It was in the fall of 2008 that I had my first church planting conversation with Ben Pilgreen. At that time, San Francisco was on his short list of good places to plant a church. Two percent evangelical, a place where the strong are weak, and where many have never actually laid eyes on a Bible – a good place to plant a church?
That should have told me something about Ben's personality and character. I pressed on. "The particular vision you have for a new church will require you to raise a million dollars’ support over three years." Ben didn't flinch. "When can I come and visit with my team?" he asked.
A year-and-a-half later, with 22 people from seven states completing the caravan, Ben and Shauna Pilgreen, plus their three young children, landed in the Mission Bay Area of San Francisco. The first preview service for Epic Church will be on 10-10-10.
Ben is in good company. Chris Brady was offered a job as a teaching pastor at his home church in New York. He had been part of The Journey Church there since they began, right after 9-11. But Chris sensed that God had different plans. Four years ago, he flew to Seattle, rented a car, drove down the coast, landed in San Francisco, and announced that God was calling him to move here to start a new church. He moved quickly – alone, without a team, without much financial support, and ready to use his life savings.
A few months later Chris launched The Journey in downtown San Francisco, and for the first year, it was a massive amount of work. It grew slowly the second year, but by year three, the Journey began thriving. Chris simply refused to believe that there was any other possible solution. God had called him, and by faith, he prayed and worked and trusted the new church into being.
Ben and Chris are part of an odd tribe of people we call church planters. They believe in the seemingly impossible, and they refuse to hear the word "no" from anyone but God. They work long and hard and they dream large. Sometimes church planters are annoying, too. They color outside the lines because they really don't believe lines exist.
Ed Villarreal is like that, too. He is starting a church called His House Christian Fellowship in North Salinas (on 10-10-10, naturally!). He is indigenous there, having grown up tough, mean and addicted to alcohol. When gang members shoot people right outside his home, he knows how to pray and what to do. As a pastor and a seminary graduate, he says, "I now live faithful until death and I am more dangerous than before. Dangerous? Of course. Ed is a church planter. He works hard, dreams large and refuses to hear "no" from anyone but God.
