In our Innovation and Impact series, we tell the stories of five churches that are effectively reaching their communities by strategically and systematically implementing new ideas—from an urban neighborhood in downtown Denver to a traditional small town in rural Mississippi.
It may sound like the setup of a joke: “A Latino pastor and an Anglo pastor walk into a neighborhood …” In reality, however, it’s a true, inspiring, challenging, ongoing story that started in 2008 when pastors Juan Pena and Jason Janz planted Providence Bible Church in northeast Denver.
“We wanted to seek a great city, not seek a great church,” says Janz. Adhering to the place-based strategy, the duo landed in a 12-mile-wide neighborhood that was multilingual, multiclass, multigenerational, multiethnic and multicultural. It consisted of 60,000 people—a third African-American, a third Hispanic and a third white.
“We basically parachuted into the neighborhood and began introducing ourselves to the folks who lived there,” says Pena. The pair attended school board meetings, church meetings and community meetings. They talked to people on the street. What they found was that a lot of people cared about their community; they just didn’t happen to be Christians.
“People rolled their eyes when we mentioned we were church planters,” says Pena.
The pastors weren’t deterred, however. They simply got involved in the community—and not just on a sporadic basis.
“We wanted to go deep instead of wide,” says Janz. “That meant spending lots of hours deep in the community.”
Pena and Janz sent their children to underperforming schools and regularly interacted with single moms, gang members, refugees and individuals in foster care. After immersing themselves in the poverty-stricken neighborhood, the pastors had a new perspective on poverty.
“When you feel the pain of the neighborhood, that’s when you start advocating for it,” says Pena.
In November 2014, the pair began pursuing what Janz calls an “Acts 4 church” by launching an initiative where they endeavored to free 1,000 of their neighbors from poverty in the next four years.
“We’re trying to see if the gospel of Jesus Christ can actually change the fabric of an urban neighborhood,” says Janz, who calls it an “all hands on deck” mentality that involves two nonprofit programs that operate like two pedals on a bike: CrossPurpose, a faith-based ministry, and Upstream Impact, a secular organization. Pena is executive director of CrossPurpose while Janz runs Upstream Impact.
The programs involve matching every person in poverty with a middle- to upper-class mentor, who spend chunks of time together, bonding and learning from one another. “It’s much more than meeting for coffee once a month to check in,” says Pena.
The church provides stipends for the impoverished families so that they may embark on skills courses, undergo accredited job skills programs and ultimately receive job placements.
City leaders are hugely supportive of the work Pena and Janz are doing because to get 1,000 people out of poverty will surely cause a huge ripple effect across the city. While Pena and Janz didn’t seek out grants, the city approached them, requesting that they apply for some so that they could align themselves with vital community issues such as gang intervention and foster care. Ultimately, the church received a $50,000 and a $90,000 grant.
The pastors are clear, however, about only investing in those individuals who are invested in themselves. “We tell them, ‘If you really want to change your circumstances, come see us,’” says Pena. “We don’t help those who need it but rather those who want it.”
Passionate about energizing the local church, Janz stresses the fact that they are not a megachurch with ample resources, but rather a small congregation that averages between 225 and 250 each Sunday. “In my experience, 100 people focused geographically often have a greater impact than 1,000 whose focus is scattered,” says Janz.
Pena notes that Americans are self-segregating faster than any time since World War II. “And the church is one of the most segregated institutions around, so we have a lot of catching up to do,” he says.
Thankfully, the urban core has a vibrant spirituality that aids in closing the divide. It all starts with breaking bread. “Having dinner across class and racial lines is where true reconciliation takes place,” notes Janz.
Introducing diverse cultures, however, is not without its moments of uneasiness. When new people are brought into mentor relationships, Pena says they often have to detox a lot of thinking that’s been informed by media sound bites surrounding poverty.
Ultimately, however, real gospel conversations grow from discomfort. For example, several years ago a middle-class business owner and his wife moved into the neighborhood. Committed to living a new life, they rented out their basement to ex-convicts and put a fire pit and a chess table on the front lawn so that passersby would be inclined to stop and chat.
“This couple found what Jesus called ‘an abundant life of meaning and purpose,’ which they attained as a result of relational poverty,” says Pena. “Both the ex-offenders and the homeowners benefited greatly.”
Janz and Pena adhere to a model of pastoral ministry that says a pastor should take gospel responsibility for his neighborhood. So while they still deliver the Sunday sermon, that’s not their primary focus when faced with the big picture.
“Ultimately, what difference does it make if you’re stirred by a sermon?” asks Janz. “If the kingdom of God has not expanded, then we’re missing the point.”
The point, according to Pena and Janz, should be anticipating and recognizing resurrection. Janz cites multiple examples in his community.
“When kids in a formerly failing school start achieving, that’s resurrection. When people come out of incarceration and flourish at a job, that’s resurrection. When a single mom earns her associate’s degree in human services, that’s resurrection,” says Janz. “When a man changes careers midlife so that he can advocate for offenders, that’s resurrection. When a parent beams at the prosperity of her daughter’s spiritual life, that’s resurrection.”
Providence Bible Church is doing its part to love like Christ.
“We’re not trying to save the world,” says Janz. “We’re just working to make a positive impact on our neighborhood.”
For more information about CrossPurpose and Upstream Impact, visit NeighborhoodsWithoutPoverty.org.
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PROVIDENCE BIBLE CHURCH
Denver, Colorado
ProvidenceDenver.org
Lead Pastors: Juan Pena and Jason Janz
Launched: 2008
Weekend Attendance: 225-250
Affiliation: Nondenominational