What does it look like to church plant with a specific geographic call? Southern California dean and church planter Michael Swanson shares how he was drawn to “be by the people” in downtown Fullerton—and an old-school sense of parish emerged.
C4SO: How did you end up planting In the Vine in downtown Fullerton?
Michael Swanson: Before we planted our church, I knew God was calling us to Fullerton. Geographically, it’s a pretty big city, and as I prayed about it, I heard the Lord say, “Plant downtown. Be by the people.” We knew that was our core mission field.
C4SO: “Be by the people”—what does that mean to you?
MS: For us, it’s a strategic location. We are a block from the post office; a block from the bus station; three blocks from the high school; a block from the heart of downtown with restaurants, pubs, bars, shopping; and a few blocks from the junior college. Homelessness is highly concentrated in the downtown area and there’s more residential housing in this area. There is a strategy to us being there—it’s where the city gathers. When you look at the Bible, you see God’s heart is to be with us: Emmanuel, God with us. As Christ followers, our call is to imitate Him and join Him in His mission, which is centered on people.
We are intentional in terms of where our church is located, but also in how we spend our time. After church every Sunday, we go get lunch together at a restaurant downtown. We do this to build community because we want to be a family, but beyond that, there’s a sense that we’re getting to know the people who work at and frequent these restaurants and cafes. People know me as Pastor Mike. Relationships are forming.
Once a month we have a prayer meeting and often prayer walk through downtown. As we walk through downtown, our mission field, we make observations, get to know our diverse community. My heart grows for the people in my mission field—my neighbors. It’s about not seeing people as a means to an end but as ends in themselves, and getting to know them, loving them, inviting God’s kingdom to come in whatever situation they are facing. It’s a sense of parish, the old-school sense that “this is where God has called me. These are the people God has called me to minister to. I want to be with them like Jesus is with us, and get to know them, bless them, love them.”
C4SO: It’s one thing to care for the community where you worship; it’s another thing to care for the community you inhabit. Are most of the attendees at In the Vine from Fullerton?
MS: We’ve had people come from various places, but lately, it’s been cool to see that we have an increasingly concentrated Fullerton core. The majority of our newcomers in recent months have been from Fullerton proper, and most live in this proximate downtown corridor or the greater downtown area. God has been growing people from that area, and over time, In the Vine has become increasingly community based. Of course, if someone wants to drive to our church from another city, we want to bless them and help them grow in Christ. But God has given us a focused geographic call.
My family lives just north of the core downtown area. We moved from Tustin. We felt that if we’re going to try to reach Fullerton, it would be really difficult if we weren’t living in Fullerton. That has had huge dividends in terms of being proximate and present in our mission field. Also, one of our members is trying to move to downtown Fullerton right now, and others have moved closer to church.
C4SO: What are you doing right now that is bearing the most fruit?
MS: One of our ministries is a prayer booth once a week at the farmer’s market. We partner with a few other local churches, each serving one week a month. We set up a booth with a simple sign that says: “Need Prayer?” You’d be surprised by how many people come up. We’ve seen people come to faith through that. Others have experienced healing. Some people are Christians, but an amazing number of them aren’t—something’s just going on in their lives and they need prayer. It’s also an amazing opportunity to get to know vendors and people in the community.
After our first year God provided us a space downtown. We are renting the downstairs in a Methodist church in the heart of downtown Fullerton. On the other side of our wall is a homeless shelter, and one of our main ministries has been ministering to the people next door. Most weeks we bring meals there and also break bread. One of the people’s greatest needs is love, and that means we have something that the government and the social worker can’t provide—a love relationship and spiritual support. We are also going to start offering prayer for people who would like someone to pray for them. They can fill out a card and a group of people will commit to praying for them. I think that will really encourage our neighbors, and we are praying that they will experience miracles and breakthroughs in their lives.
C4SO: You mentioned partnering with other churches to do the prayer booth. Are you doing ecumenical ministry in other ways?
MS: A cool thing in Fullerton is a real move toward unity—which I believe is the future of ministry. I believe we are like a puzzle piece that God is connecting to other churches to form a solution for our city. When I first moved to Fullerton, I tried to get to know other pastors in the city. I found that three churches might be offering a meal for those struggling with homelessness on Thursday, but no one’s offering a meal on Friday. Those unfortunate sorts of things can happen when churches aren’t communicating with each other.
So a group of pastors has emerged who meet regularly to communicate what we are doing. We also connect with the city and local non-profits. Churches are often well meaning but don’t realize their programs sometimes do collateral damage. We need to be aware of the full scope and impact of what we’re doing. So at In the Vine, we’re partnering with other churches to offer Homelessness 101 training and fleshing out how we can best love our neighbors as ourselves. Another piece to that is a shared database where churches keeps track of who they help. Some folks work the system, and the database is a tool to help us assess who are we ministering to, who needs services, who needs help.
One thing that is really important for this kind of city ministry is consistency, but that’s hard for a young church plant to pull off herself. Thanks to church partnerships, we’re able to have much more of a robust ministry, and the byproduct is unity, relationship, synergy and love.
C4SO: What gets you out of bed in the morning?
MS: Seeing lives changed. Seeing people encounter God and be changed by Him. Seeing that happen is so fulfilling, but it usually doesn’t happen right away. God called us so clearly to plant this church that I came with really big expectations, assuming that we would see the harvest right out of the gate. It has taken longer to get the momentum I was expecting initially. But God has been at work, growing me in faith and reliance upon Him. About a year in, I was crying out to the Lord, saying, “Come on, Lord, what’s going on?” The Lord told me, “You’re actually still in the sowing season. Give yourself some time.” A verse He gave me is Isaiah 30:15. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.” It’s not about my striving; it’s about trusting the Lord. But as we trust in the Lord, it’s been so encouraging to see how faithful God is. Right now we’re seeing some really cool things happen – momentum, provision, and radical life change. We’re extremely grateful for all that God has done, all that He’s going to do, and the privilege of partnering with Him in this kingdom work.