The Promise Church
- Scott Kim
- Aug 18, 2008
- Series: Articles
1. When did you first start out coming out to The Garden?
I first visited the church almost exactly 13 years ago as a freshman in college. That was spring semester of 1995. I didn't start attending consistently until my sophomore year, Fall of 1995.
2. How did you know that God was calling you into full time ministry?
For me, like many others, it was a combination of both external and internal forces. I just heard the other day something I agree with. Our calling into full-time ministry is not a call to some church role, or geographic location, etc. But in the Bible a calling almost always means following a person, namely Jesus. So in this sense everyone is called to full-time ministry. But to answer your question, as I became dedicated to following Jesus sophomore year in college, God began to impress on my mind the thought of being a pastor. All the while ministry opportunities were swinging open all around me as people encouraged me to take on new responsibilities, affirming my giftings, etc. But it was ultimately some tragic circumstances in my family, which convinced me to offer my whole life to serving God. My junior year in college, December 1996, my second to youngest brother took his life. This event was like a reset button on my life. God emptied my heart of every ambition, dream, and desire that did not originate from Him. During this time I took an inventory of my life, my future, and I had to ask myself "what do I want to spend the rest of my life doing? From that dark place, God's voice came quiet but clear.
3. First of all congratulations on your wedding. How did you meet your wife and what is one trait you love about her?
I met my wife, Jill, through God's sovereign hand bringing her into my life in the fullness of time when I least expected her but most needed her. How's that for a pastor's answer? Well, HyunJa, a sister and friend from church, worked in the Fuller admissions office with Jill so she set up an opportunity for us to meet. I called her, met her, liked her, found out she lives in Riverside, proposed to her, and here we are.
4. Describe your perfect day from morning to evening?
My perfect day doesn't involve so much a certain set of activities, but more having an inner state of peace, purpose, and God's presence; and going to bed knowing I did all God required me to do that day. Given that I guess my perfect day could be filled with lots of lame things like L.A. traffic, a deadline at school, an argument with my mom, paying bills, etc.
5. When did you know that God was calling you to plant a church? And why Riverside?
I knew God was calling me to plant a church when I decided "I guess I'm open to planting a church," and then circumstances started lining up in a big way. Until then I was only open to the idea. But God gave me some good clues along the way like talking with Pastor David and hearing his vision, meeting some key figures in church planting, and receiving convictions while taking some church planting classes.
I originally did not think nor want to be in Riverside. I always had a vision for planting an urban church in a big city like San Francisco or Seattle. But I wasn't closed to Riverside either. It was more Pastor David's vision originally, and he left it open for me to pray and decide. And the more I prayed the more I started to think about Riverside and hear about Riverside needing churches. It's like when I was thinking about buying a Corolla I started hearing about and seeing Corolla's everywhere. The more you pray about something the more heightened you are in exposure and sensitivity towards it. And I think God uses that to help you make a decision. For me many things seemed to be pointing me towards Riverside. And of course the undeniable blow came when I met Jill, who grew up in Glendale and La Crescenta, but moved to Riverside only 3 months before we met. Talk about a sign from heaven!
6. How did you come up with the church name, The Promise?
Coming up with any meaningful name can be agonizing. So I went through many many different options. however the actual name "The Promise" didn't really start to see light of day until one night I went to a random revival meeting with my mom and a woman of God prayed prophetically for me and the new church. Her vision of what it will become brought clarity that the church name should be connected to the promise of Psalm 2:8, which I was really convicted by in a church planting class over a year prior to that. Afterwards I started thinking of any word that would capture Psalm 2:8 like "inheritance" or its Greek form "kleros." But it wasn't until the following week while praying at church that the name "The Promise" dawned on my mind. And immediately I knew that's what the church would be called.
7. What is the timeline for your church plant? When is your first service?
The launch team will begin meeting every week on Fridays starting June 27th. Our first preview service will be Sun. Oct. 5th. Our second and third preview services will be Nov. 2nd and Dec. 7th. And finally, our inaugural service will be Sun. Jan. 4th, 2009.
8. Is there a team of people you are launching the church with and if so, what kind of people are you looking for?
Yes, we have a team of eight people so far including myself. The people we have so far are fantastic and I couldn't have chosen better ones. There really are no criteria for joining the team in the sense of certain skills or experiences. We just pray for people who are seriously convicted about the vision of planting a church in Riverside, humble, teachable, have a great heart and attitude to serve, and have big faith.
9. What is your vision and expectations for The Promise Church?
My vision for The Promise is to build a church that will eventually become a multi-ethnic, multi-generational church that will be on mission to serve and impact the city of Riverside, build communities of passionate disciples, and send them into other parts of the world.
10. What are some of your needs and prayer requests as you are preparing for the church plant?
- Pray for God's revelation, blue print, on how to build His church.
- Pray for unity in vision and genuine community for the launch team.
- Pray for the harvest at Riverside to be ripened and ready to be brought to the Lord.
- Pray for an anointed and called worship leader.
- Pray for financial resources