Justin Buzzard started Garden City Church in San Jose as part of Vision 360, an organization that plants churches across the world. Felipe Buitrago
Former Sunnyvale pastor Dave Chae joined the organization in September. Having already planted six churches in 10 years, “Vision 360 came knocking,” Chae says. “They wanted somebody who understood church planting and multiplying.”
The goal: Plant three churches by the end of 2012, 20 by 2015 and 100 by 2020.
“When I first asked them about why the numbers are so big, it’s kind of interesting, these guys are fairly scientific about it,” Chae explains. “I think the idea is that they would be multiplying; churches that plant other churches.”
Vision 360 officially launches in the South Bay at Westgate Church this week, where more than 200 pastors and church planters will gather to talk about spiritually transforming the South Bay.
Chae says church planters who pass Vision 360’s assessment process can get up to $150,000 in funding over three years, along with help to find meeting space or even church bands.
That kind of support can really help out men—and the planters are all men—like British-born and self-described “serial church planter” Bill Jenkins, who recently opened Urban Life Church, which meets on the top floor of Loft Bar and Bistro on South Second Street. Urban Life is billed as “church in a bar” on signs dotting nearby sidewalks.
Jenkins has planted suburban churches in the past, but he’s been turned off by the “Christian country clubs” he’s seen out there.
“I think there’s more opportunities downtown to be effective in ministry,” Jenkins says between sips of an after-church pint. “We’re focusing on cities because we believe God is orchestrating the biggest migration of human beings in history.”
Kristal Serrano, a SJSU undergrad, says she showed up to Jenkins’ service after spotting the “church in a bar” sign while shopping downtown. Growing up attending a few nondenominational churches in Southern California, she says she enjoyed the relaxed, casual atmosphere at Urban Life.
“I thought it was kind of cool, kind of different, like really, really modern,” Serrano says.
Professor Jeffrey Danese, who teaches courses on religion in America at SJSU, says he sees fertile ground for churches that focus on younger adults. “From many of my own students, I hear often, a deficit in meaning, that students really miss and don’t have a basis upon which to make important decisions in their lives,” says Danese.
And while reaching out to the less fortunate may attract younger South Bay believers, Danese says conservative churches may focus on charity for other reasons.
“They see what’s happened in Europe, and they know exactly why secularism dominates in those countries. It’s because the welfare state takes care of people,” he explains “Their needs are filled by the state. I don’t think those ministers would acknowledge that consciously, but I’m sure they intuit that. I’m sure they feel the competition.”
Indeed, the website for Vision 360, a nationwide network for church planters that will hold its first South Bay conference next week, cites a survey of young evangelical and mainline Protestants, that found that 70 percent who attended church regularly in high school quit attending by age 23.
“On the current trajectory, America will shift from a post-Christian culture to a post-church culture, much like Europe,” reads Vision 360’s site.
That’s probably nowhere more apparent than in the Bay Area—a liberal enclave for issues like gay and women’s rights.
Garden City’s Statement of Faith says Adam and Eve established “the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women.” Translation: Marriage is only between a man and woman.
Buzzard acknowledges he’ll have to address those third-rail issues carefully.
“We want to do that in a way that engages our community, that’s winsome, that’s thoughtful, that’s sophisticated, that doesn’t just merely say, ‘Hey, this is what we believe, if you don’t believe this, well, screw you,’” says Buzzard.
“But we’re not going to have, like, ‘Gay Marriage Sunday’ or preach a sermon on that. That’s not really the plans for what we do,” he adds. “We’re not here to pick fights or pick battles.”
Comments (21)
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Jill Thu, Nov 10, 2011 - 3:26 pm
If you are looking for a good church in San Jose, go check this one out. The planters are good friends of ours. They are honest, and Godly people.
David Fri, Nov 11, 2011 - 3:31 pm
Young people are a lot smarter than these church folks believe.Silicon Valley is made up of people who believe in the sciences, not some silly infantile superstitious beliefs that contain no empirical evidence.These new churches will undoubtedly fail.
Albert Qian Sun, Nov 13, 2011 - 11:26 pm
I’m not a Christian, but I also disagree with your statements. I think its valuable to accept what they believe (even if it scares the crap out of you, as it does me), and move on if you disagree. No need to go crazy over it.
Mark Fri, Nov 11, 2011 - 4:53 pm
Christianity is slowly dying in the developed countries, and we’re seeing the faithful attempting to stop this tide.
Christianity is a cult that emphasizes what happens after we die—whether we end up happy forever or tortured forever. The mythical story of Jesus’ crucifixion is a horrible, sadistic story of human sacrifice. Christians even celebrate it by ceremoniously drinking his blood and eating his body. This is ritual vampirism and cannibalism.
The idea of blood sacrifice for atonement (i.e. the mythical Jesus dying for other people’s sins) is immoral—punishing the innocent to free the guilty. But, it’s good marketing.
In part because of the internet, more people are discovering that there’s no reliable evidence for God/Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, Zeus, Thor, or any of the thousands of other gods that people have worshiped. If any of the major gods existed, there would be reliable evidence. Since no such evidence exists, these gods do not exist. There’s also extensive evidence that they are all just myths, created to help soothe our fear of death, and perpetuated through religion to subjugate the underclass into obedience.
Jillya Fri, Nov 11, 2011 - 5:38 pm
The younger generation is seeing religion for what it is: the biggest con game ever perpetrated on humanity. Religion consists of unsubstantiated claims and extraordinary assertions, preys on the gullible, “fleeces the flock” and tells them they’ll get their reward ...after they die. Oh, and the most critical ingredient to the continuation of religion: the indoctrination trusting, naive children.
Dave Fri, Nov 11, 2011 - 6:32 pm
I think these so called “Christians” are committed to spreading ignorance and superstition. They are purveyors of anti gay and anti choice bigotry. They are anti science and anti education. They will threaten you with eternal punishment if you don’t buy their message and keep their collection plates full of tax free dollars. Religion like this is, in my opinion, a racket. Far better you think for yourselves and decide, based on empirical evidence what is true, reasonable, and intellectually honest.
Robby Sat, Nov 12, 2011 - 12:52 am
So thankful to see these church plants beginning to make a difference in San Jose! I have several friends who have checked out Garden City, and I’ve only heard good things.
I respect Mark’s points about religion. There is undeniable evidence that religious systems borrow from each other, manipulate for human gain, and serve as the “opium of the people.” However, attempting to invalidate the life and death of Jesus by discussing the evils of religion is like saying the NBA’s current labor dispute makes Michael Jordan a bad basketball player.
For an intellectual defense of the resurrection of Jesus, check this article out. It is quite thorough: http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html
For those of you looking at Christianity from the outside, I apologize for the church’s evils and our degrading bumper stickers and condescending jargon. My blood boils when I read about Westboro Baptist Church’s latest antics. We are imperfect people who need a savior, and we make mistakes and fail just like you. I simply ask you to take a honest look at Jesus, and I pray that you get a glimpse of his love for you. Life is too short not to.
Mark Sat, Nov 12, 2011 - 4:20 pm
In regards to the statements by Robby and Mike (about the existence of Jesus), I have discovered that all reliable evidence points to Jesus Christ being just a myth. There is no reliable evidence that Jesus even existed, and significant evidence that he didn’t. The evidence is in the Bible, the other religions of the time, and the lack of writings about Jesus by historians of the time.
The story of Jesus can be shown to be just a myth cobbled together out of prophesy and stories from the Old Testament and previous gods and myths—created in the 40’s and 50’s by Paul of Tarsus (who exhibited evidence of epilepsy and had delusions of Christ talking to him), the other apostles, the unknown authors of the gospels in the 70’s or later, and many other people. The reliable evidence for this is overwhelming.
If Jesus had actually existed, Paul would have written about his life, disciples, and teachings. Paul did not write about any of this. Paul wrote (in Romans 16:25-26, Galatians 1:16) that he knew Jesus through revelation, which is another term for fantasy. We can also tell that people were accusing Paul of lying, because he attempted to defend himself in Romans 3:5-8.
If Jesus had actually existed, the gospels would have been written in first person format. Instead, they were written in third person fiction format like a Harry Potter story, with Matthew and Luke extensively plagiarizing from Mark.
If Jesus had actually existed, at least one of the approximately 30 local historians of the first century would have written about him. No historian of the first century (including Josephus) wrote about him or his disciples.
Therefore Jesus didn’t exist.
The Jesus story also shows extensive similarities to other myths of the time (especially Dionysus, Mithra, and Horus). Some early Christians attributed this to Satan who went back in time and created the religions that “copied” Christianity.
jw Sun, Nov 13, 2011 - 7:01 am
Ignoring a subset of the available evidence, and then declaring that the rest of the evidence supports your position doesn’t make for a strong argument.
If you are interested in what Josephus has to say about Jesus, you might start at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus.
Mark Mon, Nov 14, 2011 - 7:51 am
Here’s how we can tell that the writings about Jesus supposedly by Josephus are forgeries, likely written by Eusebius:
* Despite the fact that Josephus’ writings were widely read, no Christian or scholar before Eusebius refers to it, especially not the Christian scholar Origen, whose library Eusebius used.
* Origen even wrote that Josephus did not believe in Jesus Christ.
* If the pious Jew Josephus had truly thought that Jesus was the Messiah, he would have become a Christian.
* It’s unlikely that Josephus would have referred to the accusing Jews as “the principal men among us.”
* There never was a “tribe of Christians.”
* Copies of Josephus’ works existed, that lacked either reference to Jesus.
* The style of the paragraph is radically different from the rest of his writings.
* The paragraph is completely out of context with the paragraphs around it, and interrupts their story line. The next paragraph begins, “About the same time also another sad calamity put the Jews into disorder…” This refers to the previous paragraph, where Pilate had his soldiers massacre a large crowd of Jews in Jerusalem.
* Josephus wrote extensively about many minor people of the time. A single paragraph and sentence for the Messiah is impossible.
Mike Sat, Nov 12, 2011 - 12:04 pm
Great article. Justin’s the real deal - I’ve met him. Exciting to see what’s happening at Garden City. Hard to knock such a good thing now touching many lives.
For skeptics David and Mark: you might continue your own research of unbiased historical data and document study. Also personal research - check out for yourself a session at Garden City Church in San Jose, or South Bay Church in Santa Clara, or Reality Church in San Francisco. I can assure you that you’ll see more than you might think or expect. Always good to get full exposure and experience to something before knocking it. Stay open and tolerant.
Derek Sat, Nov 12, 2011 - 12:39 pm
If Buzzard wants to convince people to follow his God, he’d better hope they don’t read the Bible. Anyone with any intelligence at all who reads the Bible can see that God is one of the most vile, evil monsters ever conceived. He is guilty of committing or condoning murder and genocide, animal and human sacrifice, torture, child abuse, animal abuse, theft, slavery, pedophilia, rape, incest, cannibalism, betrayal and lying. It’s all right there in the Bible.
I’ve even made a video series detailing the overwhelming evidence that God is evil. Simply go to YouTube and search for “Biblical Evidence Proving That God is Evil Part 1” to bring up the series (by “Underlings”).
David Sat, Nov 12, 2011 - 5:27 pm
You can read about the false Messiah of the Christians here:
www.evilbible.com/jesus_false.htm
Jillya Sun, Nov 13, 2011 - 12:34 am
@Mike:
What a lot of Christians don’t realize or acknowledge, is that most atheists were, at some point in their lives, theists. (Mostly Christian in the US). It is because we managed to break the grip of childhood indoctrination and questioned and examined religious dogma rationally, reasonably and realistically, and concluded that religions and all their fantastic claims of gods, devils, angels, demons, unicorns, dragons or cockatrices, talking snakes, women turning into salt, or dead men coming alive again, are products of the fertile human imagination.
It is actually theists that need to be more “open and tolerant”. Human history is filled with religious conflicts and it is still the case today. Bigotry, homophobia, misogyny,genocides, inquisitions, slavery…all hid or hide behind religion’s large skirts.
MarkCL Sun, Nov 13, 2011 - 10:45 pm
REALITY CHECK: Scholars, (including the most “liberal” ones) agree that there was a historical Jesus. Do your homework(aside from your 5th grade level History channel and basic Google searches).
He did exist. He was a rabbi. He taught many people. He DID make outrageous claims(one of which was that he was God…which is why he was crucified). Plenty of extra-biblical evidence to support that. It is historical fact that a bunch of once cowardly apostles, after seeing him alive(after dying), were willing to die for what they knew was truth. How do you explain them going from cowardice to such boldness that they would die for what they believed? No one would die for something they KNEW was fabricated.
So… If you want to argue that Jesus didn’t exist…or was not crucified due to him claiming to be God…or did not show up alive again, you are standing on intellectual quick-sand. Seriously?
Aside from that: Personal experience and having traveled to some “dark” places, I have seen the greatest transformation in the human heart come from those who have been transformed by the love of God through Christ. NO placebo can do what I have seen.
I grew up a serious skeptic…as did MUCH smarter men that may self(and I would argue, you)...like C.S. Lewis and such. My life has been changed. Put your agenda aside. Jesus is the real deal…and the real Jesus is freeing. AND…and, as ticked as you are reading this, you are being pursued by a God that loves you more that your skeptical mind can fathom. Been there…
Mark Wed, Nov 16, 2011 - 7:04 am
I note that MarkCL didn’t actually give any reliable evidence that Jesus or the apostles existed. MarkCL just refered to unnamed scholars, and talked about transformation in the human heart.
Also, people die all the time for ideas that others believe to be false—look at 9/11.
There are many scholars (such as Richard Carrier and Robert M. Price) who have examined the evidence and concluded that Jesus did not exist.
C.S. Lewis was not so great. His famous “trilemma” should have added “legend.” He couldn’t even figure out why most people are nice to others. Hint: it’s because that’s the only way our species can survive.
For much more evidence, see these links:
http://www.godlessgeeks.com/JesusExist.htm
http://www.stellarhousepublishing.com/originsofchristianity.pdf
http://ffrf.org/legacy/about/bybarker/rise.php
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/source.html
http://www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm
Taylor Mon, Nov 14, 2011 - 11:40 am
Derek, Jillya, David, Mark, Dave, and David—
Why don’t you go to Garden City Church this upcoming Sunday? Your case is quite weak. See for yourself what is being taught and what is going on, and report back. It’s foolish to slam something without firsthand exposure. How do you know what Buzzard is teaching if you haven’t listened? There are many different belief systems that fall under the general category of “Christianity”. A visit will strengthen your case, or pull the carpet out from under it.
Jillya Wed, Nov 16, 2011 - 4:00 pm
Taylor and Ryan,
Until any theist can provide evidence that their god exists (and the burden of proof IS on the theist to do this), all god-talk is just unsubstantiated claims and assertions. For any scientist to believe in supernatural beasties requires him/her putting aside their scientific training and rely on their indoctrination into their “faith”. It was this very uncomfortable cognitive dissonance and unsatisfactory apologetics from theists that aided in my becoming an atheist/freethinker/secular humanist.
I stand by my indoctrination statement. If you were born in Islamabad, chances are exceedingly great that you would be worshiping Allah. In Mumbai, Krishna and Ganesha. In Bangkok, Buddha.
Go to a mosque and open your mind to the possibility that Allah and Mohammad are the real deal. Or go to a synagogue and learn why Jews don’t accept one of their own, Jesus, as the Messiah. After all, Jews are God’s “Chosen People” so they should know. It is the Hebrew war god, Yahweh, that you worship, after all.
Ryan Mon, Nov 14, 2011 - 1:47 pm
I would agree with earlier comments that are challenging you to come to Garden City and see for yourself. As great as Justin might be, the reason people are coming to Garden City is not because we have a pastor who is muscled, faux-hawked, and well-spoken, but because they are finding a gospel oasis in what has become a spiritual desert. You will find many intellectually sharp minds who are active in different Silicon Valley spheres of influence, rather than the mindless indoctrinated sheep referenced above. You will also find that these are people that are broken, have come to the realization they need saving that can’t be self-provided, and are seeing that Jesus is the only one who provides this salvation. Science is not without it’s own demands of blind faith—many times in ways that even its own math would argue is absurd. Some have already mentioned some of the glaring problems with the assertions made above that Jesus did not exist historically, and others have referenced that there were people that saw him and were then willing to die for him, but I would go a step further and steal from C.S. Lewis in stating that not only do I believe in Christianity because I can see it, but because by it, I see everything else.
Come check it out some Sunday, ask questions, meet the people who are committed to the church. You will find they don’t bite and you may even get invited down the street to Rosie’s for a post-church slice.
David Mon, Nov 14, 2011 - 4:31 pm
And I would like to invite you Ryan and your fellow believers to an atheist meeting many of which can be found in the bay area and beyond,except of course in the land of Oz,or is it Heaven?.
Many of our members have read the bible,after all what better book is there that promotes atheism as well as the bible.
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