+ One Half of the Story: Gateway Church

began in 2016 as a satellite ministry of a large South Bay congregation with the vision of reaching the Harbor Gateway areas of Torrance and Gardena. Gateway began holding its services at a school auditorium in the Gardena area. After an enthusiastic and successful start, Gateway grew into a thriving ministry with weekly services, small groups, Bible studies, a youth group and numerous outreach events until 2018 when its parent church abruptly withdrew its support for this outreach ministry. Faced with an uncertain future, a core group of Gateway congregants and leaders prayerfully made the decision to carry on the ministry and trust God to provide the necessary direction and resources needed to move forward.

While God was working in and through the circumstances of Gateway Church, almost simultaneously He was preparing a second work which would be known by many names over the years and follow a path much longer than any would have initially imagined. This small community of people felt called to the work of local church planting. All came from disparate backgrounds but were united with the same desire to see God draw more people into His Kingdom through the planting and growing of new, vibrant churches.

+ Another Half Develops: Church Planting

Pastor Byron Jung and his family were part of this initial community of people interested in planting a new church. Having served in the LA/South Bay area for more than 20 years in pastoral ministry, he saw the need for churches to be involved in some strategy which would both mature believers as well as keep Christians passionate about spreading the news of Jesus to their friends and neighbors. He discovered that the effective planting of new, replicating congregations accomplished that goal. Several families joined this vision and started on the path of church planting with the Evangelical Free Church of America in 2017. Reaching the diverse, multi-ethnic Beach Cities community was an important dimension of this vision of church planting, so it was a priority to find church planting partners who could help broaden the reach of the church beyond simply an Asian American base; this search was long and fraught with hurdles, taking more than 3 years and different failed partnerships. It was difficult to see opportunities to grow the ministry come and go over the course of this long path, but our members continued to trust the providence of Christ as they pressed forward. While the church planting path was filled with many hurdles and delays, God blessed us with a wonderfully supportive partner, Nova Community Church. Nova members came alongside and helped in a number of critical areas as we worked to build our base of individuals and families who shared in the church planting vision and mission. The church planting initiative first began nameless, then took on the name Salt and Light Church, and finally became known as Momentum Christian Fellowship. During this time, Nova helped provide our children’s program ministry, helped lead us in worship, and several Nova members lent us their wisdom and experience in church leadership. This partnership would later prove vital to Momentum’s future as we will see.

+ Momentum Christian Fellowship: A Partnership in Christ’s Work

In 2019, the re-launched Gateway ministry was looking for direction and pastoral leadership. At the same time, Momentum Christian Fellowship was looking for partnerships to extend its impact and reach of ministry. At the end of that year, a local pastor who happened to have contact with both communities saw the synergies that could be had in a partnership and introduced us to one another. Leaders in both Gateway and Momentum immediately saw the advantages of a partnership and looked forward to exploring how to serve Christ together. However, just as the formation of this agreement was still in its early stages, a circumstance that none of us saw coming impacted our partnership: COVID. What many would have seen as a reason to step back and postpone forward movement on our unification, actually became a catalyst for coming together. Gateway and Momentum began a small group through the new video platform, Zoom. We streamed sermons together, served in a food bank together, and navigated Easter and other events. COVID helped our two congregations become one as we learned how to minister to one another and to our community in difficult circumstances. And, the vital relationship that was formed with Nova Community Church during the long path of church planting resulted in Momentum being provided an ideal outdoor meeting space for our new partnership to worship and hold services during a time when most churches were not able to gather as a community.

+ What God is Doing Today

Our most recent history as Momentum Christian Fellowship has marked these significant reasons to praise God for His providence: A New Community Originally we began our path together with one, online small group and one Bible study. Over the course of our 2 year partnership, our small groups have multiplied and we now have 3 small groups and a women’s Bible study and are looking to develop 2 additional groups soon. In our groups we look to deepen our understanding of how to apply God’s Word to our lives, to pray for one another’s needs, and to grow in our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. At the same time, we never lose focus on thinking about those that Jesus would want us to reach with His love and message of forgiveness through our application curriculum called B.L.E.S.S. A Leadership Together Our Momentum Leadership Team has only existed for less than a year since agreeing to have Gateway and Momentum combine. Since that time, however, we have learned to work together, making important decisions like: settling to unite under the Momentum name, planning and executing local outreach opportunities, developing and launching our weekly worship service, and following up and praying for members. We thank God for the many different gifts that His people bring to our leadership and the ways He has taught us to serve together in Christ. Gatherings of God’s people God has blessed us with Sunday gatherings during a time when many have not been able to gather. Our venue is outdoors, heated, well-ventilated, and full of loving people ready to welcome any and all who come. These gatherings require everyone’s help to stack chairs, set up the sound system, clean, prepare bulletins and a myriad of other tasks. And every week, God’s people come and serve one another to bring together a wonderful time of worship through song, through learning, through giving, and through fellowship. We thank God for the different facilities that He has provided throughout the pandemic which have seemed to be specially prepared for our congregation’s needs. Even more so, we thank Him for the members of Momentum who greet, set-up, lead worship, video, and help out in so many different ways. Serving Together We have not only been able to serve together through our Sunday services but through so many other opportunities. Our small group leaders prepare and lead discussion on a weekly basis. We have celebrated Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, Christmas and our Launch services with special meals. And we have served our community through Boxes of Blessings food distribution, a Falloween event, and our Community Bike Day. At the same time we have tireless servants overseeing the stewardship of resources, our communication strategy on the internet, the hospitality extended to newcomers, prayer for our congregation and so many other ministries.

+ Moving Momentum Forward

Paul the Apostle provides his example of following Christ as pressing on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. In similar fashion, Momentum always presses on, growing in our faith and sharing our faith with others. As a new church, our main areas of short-term focus are developing our membership, spiritual mentorship, and ongoing outreach. Each of these goals move our congregation toward maturity, while keep us focused on pursuing the task of reaching our friends and neighbors with the news of Christ’s love and forgiveness.