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August 11, 2004
THE CALL
The genesis of JCA reaches back to my years
at Biblical
Theological Seminary (1999-2002) where I
felt God leading me to minister to college students.
It was during my own college experience that
I was saved. Up to that time, I had been involved
in the Philadelphia youth ministry scene for
5 years. Soon after graduating from seminary,
I joined the staff of Grace
Covenant Church as a college pastor.
My stay at Grace Covenant ended sooner than
anticipated. After my first year of serving
there, I began to pray independently about the
possibility of planting a campus church somewhere.
Initially, I began to pray very specifically
about certain cities across the United States.
However, the Lord re-directed me to consider
Atlanta after Pastor Young Kim of Grace Covenant
Church (GCC) approached me about its prospects
in September 2003.
That November, Pastor Young and I took our first
“scouting” trip to Atlanta. We visited
Georgia
State University, Georgia
Tech, and Emory
University, attending campus fellowships
and speaking with staff members at each school.
On the last night before returning to Philadelphia,
I felt absolute confirmation to start a campus
church in Atlanta. Armed with a commitment to
church planting and mission work, the decision
to move forward with JCA became a reality soon
afterwards.
From that point on, God opened up doors and
I, along with six other church plant team members,
began our journey to Atlanta in the summer of
2004. Without jobs, we arrived in Atlanta in
faith and obedience to God, with a vision of
spiritual transformation among college students
and young adults in the greater Atlanta area.
When I found out that Atlanta actually has more
churches than any city in America, I began to
ask God, “Why Atlanta of all places?”
After much prayer and contact with Christians
in the area, it became obvious that there is
indeed a great need for Christians to reconnect
with God in a passionate and authentic way.
On August 15, 2004, we will hold our first Sunday
service at 12pm in Room 206 of St.
Mark United Methodist Church! We can’t
predict what the Lord will do through The Journey
Church of Atlanta, but we are excited and privileged
to be a part of God’s plan in reaching
Atlanta, and the world, to the glory of His
name. JCA is committed to “multiplying,
maturing, and mobilizing passionate worshipers
of Jesus Christ” and we welcome you to
visit and pray to see if you too are being called
to be a part of JCA’s history. Praise
the Lord!!
By His Grace,
Pastor Matthew Ro
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