Grace and Peace Epiphany LA Covenant Community Members,
As we have been discussing healthy leadership, 1 Peter 5:2-3 has been a section of
Scripture that is deeply humbling and extremely clear regarding key aspects of eldership.
“Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion, but
willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not
lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock”
In light of our call to engage this with joy, Pastor Hunja and I recently took a few days away
with our families last month to connect, seek the Lord in prayer, and very specifically consider
the present reality of our church and how sustainable our current situation is. We talked
together, prayed to the Lord and spent time in silence and solitude to consider three big
picture realities facing us as a church and how to best shepherd and lead in the midst of
these.
At this retreat we sought the Lord to grace us with wisdom to shepherd the flock in a way that
is the healthiest possible for gospel formation and wellbeing in light of our realities. We have
noticed clear thinning in the following areas:
1. Thinning of our numbers: We have seen a lot of departures of people over the last
2-3 years. While this was normal in churches over these past years, it has impacted
us in a unique way. Even where these transitions have been healthy and we have
sent out people with blessings into their new callings, that has also resulted in a
shrinking number of people who remain and are able to commit time, talent, and
treasure to our mission as a church. And while we have seen the Lord add some new
people to our numbers, this reality has impacted our capacity as a church.
2. Thinning of our outreach and impact in our community: We have not been able to
make a significant impact within our neighborhood and community over the past few
years, particularly since COVID, and our relational presence in Crenshaw, over the
past 3 years, has not yielded significant gospel fruit and entrance into discipleship in
the church. A key part of our missional limitations also stems from our limited
numbers. When most of our efforts are spent on putting together a Sunday Gathering,
our capacity to adequately reach and engage our community is also limited. And as
hard and as faithfully as our leaders and our volunteers serve, we can still only do so
much, and this shows in our missional engagement as a church.
3. Thinning of our finances and our giving. It is not unusual for a church to navigate
a tight financial season. Over the past 3-4 years, we haven’t had to worry about
financial strain as the church was growing in both internal and external giving.
However, over the last several months we have noticed that we have had to dive
significantly into our church savings account to meet current operational costs. Pastor
Hunja and I have been monitoring this and trimming down any non-essential ministry
expenses over the past several months. But even with this, we have had to continue
to draw on our savings to meet essential ministry needs. When we combine this with
other variable, it isn’t sustainable.
In light of these realities of our current capacity, we have been seeking the Lord’s wisdom
and counsel and speaking to the leaders at Epiphany to get their perspective. Their take was
similar to ours; Our current trajectory is unsustainable, and while our teams continue to
faithfully serve, they are increasingly stretched thin.
After praying and discussing some different potential ways forward, we are convinced that in
light of these realities, the healthiest next step for us is to transition the church. We will
explain this further, along with the different options we engaged in prayer and counsel, at our
gathering this Sunday. We will also have a time of Q and A. We believe it would be best to
have a few more services where we can reflect on God’s faithfulness to us these past 8
years, remembering the roll He had for us as a church, grieve the end of this particular
journey, and shepherd the church to alternate, trusted and healthy church homes that they
can join.
While the next step seems clear to us (and likely to many of you) this is still hard news to
swallow and may be jarring to hear. When we sensed the writing on the wall and understood
that we had served God’s purpose for this season (Acts 13:36), we wept, because of how
much Epiphany LA has impacted our walk with Jesus and that of our families. We wept,
because this had the tune of finality for what the Lord has had for Epiphany LA. We wept,
because of all the lives that have been impacted that are both here and those who have been
sent out. We wept, because of the family that has formed here and the courageous steps
that many of you have taken to engage life as a disciple of Jesus Christ at Epiphany LA. But
even in the grief of this journey coming to an end, our wives reminded us of all that the Lord
has done in our midst, so we also rejoice. We have seen many lives impacted by the
Gospel. We have seen several baptisms. We have seen kids give their lives to the Lord. We
have seen many adults clearly understand and experience the gospel for the first time. We
have celebrated weddings together and have rejoiced in seeing marriages restored. We have
seen God work his grace through trauma and pain and so many other stories of grace
remembered.
So we plan to take the next 4 weeks to celebrate all that God has done among us through
listening to testimonies, sharing stories and encouraging one another in word and song. We
encourage you to prioritize joining these next few Sundays leading up to our planned final
Gathering at the Crenshaw Y on August 27th and a final family feast at the Foresters on
September 3rd.
Whenever there is a sense of finality in the Gospel there is both weeping, and anticipation of
what God will do next (Acts 20:36-38). We hope we can find encouragement in seeing what
God has already done among us and that we may move into the next season He has in store
with an assurance that He is going with us as we walk with Him, by faith.
We will be walking through some of these realities and the transition plan during this
Sunday’s gathering. As covenant community members, we wanted to give you all a heads
up, so that you are prepared for Sunday. To communicate the Lord’s direction on this is
never easy, but we trust that this will give you some time to process our present reality and
direction in preparation for Sunday.
We plan to share more and give time on Sunday to answer any questions during the
gathering. Throughout the month of August, we will continue to gather to worship, hear
testimonies, grieve, remember what the Lord has done, and inform and guide into the next
steps for your continual growth in Christ.
To leave you with a note of encouragement as we prepare to gather together, I want to share
a brief encouragement I received not long ago. Months ago, one of the visiting elderly saints
told me “the seeds you have sown here are not in vain.” I told her thank you, but didn’t think
too much about it until reflecting on the significance of this time. While this will be a sad
transition, the seeds we have sown are not in vain. The future is bright, especially after some
time of weeping, remembering and celebrating. In the weeping, I can see the Lord doing
some hopeful things, he will continue to advance his kingdom.
In Christ’s Affection,
Pastor Tommy and Pastor Hunja