Videos and Podcasts

We all feel the weight of our current pandemic that leaves us with a lingering sense of uncertainty and anxiety. Our present reality is further darkened by the prognostications that this might be our new normal. How do we pastor in this new reality? How does the Church respond? What do I embrace to move forward?

Join your conference superintendents and our special guest, Mike Chong Perkinson (Lamb’s Fellowship Lake Elsinore and Senior Developer at The Praxis Center for Church Development), Thursday, December 3 as we look to Jesus for simple and profound solutions to these questions. In the midst of a time that was filled with its own challenges, Jesus was able to start a movement that is still alive today by focusing on making disciples and developing leaders that would carry that movement around the world. Jesus is not only our way to the Father, he’s the way for us to pastor in and through whatever is next.

During trying times, we need to remember to keep our eyes on the King – Jesus Christ. As Jim Wallis (in his book “On God’s Side”) says, “As people of faith, our challenge is to rise above political ideology and lead on moral grounds. Don’t go right, don’t go left; go deeper”

For the last three years, God has prepared the congregation of Emmanuel Free Methodist Church (Iglesia Metodista Libre Emmanuel) in National City to rise to meet the needs of their community during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Ministry of Jerusalem project. Before the pandemic, the church had developed an active relationship with the San Diego area government and food assistance programs, providing immediate assistance to their neighbors and people in need of food, clothing, and even home construction. When COVID-19 hit, they were ready.

Hear from Reverend Gerardo Ortiz, pastor at Emmanuel Free Methodist Church, and Joe Mendoza, president of Ministry of Jerusalem as they share how God has continued to provide for the people of their community in the form of a food assistance program that feeds hundreds of families every day. Celebrate with them, and find out how you can pray for people suffering both here and across the border.

Find out more about Emmanuel Free Methodist Church at:
https://www.facebook.com/imlemmanuel/

Each year the Free Methodist Church celebrates our incoming ministerial candidates – leaders who have dedicated themselves to God’s work in the world. Janelle Coleman and Howard O’Dell share the story of how each first experienced God in their life, how they made the decision to enter into ministry, and why each chose to serve in the Free Methodist Church.

Dr. Chris Adams, Executive Director for the Center for Vocational Ministry at Azusa Pacific University, shares ways for pastors to develop healthy disciplines and mindsets in the midst of difficulty and challenge. Chris uses the lens of Psalm 37 to remind us to commit to the work God has given us by maintaining perspective, trust and understand our feelings, and rest through healthy routines.

How does the Church respond during a crisis like COVID-19? Do we give in to the impulse to demand to get our way, or do we allow God to soften our hearts and show us what really is “essential” in following Jesus? This series of interviews focuses on the ways Southern California ministry leaders are seeing God move in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hermon Free Methodist Church has been a reminder to their community that we are all in this together and that nobody is alone, even when socially distant. See how one church, in the heart of Los Angeles, is adapting to life during the pandemic and getting ready for what God has next.

Find out more about Hermon Church at:
http://www.hermonchurch.org/

Each year the Free Methodist Church celebrates our incoming elders – leaders who have dedicated themselves to God’s work in the world. Terry Beasley shares his story of how he first experienced God in his life, how he made the decision to enter into ministry, and why he chose to serve in the Free Methodist Church.

# How did you first experience God and choose to follow Christ?

My very first memory of experiencing God was when I was about 8 years old; before I would go to sleep, I would look up to heaven and say, “God if you are up there, I love you.” I was raised in a holiness church at a very young age. My siblings and I had no choice in the matter; our parents made us go to church every Sunday and midweek service. As I got older and was able to make my own choices, unfortunately I stopped going to church.

I believe and I stand on what the scripture says in Proverbs: “train up a child when they are young they won’t depart.” At the age of 25 years old I was invited to a month-long revival. Of course I waited until the last night of the revival and wouldn’t you know it – God saved and filled me with the Holy Ghost and I was speaking in tongues and praising God!

# How did the Spirit guide you to your current ministry and what has God called you to do through your ministry?

After hearing Pastor Brian’s testimony I felt God leading me to help launch Chapel of Change. At this point in my walk with God; I had been involved and leading other ministries for many years, and came to a point where I was not really active in ministry anymore but just going to church. I was in a vacation mode – club med is what I called it – just attending church every Sunday and not having any responsibilities. But of course God began to ignite some things in me after hearing Pastor Brian preach his testimony, Young Man Arise. It was time for me to get out of the vacation mode and walk in what God was calling me to do. It was time to step up and feed His sheep; and to help men and women grow in Christ.

At that time I had been in ministry over 30 years and I felt God wanted me to be a pillar and a leader with wisdom and experience to pour into Pastor Brian and Chapel of Change. God has always given me a heart to serve his people and to give them fresh hope. I serve as the Campus Pastor at Chapel of Change in Paramount, CA where I oversee the leadership and help develop leaders and other ministries. I also lead an Ignite Marriage Ministry with my wife Deena.

# How did you come to first be involved with the Free Methodist Church and why have you chosen to continue your ministry as an Elder in the Free Methodist Church?

My mother invited me and my then soon to be wife Deena to Light & Life North in 1998. I didn’t know much about the Free Methodist Church. When I met Pastor Larry and some of the members they all seemed to be genuine and very friendly. I remember talking to Pastor Larry after service the following Sunday and he remembered my name; that really made a lasting impression on me – soon after we joined Light & Life.

I have chosen to continue my ministry as an Elder ultimately because I felt the nudge of God. I believe in the core values of the Free Methodist Church and I believe God will and is using my life experiences to help grow the body into maturity. I may not have a testimony of drug addiction or prison time; however I know that God has me in a place where I can shepherd His flock and grow the kingdom.

God has given me a word for His people to remind them that He is the lawyer in the courtroom of their lives. He is a restorer of relationships. I have a burden to build up men and minister to married couples. In an effort to build community and connection perhaps someday I’ll organize a men’s or marriage conference not just for Free Methodist family but all denominations.

Each year the Free Methodist Church celebrates our incoming elders – leaders who have dedicated themselves to God’s work in the world. Sean Anthony Fenner shares his story of how he first experienced God in his life, how he made the decision to enter into ministry, and why he chose to serve in the Free Methodist Church.

# How did you first experience God and choose to follow Christ?

The first Sunday of January 2008. I came to Light and Life North Long Beach and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior as I accepted the altar call invitation that first Sunday. No looking back!

I immediately felt invited and connected. My wife and I attended a meeting with our Pastor and he started building a relationship with us from our first day there. We call our church the “people loving place” and I felt the love of Christ and heard it from God’s people. My experience awakened a desire to daily experience God’s love in me, to be shared with others. We joined a small group, got involved with serving, got baptized, served on a mission trip in Indonesia, and within 4 years I was working on staff. It’s good to belong!

# How did the Spirit guide you to your current ministry and what has God called you to do through your ministry?

A team model has always been on my heart for ministry and accountability. I felt God asking me to always travel with a disciple as my national speaking platform began to grow, and have felt God asking me to be a part of a ministry team ever since.

At Light and Life we are passionate about all people of all ages from all backgrounds, and the Revelation 7 (“every tribe and every tongue”) expression of the Body of Christ. Here we have the opportunity to live that out as I lead a diverse staff and we influence diversity in the Kingdom from our own backyard to countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Dominican Republic.

# How did you come to first be involved with the Free Methodist Church and why have you chosen to continue your ministry as an Elder in the Free Methodist Church?

From day one at Light and Life I was taught the values of living out our Five Freedoms. I was first exposed in 2013 to the History and Polity / Wesleyan Theology Classes, and fell in love with our expression in the body of Christ. It sent me on a path to learn, grow, and share with as many people as possible the powerful move of God that our history was birthed in, and to link that history with the move of the Spirit of God in the here and now.

I’ve spent the last 7 years searching for, participating in, and connecting with opportunities for the FMCSC to live out being the best expression that we can be based on the theology and values that we cling to. That search and commitment has led me to ordination, and I am excited to serve and grow in this family in the ways that God allows and our leaders see use for my gifting.