Denver Seminary

ENGAGE 17 MOST GREAT IDEAS DON'T START IN THEIR FULLNESS; THEY GROW INTO IT. A GREAT IDEA'S BEGINNINGS ARE OFTEN HUMBLER THAN WE CARE TO ADMIT. BUT PIONEERING FOR THE KINGDOM WITH THE LORD LEADING THE WAY CAN TURN A FLEDGLING IDEA INTO SOMETHING GREATER: THE SEEDS OF CALLING. STEVE AND REED JOLLEY ARE BROTHERS-TURNED-PASTORS WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING OUT AN AMAZING CALLING OVER THE LAST FOUR DECADES BASED ON A SIMPLE IDEA OF FAITHFULLY SEEKING TO BE THE CHURCH GOD CALLS US TO BE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. They both attended and graduated from Denver Seminary in the late 1970s. Steve—as the older brother by three years—finished first and moved to Santa Barbara, California, to join the staff of an established church as their youth pastor. He dug into his new community and started a young marrieds group outside of his normal duties at the church. By the time Reed finished his degree at Denver Seminary, Steve had already been in Santa Barbara for a couple years. Reed handed in his last exam, hopped in his VW van, and headed to California to see his brother. His post-seminary plans extended only as far as a three-and-a-half- month trip he'd committed to on a Semester at Sea ship leaving from San Francisco, where he would act as chaplain and resident director while sailing around the world. Yet Reed sensed that the Lord had a plan for him. When Reed arrived in Santa Barbara and reunited with his brother, he had the opportunity to share time with the small group he'd been hearing so much about. "Right then, we decided to be church planters before that was even a thing," said Reed. "That's what I knew my next step would be after the Semester at Sea. However," Reed added with a chuckle, "the time at sea wasn't wasted. I found my wife on that ship!" As of September 2018, their church, Santa Barbara Community Church (SBCC), will be 39 years old. "We were two young brothers," said Steve. "We were a bit cynical about the state of the broader evangelical church, but wildly optimistic about God's plan for local churches. There never was a master plan or grand scheme for this church, but rather a commitment to see what God would do if we were a community of believers, carving out life together, and pushing each other toward Christ." "So many church plants these days are so strategic. They have a staff and a website before the church even launches—it's like a church-in- the-box approach to things. We just said, 'Hey, we'll meet in that living room next Sunday,'" said Reed. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE, KNOW YOUR MESSAGE One of the more encouraging and pervasive truths Christians have is that what is true about Christ, is true everywhere. Church planters, pastors, and laypeople alike can be heralds of the good news to those with ears to hear. "It takes a lot to plant a church in a city like Santa Barbara, which is known for being insular, secular, and private. Finding the next volleyball game or day at the beach is more on the minds of people than finding God," said Steve. "In spite of this difficult city, God has blessed SBCC with slow and consistent growth. That growth has been both numerical and spiritual. We are producing spiritually mature disciples." Steve and Reed were on the scene right when the seeker-sensitive church model was becoming popular, but they made a conscious decision to go another direction. "If you compete with TAKE IT FROM HERE umdash9/iStock 200mm/iStock

• Cover