Freedom House Church Costa Mesa will be hosting their last Interest Night on March 7 before opening their mobile campus in Vanguard University’s gymnasium at the beginning of April.
After negotiations with the university’s administration regarding a location for Sunday services, the mobile campus has been established with the possibility of later relocating in the summer months to a different building within the school.
The series of four Interest Nights were put on to investigate whether the school would become the location for their mobile campus. Additionally, these events have been utilized as a means to introduce themselves to the local community and communicate their hopes for Costa Mesa, according to Campus Pastor Brian Flores.
Based out of Fullerton, Freedom House has grown from seven to 2,000 members attending services weekly in a span of 10 years.
“God spoke to us about moving in a fresh way—in a new way. And so, we began in the living room of our home with just seven of us who had a vision that nothing was impossible with God. And sure enough, nothing was,” lead pastor Josiah Silva said.
After a decade of solid growth, the church has decided to add a mobile campus. Costa Mesa was the best option to target the population in Orange County, according to Silva, because between it and Santa Ana there are half a million people. Adding this to the Fullerton campus drawing from Anaheim allows the church to influence one million out of the 3.2 million people in Orange County.
By choosing a location on the university’s campus, as well as being in close proximity to a local high school, there is an opportunity for the growth within the young adult ministry. The hope of the Costa Mesa mobile campus is to appeal specifically to young adults and families within the area, according to Flores.
“Our purpose statement is to raise up a generation with the heart of God,” Flores said.
Freedom House has a thriving children and middle school through college ministries, according to Flores, which they are looking to continue to grow.
Other programs the church currently offer are Connect groups, which are weekly meeting small groups throughout the Orange County area, and mid-week services on the first week every month.
The church is using these programs, as well as other entertainment aspects, to better appeal to the new generation.
“We have a unique style of ministry. We’re just trying to bring the message of being relevant in a way the new generation identifies. The message doesn’t change, but the methods do,” Silva said.
These Interest Nights have produced positive results, especially with interest in volunteering. During their first event on Oct. 11, they received a response from 50 people who wanted to be part of the new campus, 30 of which expressed a desire to be an active volunteer on their Launch Team, according to Flores.
“We believe what God is doing in our church in Fullerton; He wants to spread all that through Orange County. This Interest Night is to introduce ourselves to the community… [to] let them know who we are and give them an opportunity to jump on board with the vision,” Flores said.
After the March 7 Interest Night, the church will be holding three Launch Team meetings on March 10, 17, and 24 that aim in training new volunteers through discipleship before the opening of the mobile campus.
“When God saved us, it wasn’t just to save us from something, but it was to save us for something. And our heart here at Freedom House is that people will really find what their life is meant for—their purpose. We weren’t just called to be saved and fill a seat. God saved us to send us, and we exist for that reason,” Silva said.
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