Do You Have A Place For Me?

"I'm Ruined"

I'm ruined, toss me out.

I have a past, there is no doubt.

I don't fit in, I don't belong.

I tried to do right, all I've done is wrong.

Toss me out, or help me out?

I just need to find a different route.

(Author-Crystal E. Hall)

       Will you be the one to help?
   

Meet the children of Radiant Church.

     Lisa Freeman is a teacher at Dacusville Elementary School, but she is also the children's director at Radiant Church. Lisa grew up not going to church, neither parent had a relationship with God. When Lisa was in high school her friends introduced her to Jesus and she got involved with the youth group. Lisa's passion was foreign missions, she traveled to Australia, Africa, Romania, all over the world to share the
gospel. Radiant Church started from a Mission trip to San Diego. Her and her husband went to help on the mission trip. While on this mission trip they experienced  how it feels for the native people from San Diego to be unchurched; it was a refreshing feeling to minister to people that are not the stereotypical church people. The mission team started praying and asking, "What would this look like back home?"

     They tossed some ideals around such as, there are already hundreds of churches so how do we make this work, we need to just step out, try and see how it goes, and who will we get to lead our group? At the time, Ricky Motes was a youth pastor at Washington Avenue Baptist Church where he intended to stay.  But in April 2009, God woke him up with a different plan to pastor a new church plant. The group of five families started the planning process.

     In September 2009 Radiant Church was birthed, they started meeting at Berea High School with 40 members.  God gave Ricky a vision to do church a little different. He wanted them to reach the de-churched, the people that don't fit in traditional church, and the people that haven't given church a chance. In the online article "De-Churched:  Why They Left" by Thom Schultz, he defines de-churched as "people that are done with organized church, in some cases they are wounded, in other cases they are just disinterested. They are tired of what Jesus' church has become, they want real relationships, real love. They are not looking for perfection or polish or pious professionalism, they are looking for real people who are willing to admit they don't have it all together, but realize we're all in this together."  Ricky Motes is a police officer so his teaching style is evangelistic because his job allows him to always be around the lost, he sees the worst of the world daily. Monday through Friday he is around hurting people with a bad past. Sundays, he is preaching to hurting people with a bad past.

Pastor Ricky performing a baptism.

     Lisa said that Radiant Church is based on the book of Acts; Peter and John were ordinary unspoiled men but spent time with Jesus. No one in this group had ever ran a church before, but they felt like God had prepared them. They received redirecting from their family and friends when they shared the news of starting Radiant Church. They made a comment such as they don't need to start a new church, just help other churches. Their family and friends were not against the ideal, just questionable about it. The church wasn't questionable about it, they knew God was calling them to start Radiant Church.

     "And he said unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."-Matthew 4:19  Lisa said that when they started the church they wanted people that didn't go to church because they wanted to bring fish in, not trade fish, however everyone is welcomed.

     Have you ever been hurt by the church, or had a bad experience?

     Could we all say we have experienced this one way or the other?  The church is made up of imperfect people, but it has stood the test of time.  It will prevail because the foundation is Jesus Christ, and he is the builder, "on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail."- Matt. 16:18  No matter how people get things wrong and mess things up, Jesus will raise up a church body to love and show the way.

     What is different about Radiant Church?

     First, this body of believers don't meet in a traditional building; they meet in a school, not because they have to but because it is God's plan for them now.  They are not affiliated with any organizations or denominations. Lisa said, "Lost people don't care about organizations, denominations, or doctrines, they are looking for hope and the love of Jesus." Since they are a portable church, they have to move their equipment every Sunday, they have to set up and tear down, and that takes a lot of work. Since this takes a lot of work, they need workers so there are always ways to serve. Their church congregation is not made up of traditional church members. It's made up of people with a past, hurting people, wounded people, people that are not so easily accepted. Would you allow someone to come into your church that is a quite, timid person, that didn't graduate from high school, callused, rough, with tattoos serve in your church? Radiant Church welcomes it with open arms. They don't only welcome these people, they desire these people to be part of their church body.

     Radiant Church has a vision to be:  Relevant. Relational. Radical.

*Relevant worship experience
*Relational by building deep relationships
*Radical, serving others radically

Radiant: "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was "Radiant" because he had spoken with the Lord." -Exodus 34:29

      Radiant Church currently meets now at Dacusville Elementary School at 10:00 on Sunday mornings. They have no evening or Wednesday night services, what they do offer are Life groups which meet at members homes. They have no paid staff and no church office. When they moved their church body to Dacusville, in their thoughts were, we should have done this all along.

     Working at Dacusville Elementary, Lisa gets to see how our community comes together, how all the churches come together in unity to make this the best community for our children.  Cross Roads hands out book bags with food to less fortunate children to have over the weekends.  Nine Forks donates supplies for teachers with encouraging notes attached. Mount Carmel offered our kids the Good News Club after school program.  Other area churches are always giving to meet the needs of our children. Lisa sees the needs that are being met and what needs still need attention. Clothes for the children who have emergencies at school are often bought by the school nurse out of her own pocket, so Lisa knows that her church needs to collect and donate new underwear, shirts, and pants to meet this need.  "This is what Jesus had in mind:  folks coming together, forming close-knit communities and meeting each other needs-no kings, no major welfare systems, no president necessary..." -Shane Claiborne

     When Radiant Church came to Dacusville, they knew that there were already many churches in the area. They also know that you can have many different varieties of churches running after the same Jesus because we are all different, with different needs.  You may, or may not have known about Radiant Church meeting at Dacusville Elementary School, because the church meets at a school they are not allowed to place signs of any kind on the property.  This has been an issue on how to let the community know about the church.  The church did sponsor a free Spring Fling for our community in April. At the Spring Fling they passed out cd's to let the community know about the church. As the cd says, "It's a place where you can be real and not feel intimidated.  Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and be ready to be greeted by people who want to do life together."

Pastor Ricky Always Welcomes You With Open Arms!
(Spring Fling- April, 2013) 

     "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."-Romans 15:7
Everyone wants to feel accepted, Radiant Church has a place for you.


*To contact Radiant Church Click Here

Disclaimer: "U.S. Supreme Court provides for the use of public school buildings by churches, religious and political groups on a viewpoint-neutral basis, if the public school districts are already renting their facilities after hours to other community groups... One appellate court, the 2nd Circuit, ruled in 2011 that a school board’s prohibition of hosting a particular type of activity, religious worship services, was constitutional."-FFRF   Lisa Freeman is not affiliated with Radiant Church during regular school hours.