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