Hollywood Church | Los Angeles, CA

• Chris Barksdale
• Apr 5, 2010
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church

After attending seminary in Los Angeles I quickly moved to Mobile, AL to assume a pastoral position. While I was there I began to doubt if I was doing what Jesus had gifted and called me to do. We had the home, the safe and comfortable lifestyle, and the homogeneous neighborhood. After about two years Jesus began to move in my heart about three very distinct things: mercy for the marginalized peoples, urban ministry and church planting.

The lessons came via my yearly Bible reading, sermons by guys such as Tim Keller, John Piper and Mark Driscoll and ironically, church history. I was convinced that Jesus was calling me to an urban center where there were myriads of broken people in need of a new church. And Hollywood fit the bill! So back off to Los Angeles we went!

What were the biggest challenges you faced in planting your church (and/or currently facing)? 

Some of the biggest challenges was moving a wife and three little kids (and eventually four) into an urban center where poverty and brokenness abounded. I remember driving around the area and seeing all the homeless and all the brokenness and ready to bust out of my rental car in excitement. It was then that I looked over and saw my wife shedding tears and sobbing, not from the vision of brokenness of the people but at the thought of trying to raise little kids here! I then took her to the local library to ask the "children's librarian" what kids can do here in Hollywood. Once she hesitated my wife just walked away and after contemplation the librarian said "I don't know why you would bring kids here, I guess they could get tattoos up the street".

Another challenge came with gathering a core team and finding other existing churches to support us as a family. We had a few that told us it would never work and others that actually tried to keep other churches from supporting us because we were "emergent". I thought that was comical!

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant? 

Pray long and hard! While assessments and books and sermons are all great ways to help you decide, ultimately you need to be on your knees with Jesus to seek His face and counsel! The one thing I know for sure is that Jesus is for church planting and if you have the passion and the confirmation of others I'd say go for it!

How did you become involved with Acts 29? What have been the biggest benefits of being in the network? 

I became involved with A29 about two years ago. My original encounter with A29 was through an assignment given to me by a mentor to see what was wrong with Mark Discoll! The funny thing is that the only problem I found was that the network didn't try to define itself up against other churches but against the world. In other words, polemics wasn't what they were about but rather mission which really was against everything I had been taught! Funny enough, I'm now not only in the network but passionate about its mission! 

As for the benefits I find the brotherhood to be unbelievable. I know that when I put out a prayer request to these guys I have about 50 messages in my inbox the next day of guys praying for me! I also love that when I don't know how to deal with some things in my context (which is quite often) I can ask these guys and there is always someone who has crossed the bridge I'm on!

How do you pastor your family? 

Pastoring my family is such a vital part of the mission here! Families in my city are either non-existent or severely broken. Practically I guard date nights with my wife with avengence. Also I have daddy dates with my daughters and daddy dude times with my sons each week. I also take time to read the Bible to my kids each night and pray with them. The prayer time is the most enjoyable because we spend time praying for all of our unsaved friends who don't know Jesus and our fellow A29 guys who need prayer. Thus my family is on mission with me all the time and joining me on it in prayer too!

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?

John Paton: Missionary to the New Hebrides

How can we pray for you?

Pray that our family is protected from the onslaught of the evil one & for the Spirit to do His work through the lives of those here at the HC to reach this city and consequently the world for Jesus!

Church Profile: Hollywood Church
Launch Date: September, 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA 

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

We strive to be a genuine community of Gospel-centered people who are on mission in Hollywood to love the city and be satisfied with Jesus Christ alone!

What is your biblical perspective on authentic community, and evangelism? How is this practically seen in your church? 

We work out community and mission through rhythms at the HC:

1. Listen and Learn like Disciples

We believe our gospel identity is that disciples/learners. Our goal is to listen and learn from Jesus through His Word and prayer. We also strive to listen and learn from our community and city so we can connect the gospel to their lives. We work this out in our missional communities which are small pockets of our believers who live on mission together in their local contexts.

2. Fight like Family

We believe another gospel identity is that we are now family. Thus we seek to live our lives together and fight sin together as a community. This looks like fight clubs that tackle sin in a small group with the gospel. It also looks like redemption groups.

3. Celebrate like the Redeemed

Another gospel identity is that of being redeemed. We were bought with a price and transferred from kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son! Thus we strive to celebrate that as a community and connect in our apartments and homes. We believe hospitality is one of the greatest means of reaching our city who desperately wants to see community and be a part of it but without Jesus their striving is in vain. Thus we seek to open our homes to unbelievers and believers alike, preferably bringing those two groups together.

4. Bless like Missionaries and Neighbors

Another gospel identity is that of missionaries and neighbors. We have been not only called to love our neighbors together but proclaim the gospel to them. So we strive to obey Jesus' call to be sent as His Father sent Him. This means we strive to be incarnational where we live, work and play among our community and do so together as a Christian community. We seek to use our gifts, talents and treasure to bless our community and meet needs as Jesus opens those doors in hopes of the gospel being proclaimed. This looks like our hope4hollywood.net ministry where we seek to love our city and bless through service.

5. Sacrifice like Heirs

A final gospel identity is that we are heirs of the kingdom. This means that since we will receive everything on the New Earth we can forgo current earthly comforts and treasures and seek to use them for the kingdom of Jesus. We use our time, talent and treasure like thread to mend the brokenness of our city and put aside our preferences to love one another and those in our city.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church? 

The evidences of grace are all over our lives and the lives of those at the HC! We have seen many converted, baptized and plugged into the community here. We have seen a young woman who was pregnant and wanted to abort her baby get saved and have her baby! We have seen young men come out of prison and become solid leaders in our community! We have seen people walk into the doors of our community and not even know where they were going and get saved and become vital members of the HC! It is has been a hard, tough but joyous journey that I wouldn't trade for anything! Who knows what is next?