The first question that people usually ask; ‘why plant a church in Riverwest’?  It’s a great question, and I think our answer reveals how amazing our God is.  When Sarah and I were thinking of buying a house the first time we lived in Milwaukee (2003) we looked in Riverwest.  We looked at a house on the corner of Locust and Booth.  To be honest, we didn’t really look that earnestly because we knew right away that the neighborhood was too shady for us to live in!  Eight years later God is bringing us back to this community with a burden for the people living here.

The beginning of God’s leading us to minister in Riverwest began in Seminary.  Church planting was not something I considered ever…then I went to seminary.  Some of my closest friends in seminary began to discuss church planting as a way to effectively share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  My consideration of and prayer over church planting was born out of these conversations.  At the same time of these conversations I was also listening to a very influential pastor named Tim Keller.  Tim Keller is the pastor of a church in Manhattan, NY and he is one of the biggest advocates for Christians ministering in an urban context.  Why wouldn’t Christians minister in the cities, isn’t this where the prodigal runs to?  As I listened to Keller’s heart for the city, my heart was also expanded and softened.  City ministry seemed to be the place that I could serve God most with my gifts.  During a class on educational ministry in the church, I had an amazing moment of clarity.  I knew right then that Sarah and I were to move back to Milwaukee to minister.  She wanted to get a job in the city working in a community clinic and I was going to work somewhere in Milwaukee and serve Eastbrook church.  Eastbrook was a church in the city for the city, it was multi-ethnic, it had a great missional mentality, and it had a great medical mission and educational program.  This was where God was calling us.

Shortly after I was invited to join the staff.  I served as a junior high youth pastor for three years.  During this time, Sarah and I decided to try and buy a house again.  At first we looked in Shorewood, but then Sarah found a home that she knew I would love.  That’s why she didn’t tell me about it until she was convinced in her own mind that this was a good fit for us!  The house was in Riverwest.  We bought it.  We still own it.

I wish I could say that my motive for moving into Riverwest was because I had this urge to engage in incarnational ministry among the people of Riverwest…it wasn’t.  The house was sweet!  It was an urban loft, my coolness factor went through the roof when we bought this house.  THANK YOU SARAH!

But then I met some of our neighbors.  Then I began to have incredible interactions with people in Gordon park near our house.  I loved that our little pasty white boy was playing at the splash pad with mostly African American and Hispanic kids.  I loved that Alterra moved into the neighborhood.  I loved that we had a local hardware store, and a bike race, and a motorcycle rally, and a coffee shop that had two neon signs that said; ‘killer coffee’, ‘lousy service’.  And a bike path that took us straight down to the lake.  I loved all the diversity (economic, racial, and political).  I loved that we were able to expose our son to the reality of life in this world with all its complexities.  But what I loved most was the Christian families that were modeling a faith in the city that was contagious and missional.  These families in Riverwest were the beacon of light that I prayed our family would be one day.  But these families left their lighthouse on Sunday to go to church in different neighborhoods.  The light left Riverwest on Sunday morning.

All our life could be lived within a one mile radius.  There was no need to leave the neighborhood for anything…except church.  There was a family in Riverwest that once told me that they would love to bring their neighbors to church.  Yet, they couldn’t because they didn’t have room in their car, but if they could walk to church it would be different.  Riverwest needs a church, a ‘third place’ where people can bring their friends to see to love of God manifested in His People gathered together in worship.

“Heavenly Father, in your Word you have given us a vision of
that holy City to which the nations of the world bring their
glory: Behold and visit, we pray, the cities of the earth.
Renew the ties of mutual regard which form our civic life.
Send us honest and able leaders. Enable us to eliminate
poverty, prejudice, and oppression, that peace may prevail
with righteousness, and justice with order, and that men and
women from different cultures and with differing talents may
find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”