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Los Angeles tends to be a warm city, especially during the summer. That particular season was no different in mid 2003. As Jeff Piepho drove with his friend Brent they discussed what had happened and what went wrong.
They had been on the board of a church which closed a few months prior. A church closing is somewhat comparable to having your family, friends, job, hobby, and home ripped out from under you in a day. For Jeff, an associate pastor at the now closed church, this time of uncertainty - no job and no church - was at the very worst, agonizing beyond description. And at the best, a Spiritual experience allowing God's voice to be heard clearly with a new start.
The discussion began to center around what would happen next. The denomination the church had been part of had offered Jeff the opportunity to be considered for starting a new church. It was, however, on their terms. Jeff had met with the director of church planting over lunch to pitch his new idea - an idea that had been growing between him and his wife, Meadow, for years. The idea was met with two words that seemed to echo with a deafening resonance: "Too progressive."
Too progressive? The church idea that was being put forth was "too new," and hadn't been tested. If he wanted to come back and pitch a different idea, they would listen. But Jeff had heard enough. He went to prayer asking God what to do. ...And then he listened.
Both Jeff and Meadow honestly felt as though God was calling them to start a church, a new type of church. Yet, they did not know how or when. As they prayed God began to put on their hearts the name of a church over 1,500 miles away in Salina, KS. "Crossroads Church," they both heard. As they prayed for Crossroads, their minds raced wondering what God would do. Meadow had grown up in Abilene and her family was still there. Jeff grew up in Kansas City, so Kansas was not a strange place by any means.
Finally, Jeff decided to e-mail Ron Bowell, pastor of Crossroads. When a response came, and after a few phone calls something very peculiar was made known. The Crossroads church board had just previously decided to hire someone who could work with people in their 20's and 30's... and Ron admitted candidly that God had given him a vision to help other people plant churches in Kansas.
The word coincidence simply did not describe this situation. Especially when Meadow applied and got a job in Salina, working for the same type of orginazation as in Bakersfield, CA.
Shortly after moving to Salina, Jeff and Meadow shared their vision with Meadow's brother Cory and his fiance (now wife) Jen. The idea, although somewhat hazy and incomplete, was met with enthusiasm. During the next couple months, brainstorming and prayer took precedence in the plans.
Eventually, the idea was taken to a church planting board in the Brethren In Christ denomination and the thumbs up was given, along with a very modest budget. Prayer for people to participate started and soon their was a core group of people committing to help plant this new ministry.
As the months rolled by the plans became more clear and purposeful. It was obvious God was doing something! Through the meetings and prayer times new ideas and answers to questions came faster than ever. The Revolution Core group did much studying on generations, learning style's and the Spiritual state of Salina. Spirituality and a belief in God was not lacking - but what was missing was a way for people to connect and know God. People found it to hard to join existing churches, yet many desired to part of something significant - something bigger than themselves. So then, more ideas came.
But, so did hard times. Out of the small core group suddenly came a wave of temptation, marital problems, sin, financial issues, personal legal impediments, and a host of other trials. Jeff usually tries to refrain from giving Satan to much credit, but it was apparant that something destructive was at work in everyone's life. At the next meeting the subject was Spiritual Warfare. Jeff spoke about how we need to be aware of temptation - concious of problems that may step in our way! And a prayer list was given with seven specific items to pray for: Leadership, evangelism, worship team, children's ministry, finances, Spiritual maturity, and of course Spiritual Warfare.
Almost immediately things began to change. The core group, that had been shrinking started to grow again. More answers to prayer came and a passion for prayer ignited. God provided for every need, and although some members of the core group did not return after the hard times the group had been refined and was ready to serve God.
Public promotion began, and the beginning of the Revolution had taken place. Where will God take us? Where will God take you? You have the opportunity to be part of this story, part of God's story. And this story will never end. Revolution began publicly on October 16th, 2004. And for Salina, it was just the beginning...
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