How it all started...
Our journey began by inviting family, friends and neighbors over for fellowship and tacos on a Saturday night. The goal was to get people together who had either expressed disinterest in church, or who had taken steps away. As we continued to gather monthly it became clear to us that people were looking for something.
I often wondered if I was the only one that was completely turned off by the Church. No longer wanted to attend, questioning the authenticity of the message, and ultimately questioning God. Has your Church experience lined up with what you’ve read in the Scriptures? Unfortunately, we’ve found that the answer for some is “No.” The hurts, pains, frustrations and disappointments of negative church experiences are real, and we believe the time has come for us to have the tough conversations so that we can walk together in a healing and restoration that is a reflection of heaven. Our goal is to help reconcile believers back to a community of Christians - I’ve never heard of a single person who bought a car, realized it was a lemon, and decided to walk for the rest of their lives. Eventually, they bought a new car.
- Pastor Jeroll Rodgers
I often wondered if I was the only one that was completely turned off by the Church. No longer wanted to attend, questioning the authenticity of the message, and ultimately questioning God. Has your Church experience lined up with what you’ve read in the Scriptures? Unfortunately, we’ve found that the answer for some is “No.” The hurts, pains, frustrations and disappointments of negative church experiences are real, and we believe the time has come for us to have the tough conversations so that we can walk together in a healing and restoration that is a reflection of heaven. Our goal is to help reconcile believers back to a community of Christians - I’ve never heard of a single person who bought a car, realized it was a lemon, and decided to walk for the rest of their lives. Eventually, they bought a new car.
- Pastor Jeroll Rodgers
Expanding the vision...
The early church gathered in the homes of the people. While we are not against formal auditoriums with stages and lights, we do look to capture the love, accountability, kindness and healing of what believers experienced by meeting in the home. Our meeting space has a living room in it. After service, we gather at an actual dining table to break bread, fellowship and share with one another. At Sanctuary, we are enacting the Acts church, by creating home spaces that feel like the homes of early Christians. As we grow, our aim is to create more meeting spaces throughout LA County and beyond, that feel like home to our church family. Home is where growth happens. Home is where Godly correction goes forth. Home is where we often feel most comfortable with our families, and where we are most vulnerable. Home is where memories are made, and where laughter can be heard down the hallways. Come and take part, and build with us.
Where we are headed...
Equipping our church family to go out and share the good news of the Gospel and returning to continue discipleship is what we are about. We are looking to create spaces where #churchActs can abound and believers building with us can create spaces that feel like home. This is where intimate moments of true transformation will occur - the idea is that anyone connected to Sanctuary will be easily be able to find and connect to that local home. We will create environments for loving, sharing and forgiving, until we all come into the unity of the faith.
