawkins was asked about the Los Angeles Church Planting Movement that Stadia has been a part of since its inception several years ago. He pointed to LACPM as another way for churches to come together, network, and see the gospel advance.

Stadia, World Impact Leaders Answer the ‘What Can I Do?’ Question

On the Web

https://stadiachurchplanting.org/

The Reality of Urban Church Planting: Fear and Faith

There's something different about someone who acts on their deepest desire to impact lives, ultimately leaving them feeling both vulnerable and fulfilled in their own life.That is the heart of a church planting pastor.There is a certain level of uncertainty to planting something that is counter-cultural to the current state of society. As an urban church planter, there have been times of great joy and extreme lows. Church planting in any context is difficult because you are trying to introduce people to something that is greater than themselves. In the same breath, church planting is about being the mediator between hurt and hope. It is the ability to be in the midst of the vicissitudes of people’s lives, yet offer the solution to their problems. But at the core of this organization or organism, known as society, is the church planting pastors.Urban church planting pastors, who are looking out for the proverbial Gotham City known as their communities, live to transform the lives of the people in their cities. In addition to that, there is something that is very telling about being a church planting pastor in the urban environment. As urban church pastors, there is this idea of being used by God that is beautiful in theory but then there is the reality of actually being in the community doing life with folks.

READ: Urban Church Planter - First, What Does the City Need?

There is a certain level of fear that is part of planting a church for urban pastors. It is not what you might think either. It is not that urban pastors are fearful for their lives or scared to walk down the street in the community where their church lives. But it is fear of failure, the fear of not being able to fulfill the great commission of making disciples.There is fear in the unknown. Will people show up to bible study? Will someone show up for Sunday service?It is the fear of not having the budget to get outreach done or evening having enough to pay the monthly rent for facilities.In the midst of societal race issues, there is the fear of stepping into the center of that tension to be the voice of reason, yet not lose your identity or your “cultural hood card” in the process.There is fear of inadequacies, lack of resources, not having a large congregation, or not having the right words for the wrong situation. The fear of being urban church planting pastors can be enough to have the toughest person walk away, willing to simply go back into the fray of just being a participating member of the local church.Despite these and a lot of other fears, there is hope. The hope in faith is the essence of what drives urban pastors who are planting a church in their community.Faith is the safe place for urban church pastors. Fear is an ever presence, but faith is always there, calming the heart of urban pastors. Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane due to the stress of his call, his assignment to save the world. His prayer was for God’s will to be done. It was in this moment that Jesus knew that his demise was at hand. This was a prayer that reflected faith in the will of God.Urban pastors are constantly on the pendulum of operating within the divided, between fear and faith. The ability to balance between fear and faith is always a presence in the mind of the urban church planting pastor. It is that balance that keeps the urban pastor in the face of God, with the knowledge of knowing that things are truly working for the good of those that remain faithful. It is faith that enables urban pastors to not give up during those lean times of planting the church.It is faith that lets urban pastors know that it is not about the number of people in a church service but the number of blessings. It is faith that lets the urban pastors know that they are transforming lives just by having coffee with the man or woman who is returning from prison. It is faith that lets the urban pastors smile knowing that what is not recorded in the offering plate, is being celebrated in heaven. It is faith that positions the urban pastors to stand whether there are two people or two hundred people. It is faith that urban pastors have to stand for the underpaid port worker, for the under-resourced community, the underrepresented youth, and the overly sexualized young girl.It is that same faith that doesn’t keep track of every hurt, knowing that it should be charged to the head and not to the person’s heart.Fear and faith are the bookends of this thing called ministry, which is where urban pastors learn to live.

Urban Ministry, Church Planting Leaders Answer the ‘What Can I Do?’ Question

Simply discussing the problems and issues facing America today, even from a Christian perspective, is not enough, said the leaders of two national organizations that recently announced a partnership to plant churches in Los Angeles, New York, and everywhere in between.“We really don’t have to look much farther than social media and news outlets [to see] everything going on in our culture — the racism, the injustice…,” said Jeff Bennett, who is a Stadia executive for its U.S. Church Planting and South Region divisions. “We can talk about the injustices, we can talk about the discouragement we feel, or we could do something.”Stadia, a church planting resource that has helped “hundreds of great leaders start new churches,” and World Impact, a ministry that “empowers the urban poor and incarcerated” recently held a “vision trip” in Los Angeles where Bennett along with World Impact National Director Bob Engel spoke to TogetherLA.net about the partnership.They said that church planting, urban outreach and discipleship are action steps and answers to the questions many people in America are now asking in a tension filled, politically charged country. Prayer is an essential part, but not the only part, they said.Bennett said he believes that currently many people are often asking, “What can I do? How can we impact culture? How can we change some of the things that just disgust us that are going on today? Is there something our churches can do?”He followed the list of questions by saying that almost every American church is within 20 minutes of an urban, under-resourced community.“There are people living in those communities who maybe your church isn’t going to reach, but that doesn’t take away the responsibility off of you to get the gospel out there,” Bennett said. “You’ve got great organizations like World Impact who are training up leaders who live in these communities, to go go back to these communities and reach their neighbors but they need our help. There are very practical things we can do, the church can do to make an impact in these communities. When we start to do that, that’s when we see culture change and communities change.”When asked about the significance of the partnership, Engel said, “Souls. That’s always the first thing I think about. Souls are eternal, and yes, there are a lot of needs in the city. We do believe, first of all, that the church of the living God comes together and they’ve been given a steward of the gospel.“The gospel becomes a power to transform someone from the inside,” he explained. “That transformation then brings them into community — we plant churches — that community then has been given the keys of the kingdom of God. Then, ultimately I believe, Stadia believes [that] true transformation is going to come when people are changed from the inside, gathered together as God’s people and then begin to use their gifts to transform their community around them.”Engel said the partnership between Stadia and World Impact is “very critical if you just think about the kingdom of God.”“The kingdom is churches, God’s people coming together to advance and expand His kingdom — can’t do it separately, you need to do it together — and so Stadia is so committed to God’s kingdom, planting churches, people coming to Christ, being discipled…,” he said. “That’s who we are amongst the urban poor and under-resourced communities and so it’s a beautiful marriage.“When we think of LA together we also think of Stadia and World Impact together. We need to come together to move God’s kingdom forward.”

Stadia and World Impact Offer Urban Church Planting Vision Trips To LA, NYC

The national and global church-planting group, Stadia, wants to give Christian leaders and potential leaders "a front row view of urban church planting in action" at vision trips planned for Los Angeles (Aug. 15-17) and New York City (Sept. 19-21)."Come spend time with us and World Impact as we experience what God is doing through new urban churches," Stadia's Urban Church Planting Vision Trips organizers said. "Get an up-close perspective of how the partnership works and how you can join us."Stadia and World Impact said they are making the trips as accessible as possible by offering two options, one on each coast."We’ll cover your food and accommodations; you’ll just need to get yourself there," they said."During these Urban Church Planting Vision Trips you will get to know World Impact church planters as well as Bob Engel, National Director of Church Planting for World Impact" and "spend time learning how God is using Stadia and World Impact to reach under-resourced cities."Organizers plan for those attending to walk the communities where Stadia and World Impact will be planting future urban churches."From One World Trade Center (NYC) and Griffith Observatory (LA), you’ll hear World Impact and Stadia’s vision to transform urban poor communities for Christ,'" they said.

Every Child Has a Church

Stadia states that it has had "the honor of helping hundreds of great leaders start new churches.""With these leaders, we share a passionate desire to see a world where every child will experience the love of Jesus Christ through local church," the organization states on its website.In the trips announcements, Stadia asks, "Are you a leader who is ready to invest in the next generation through church planting? Do you know someone who is?"Stadia is ready to help! Because we won’t stop … until Every Child Has a Church."To learn more about the vision trips and to register click here.

World Impact’s Urban Church Assoc Develops Trust and Unity

World Impact's Urban Church Assoc Develops Trust and Unity

The office of Pastor can be compared to having children, it can be a wonderful experience but it can leave you with a few gray hairs. The calling of pastors is one that is typically approached with honor and an awareness that the work of the office has a lot to do with the Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit is something that pastors need but the other thing that is needed is training. There are trainings throughout the country for pastors and ministry leaders. There are hardships at times that make it difficult for pastors, especially urban pastors, to attend conferences due to traveling expenses, registration fees, and not being able to get time off from their jobs.Ninety percent of pastors feel inadequately trained to cope with the demands of ministry, according to PastoralCareInc.So, where does the urban pastor go to get trained so that they don’t have to be part of the statistic? Where does the urban pastor find the tools to use in the cities where God has called them?Over the last three years, I have been working with World Impact as an Associate and now as the LA City Director. World Impact is a Christian missions organization committed to facilitating church-planting movements by evangelizing, equipping and empowering the unchurched urban poor.World Impact’s purpose is to honor and glorify God and to delight in Him among the unchurched urban poor by knowing God and making Him known. One of the initiatives that World Impact has for the urban pastor is the Urban Church Association (UCA). It is a coalition of urban church pastors that meet once a month for networking, resourcing, reproduction, and soul care. The Urban Church Association is a place of resourcing urban pastors with the tools to do ministry more effectively and economically. Some UCAs do outreaches, retreats, block parties, and unity services together. Not only do they collaborate and encourage each other, they seek to bring unity to the Body of Christ while transforming their communities together.We have a ministry that is part of the Los Angeles Urban Church Association by the name of Jesus Knows My Name, which is lead by Jennifer Chou. Her ministry is located in Downtown Los Angeles near Skid Row. Every Sunday she, along with her team, set up to serve the Skid Row community with food and the Gospel. One fifth Sunday, the R.O.C.K. Church (Pastor Peter Watts) and Chosen Generation Church (Pastor Cedric Nelms) in collaborating with Jesus Knows My Name served the Skid Row Community. It was truly a blessing to serve those that are the under-served and the forgotten of our community.We were able to pray for and engage those that were in the line waiting to be served a hot meal. I recall one gentleman that was leaving with this meal. I told him a blessing and to be safe. He turned to me and said that he doesn’t hear that from people that often. As we engaged in a short conversation I found out that he was a war veteran who was living in downtown LA. He had been living down there for a couple of years and let me know that there was a sense of community on Skid Row.These pastors are a valuable link to the communities, churches, and pastors who need resourcing the most. Urban Church Associations are a great example of missional partnerships in that trust is transferable. The UCA is a place urban pastors are introduced to the ministry and resources of World Impact, and pastors in the UCA know the World Impact staff’s heart for the Lord and urban missions.In short, any urban missions worker or pastor quickly learns that planting and pastoring churches in areas of urban poverty is a high-risk, high-reward effort. We believe that one of the keys to success is profoundly simple — we need each other. We need to link arms and work together to transform our communities.

Urban Church Planter: First, What Does the City Need?

To truly be an urban pastor planting an urban church one must first get to know the broken parts of the city, said Pastor Cedric Nelms of Chosen Generation Church in Long Beach, during a panel discussion about Los Angeles.

PART TWO – CEDRIC NELMS

“We are very diverse here in our city and I think the best way for us to come together is to be able to plant transformational communities … so that means we are walking into the community asking the questions about what are the needs of the community,” said Nelms, who was recently named City Director for World Impact Los Angeles.He told TogetherLA that Jesus assessed the needs of every situation he came upon “before he actually brought the solution.”“That’s how you begin to transform a community because now you are getting into the dirty part, the grimy part of what it actually means to be an urban pastor planting an urban church,” he said.

4 Pastors Get Real About Los Angeles – Part 1

It may seem like a daunting task to figure out what’s broken in Los Angeles then offer a way to fix everything, but that’s not what four Christian leaders from various parts of L.A. set out to do during a panel discussion at Philosopher’s Cafe (Thursdays at Metropolis) in Santa Monica last month.Co-hosted by Together LA, the panel — Broken City – Is there hope for Los Angeles? — began with moderator Steve Snook of Metro Church giving a heads up to the direction the discussion will go.“I’m going to tell you right now, there’s hope all the way across this panel,” said Snook, a longtime pastor in Santa Monica. “You’re going to hear us being really honest about the brokenness that we see, but not spending much time on the brokenness without getting to a place where we talk about some of what we see happening even now and what is coming based upon the hope that is within us.”Nelms is certainly on the same page.“We have to get unified in understanding that yes, we can be a different color, we can be a different culture, we can be a different race, we can even have a different creed, but we also have to understand that there is only one gospel and one Lord,” he said.The demographics of the community Nelms ministers in includes a population that is 60 percent Hispanic, 40 percent African American, he said. “In that context, three of their top four things on their list community-wise (needs and desires) were job training, youth engagement, and most of all, unification.”Nelms recently described the work of World Impact.“World Impact is a Christian missions organization committed to facilitating church-planting movements by evangelizing, equipping and empowering the unchurched urban poor,” he said. “World Impact’s purpose is to honor and glorify God and to delight in Him among the unchurched urban poor by knowing God and making Him known.“One of the initiatives that World Impact has for the urban pastor is the Urban Church Association (UCA). It is a coalition of urban church pastors that meet once a month for networking, resourcing, reproduction, and soul care. ...Not only do they collaborate and encourage each other, they seek to bring unity to the Body of Christ while transforming their communities together.”This article is the second in a four-part series about the panel discussion hosted by Philosopher’s Cafe and TogetherLA.net on June 15, 2017. The full panel discussion can be viewed on Facebook by clicking on Part 1 and Part 2.Video and photos by One Ten Pictures.4 Pastors Get Real About the City – Together LA Pop-Up Part 1 (Michael Mata)Urban Church Planter: First, What Does the City Need? Part 2 (Cedric Nelms)‘Beautiful’ Westside Striken with Spiritual Poverty a Unified Church Can Cure – Part 3 (Steve Snook)LA Pastors’ Bottom Line: We Want to Help the City That We Live In – FINAL (Brannin Pitre)

Racial and Class Division: What Have We Learned?

I can still remember seeing the news footage of white truck driver, Reginald Denny being pulled from his semi-trailer and beaten by a group of African American men in the street at Florence and Normandie in Los Angeles.This seemed to me at the time a horrific conclusion to the news footage about a year earlier of the vicious beating of an African American man named Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Officers. The 1992 LA Riots were a reaction to the not guilty verdicts of the officers on trial for beating Rodney King. The beatings of Rodney King and Reginald Denny became tragic symbols of racial tensions that some thought had been dealt with during the Civil Rights Movement. Our nation would learn in 1992 that we were nowhere close to truly living out the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [ictt-tweet-inline via=""]The church still today at even greater levels must be a force of transformative truth, new life, reconciliation, justice, and empowering love.[/ictt-tweet-inline] In the Spring of 1992, I was a senior in college at Saint John’s University in Central Minnesota. This was also a time of discovery for me. During this time I had a real sense of being called to ministry. I discovered a strong passion for racial reconciliation. During my junior and senior years in college I watched the Civil Rights Documentary Eyes on the Prize multiple times. It took time to digest this original PBS series that spanned the key moments in the African American struggle for equality between the mid 1950s to the early 1970s.As I watched the news footage of the 1992 LA Riots from my college dorm room, I began to wonder how far we had really come in this nation when it came to race. I also sensed a call to play some role in being a reconciler and transformer within the racial divide in a meaningful way. The writings of theologian J. Deotis Roberts would provide a biblical foundation for me in understanding both liberation and reconciliation as central to the work of Christ.While in seminary working on a Master’s degree in theology, I would wrestle deeply with the writings and sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Still to this day, I don’t believe that violent riots are the answer to racial injustice. I also don’t believe that colorblind conservative commentary is the answer to violent riots.I believe that ultimately, the transformative work of advancing God’s Kingdom in a diverse yet deeply divided mission field is the way forward. A holistic and biblical understanding of missions can bring evangelism, discipleship, leadership development, church development, and Christ-centered justice to bear upon the racial and class division which still exist today. This is why World Impact exists to empower urban indigenous Christian leaders today.World Impact as an urban missions organization was originally birthed during the Watts Riots of 1965 (pictured) and was given even greater clarity of mission and purpose during the LA Riots of 1992.In the last couple of years we have once again seen protests and riots in cities all across this country. The cries and even the unfortunate violent acts of some of the poor, marginalized, and oppressed among us is a continual call to the Church to remember its true mission in alignment with the public ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ.The church still today at even greater levels must be a force of transformative truth, new life, reconciliation, justice, and empowering love. Where there is violence and riots, there must be love, redemption, empowerment, and transformation.The above commentary was originally published at WorldImpact.org.Efrem Smith is the President and CEO of World Impact, a Christian missions organization committed to the church-planting movement in the inner city. 

Efrem Smith: A Vision For Urban Leaders

Editor's Note: Together LA had the opportunity to attend the Los Angeles Mayor's Prayer Breakfast last Saturday where Efrem Smith cast a vision through a powerful prayer for the city. After reading his recent blog post (below) about attending the World Impact’s annual TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute) Leaders’ Summit earlier in the month, it seems likely that some of the inspiration for the prayer came from his time there.When Christ walked the earth he had the ability to look at people and see something beyond the labels of society. Christ was able to see the under-resourced, unqualified, outcast, and marginalized as potential participants in the work of transformation. He was able to look at the corrupt, the incarcerated, the diseased, the poor, and left for dead and see something that even the religious leaders of the day had the lack of vision to grasp. Through the declarations and demonstrations of God’s love, truth, and new life those deemed unworthy find their identity as made in the image of God and from there, begin to see their potential to work alongside Christ and transform lives and communities.This month I attended World Impact’s annual TUMI (The Urban Ministry Institute) Leaders’ Summit in Wichita, Kansas. I was so moved by the hundreds of ministry leaders that have a revolutionary vision for the poor and the incarcerated. I participated in worship, shared meals with, and listened to the stories of Brothers and Sisters from around the country and around the world who are aligned with God’s vision for “the least of these.” But they don’t merely have sympathy and mercy for the poor and incarcerated. They are involved in training and equipping them to serve as church planters, pastors, community leaders, and missionaries. These Summit attendees are chaplains, church pastors, denominational leaders, and volunteers who see that the harvest field is not only plentiful, but contains gifted and talented folks who, if empowered and resourced, can take responsibility for transformation right where they are.This issue of seeing all people through the eyes of God, is not just a ministry model for me, it’s personal... READ FULL POST AT WORLD IMPACT, INC.Photo at top: John Fredericks for Together LA