We’d never done anything like this before. We knew what a mature church in the inner city looked like, but we’d never seen what a new one would look like. My wife and I had been to church planting seminars and read many helpful manuals on church planting. But somehow, the models in the seminars and books didn’t look like us. Our group had no formal training, musical talent was limited, some of us were too old, we had little financial backing, and we had no place to meet.

Driven to Prayer

One thing all of us could do was pray. And pray we did. We prayed before we formulated plans, while formulating plans, and while we carried them out. Churches pray for many reasons, but seldom do they pray out of desperation. We found ourselves fitting right into Jesus’ story of the man who needed three loaves of bread at midnight (Luke 11:5-8). Our prayer meetings were not the nice gatherings of believers in a successful church. They were cries for help by those who would otherwise fail in an enterprise we believed was ordered by the Lord himself. We prayed often, we prayed without watching the clock; we prayed with only one request: Lord, show us how to be the people you can use for this church planting.

How much did we pray? Enough to begin to feel that this was God’s project, not ours. Enough to believe that we were ready to formulate plans and move in the direction of our first public assembly.

A Pleasant Providence

It was a surprise when a declining Presbyterian Church in Highland Park agreed to make their facility available to us from 9:00 to 10:30 on Sunday mornings. They also rented vacant rooms to us for offices and classrooms. One of the first activities of our fledgling church planters was the refurbishing of the church building. We accomplished the project in a few weeks. The facility hadn’t looked that good in years! We donated our labor and materials to our landlords, and we have enjoyed a pleasant relationship ever since.

Grand Opening, Bland Results

After sending out mailers to the community, we were ready for our first public assembly. (We found out later it is called “the launch date.”) We had acceptable music, classes ready for children, smiles on everyone’s faces, and we were “prayed up.” Nearly 200 attended that first Sunday in the summer of 1998. At that time we didn’t realize that church launches often draw people looking for the latest and greatest in religious programming, a fact that accounted for the large opening attendance and the discouraging decline the following weeks. By the third month attendance had leveled off at 50-75; the happy outcome was those who responded to the gospel became part of our church. Christ’s Church in the City at Highland Park was born.

A Surprise From Hong Kong

Although our original 23 were from two or three ethnic backgrounds, little did we realize what kind of church God was going to make of us. That first Sunday a young Chinese woman stuck her head into the doorway and asked for a Bible. We engaged her in conversation, inviting her to attend the assembly. She declined, explaining that caring for her autistic daughter prevented her from being in crowds. We insisted that our church would welcome her and her children, and that any disruption she might cause would be overlooked. Eventually she began attending and gave her life to Christ. Eight years later Stella Leung is one of our most faithful and hard-working members. Her autistic daughter Tiffany is now the princess of the church. Stella went from living in a shelter to owning her own home in the community. Her son and daughter have become Christians.

Ethnic diversity exploded in our little church with people from Viet Nam, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, the Philippines, Colombia, and Japan. The love and harmony that Jesus promotes among our members is spectacular. Our church is truly a cross-section of the community.

Recycling

God had another surprise for us. We were to become a recycling center—a church that would bring people to Christ, nurture them in the faith, and then watch them move from the area. Highland Park is home to several gangs, and gangs bring crime, drug use, prostitution, and homelessness. Typically, people we reach with the gospel experience profound life change. They begin working and soon are lured to better communities with better schools in the suburbs of our city. At first, when we saw this happening, we despaired. (As many as 32 members moved away in one year.) Then we saw the hand of God in it. We might never have a church of several hundred, but we might have scores of men and women scattered to other places, blessing other communities and congregations. We still ache a little, but the going-away parties are times when we rejoice that God is scattering our ministry.

On our eighth anniversary we noted that only four of our original 23 were still with us. We consider that to be the plan of God.

Help Along the Way

Urban congregations today are under assault by the enemy. Christian churches have closed in all the major urban areas of the U.S. Functioning ones are struggling, feeling neglected or abandoned by more successful suburban churches. By letting our existence and needs be known, we have experienced surprising interest in our congregation. Christ In Youth (Joplin, Missouri), has sent mission teams to work with us from the start. These groups of 12-24 young men and women (usually from the Midwest) have shown their great hearts for missions. They are unafraid of the dangers they have been warned about. They walk the streets, visit in the homes, talk with gang members, engage skateboarders, and serve in rehab centers. They come at their own expense. Some have returned on their own to work with us.

A rural congregation in Missouri has adopted us. During spring break, a group from Christ’s Church at Oronogo comes to serve. They charge our batteries as they work with our youth and serve in the community.

Finances are always tough in the inner city. Several congregations send us financial help. They have come to see America’s cities as a mission field.

Passing on the Baton

What is the future of nontraditional churches like ours? If they are to survive, they will have to train their own leaders. They may never have meeting places of their own. They may never be large. But they will still be the church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, functioning in the very places where Jesus might go for ministry in Los Angeles.

Recruiting men and women for ministry positions is difficult. The cost of living is outrageous. It’s no place to raise kids. Ministry is difficult. There may be little outside support. It provides no rung on the ladder to ministry success.

The two supported associates who have worked with us these eight years did wonderful work. But they have moved on to other fields, one remaining in urban ministry.

We actively recruit anyway. Believing there are disciples who are willing to lose their lives for Christ’s sake, we invite them to do so in this field. Recently Tyler Fanning answered such an invitation. Just starting college, he took several months off to work with us in a new outreach in East Los Angeles. During the few months he lived in the area he made contacts that have resulted in a home Bible study. He has returned to Oregon, and we carry on the Bible study with the prayer that some will be converted to Christ.

With more than 40 years in urban ministry, Carmelita and I look forward to gradually moving out of leadership in Christ’s Church in the City. It is in good hands, with our own young men and women handling much of the ministry already. We are actively seeking a full-time, trained leader to oversee it. But even if such is not forthcoming, the church will survive. |L

William Pile is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California.