San Francisco Community Fellowship

I had no experience in doing something like this, but I decided to trust God to give me what I needed. I had always enjoyed teaching new Christians and non-Christians about Jesus. There was so much that I wanted to share.

Now, when people ask me what you need to plant a church, I tell them that the most important thing is love. Love for God and love for people. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). People are attracted to love. Love breaks barriers between culture and languages. It’s amazing to watch our diverse group in San Francisco praying together, each in his or her first language, reading together from different language parallel Bible translations, and fellowshipping, eating and serving God together as one Body.

On Sunday December 6, 1998, we held our first house church service with seven people: my wife, my daughter, her husband and their daughter, and my two nieces on my wife side. The first few years were a struggle. We had some Coast Guard military people attend, but some of them have transferred out. At times there were only three of us. I remembered the parable Jesus told about being faithful in a few things. I suppose it might be easier to be faithful in big things and large numbers. But could we be faithful in small things with the same enthusiasm? Paul’s words to Timothy, “Preach the word [of God]…in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) were encouraging. The Scriptures lifted me up, energized and kept me going, so I stood up and preached to three like I was preaching to 20.

Today we have 50 on the rolls, with a regular attendance of 25 to40, and the numbers continue to increase. We know God will keep it growing as he sees fit. Our job is to be faithful, whatever the numbers.

When the church outgrew our home, we prayed for wisdom in finding a new place to meet. We believe God answered our prayers with a commercial corner building, close to many bus lines, public transportation, easy freeway access, a half-mile from our home. We meet every Sunday at 11:30 a.m., and after the service we have lunch together, get to know one another better, talk about the week and encourage one another. We are never in a hurry to go home.

My wife and I enjoy meeting people of different races and culture. We want to reach out to everyone—rich, poor, all races, all cultures. Our neighborhood is the ideal place for that, and we believe it’s where God wants us to be.

When it comes to growing a church, we have learned that people respond best to a simple, personal invitation. You get to know people, and when the time is right, you invite them to come to church with you. It’s that easy. Over the years we have distributed a lot of flyers in our community, but all of our new members began attending by a personal invitation, not by reading a flyer. Three years ago we started a Food Pantry serving food every Saturday morning to 300+ people in our community. Many of our volunteers live in the community and some started attending church with us.

If I were to do this all over again, I would do it a little sooner, without hesitation. I knew this was of God before I started doing it, but I was actually discouraged from it by some people, whom I am sure meant well. But knowing what I know now, I would definitely have gotten started much sooner than I did.

Of course, reaching out in love is not just for new churches—it can happen in any church. But there is a need for new churches in places we don’t have them. I found that planting a church is hard work and it takes time, but I have always felt God there beside me, encouraging me, giving me peace of mind, and filling me with joy as he works through me to open doors to people’s hearts.